Beautifully Detailed Horsehair Pottery by Navajo Artist Tom Vail Jr. Approximately 60 mm tall . 80 mm wide.
Tom Vail Jr is a Navajo Artist that resides with his family in New Mexico. The Vail Family is well known for their contemporary style ceramics known as "Horsehair" pottery. Tom & his wife both create horsehair pottery are created from the mane of the horse and the thicker lines are created from the tail of the horse. Each piece is created by first pouring ceramic white slip into a mold, then after drying, cleaning & polishing, the piece is heated in a kiln & the horsehair is randomly tossed on to the heated surface. The resulting carbon image of the hair is drawn into the pottery surface and creates the Wonderful designs and patterns found on horsehair ceramics. After cooling, each piece is carefully etched by hand. If stones or Turquoise are used, they are applied at this time. Finally, the piece is garnished to protect and preserve it. Each Horsehair creation requires great patience and meticulous attention to detail.
Every piece of our horsehair POTTERY is original and made in New Mexico. Tom creates each mold himself using local materials.