2020
Mattaponi
Ceramic
Overall: 5 1/4 × 6 3/4 in. (13.34 × 17.15 cm)
2021.110

Christine Custalow is descended from both Rappahannock and Mattaponi peoples. She learned pottery making from her mother and continues to create works with the same traditional methods. Her low-fire “baking” process results in rich, luminous surfaces with organic tonal variation. Custalow uses the pinch-pot building process for smaller vessels and the coil method for larger ones. Most of her pots are burnished to a high shine using a smooth rock or a small piece of deer antler as a polishing tool. Custalow also employs other methods of surface embellishment. This example includes designs incised on the leather-hard surface before firing.

National Endowment for the Arts Fund for American Art

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