Luce Foundation Center for American Art
Folk Art: Folk Ceramics: Crow Pot
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Crow Pot 1991 Christine McHorse kiln-fired and pit-fired micaceous clay with piñon pitch 16 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (41.3 x 32.1 cm) diam Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Gibson Fahnestock 1997.124.159 |
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| "Beauty and simplicity is the basis of my work in clay and silver. The shiny earth and metal provide means of expression through the oldest of crafts." The artist, quoted in Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material, ca. 1987-1998, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution | ||||||
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Navajo potter Christine McHorse uses sparkling mica clay from the mountains around Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico. She breaks several Navajo traditions in her work by applying imagery to the clay and firing it in an electric kiln, but believes "I can make my own taboos and traditions" (Rosenak, Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia, 1990). Animals are important in Native American culture, and in these pieces McHorse has incorporated the crow, symbol of the gateway to the supernatural, and the wolf, which Navajos regard as a teacher of wisdom. |
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