SW Pottery & Sandpainting

2 PIECES OF SOUTHWEST ART - SIGNED NAVAJO SANDPAINTING TILE "WEDDING VASE" BY BEN SAM OF CUBA, NEW MEXICO, PLUS A LARGE AIRBRUSHED SOUTHWEST POTTERY VASE, ARTIST SIGNED ON THE BASE Two nice small pieces of Southwest art out of the same collection, and both are signed. First, a framed-format Navajo sandpainting tile titled "Wedding Vase," worked in natural colored sands on a pressed fiberboard panel and picturing a traditional two-spouted Navajo wedding vase set against red rock mesas and desert plants, with a turquoise-colored inset on the body of the pot. The reverse is hand-titled in black marker "Wedding Vase," ink-stamped MR. & MRS. BEN SAM / P.O. BOX 462 / CUBA, NM 87013, and hand-signed B. Sam - so this one comes to you titled, signed, and with the maker's address right on the back, which is unusual and worth having. It measures approximately 4.25 inches square. Second, a tall airbrushed Southwest pottery vase in a teardrop or bullet form, decorated all the way around in bright airbrushed color - sky blue ground with a sunset band of orange, coral, and gold, stepped and serrated Southwest blanket motifs, a row of blue spiral or Greek-key elements, silhouetted pine trees and mesas, and, on one side, a mounted rider on horseback. It stands approximately 10.5 inches tall and is signed in black marker in a recessed circle on the underside. The vase signature is a stylized cursive scrawl and I cannot read it with certainty from the photographs - no name is claimed for it. Flaws to know about: the vase has scattered dark scuff marks and small black specks in the matte finish and the recessed base ring is soiled and worn, and the sandpainting tile shows minor sand loss and crumbling along the edges and corners. Sold as a lot of 2 pieces. Description Piece 1 - Navajo sandpainting tile, titled "Wedding Vase." Colored sand adhered to a pressed fiberboard or particleboard panel, square format with the sand laid right out to the edges rather than being set in a frame. The image is a traditional Navajo wedding vase - the double-spouted form with the joined bridge handle - rendered in terracotta and cream sand with a scalloped white banding down the body and a small oval of turquoise-green sand set into it, flanked by two dark red-and-black mesa or butte forms with pale desert floor beneath, sagebrush and yucca clumps in dark green and gold sand, and two golden flowering stalks at the left. Ground is natural cream and white sand. Marks and inscriptions - the reverse is hand-lettered in black marker at the top: Wedding Vase. Below that an ink stamp reading MR. & MRS. BEN SAM / P.O. BOX 462 / CUBA, NM 87013. Below that a hand signature in black marker: B. Sam. A small hanging hole is drilled through the upper left corner. No date, no edition number, and no tribal certification card or tag is present or included. Size - approximately 4.25 inches square and approximately 3/8 inch thick, per the tape-measure photographs. In both measuring frames the tape lies loose across the tile rather than being hooked to an edge, so these are close estimates only. Piece 2 - airbrushed Southwest pottery vase. Tall teardrop or bullet form, widest low on the body and tapering to a small round opening about 2 inches across with a flat unglazed rim. Finish is a soft matte, unglazed and slightly chalky to look at, not shiny. Decoration is airbrushed in stencil layers, wrapping the full circumference: a pale sky-blue upper ground; a horizon band of sunset orange, coral, salmon, and pale gold; large stepped and serrated diamond and chevron blanket motifs in blue, cream, and orange; a vertical row of blue spiral or scroll fret elements; a range of dark purple and black mesas; a stand of silhouetted pine trees; and a figure of a mounted rider on a horse, airbrushed in cream and black against an orange sunburst. The interior is plain unfinished light-colored clay. Marks - signed in black marker inside a recessed, unpainted circular foot ring on the underside. The signature is a bold, stylized, run-together cursive that I cannot read reliably from the photographs - it may be a single surname, and a Navajo surname is plausible for this type of ware, but no name and no tribal attribution is claimed. No maker's stamp, no pottery name, no country of origin mark, no "Navajo" or "Handmade" mark, and no paper label are visible anywhere on the piece, so none is claimed. Size - approximately 10.5 inches tall, with a base approximately 3.5 inches in diameter and a rim opening approximately 2 inches across, per the tape-measure photographs. In the height photograph the tape stands upright on the shelf beside the vase rather than being held against it, and in the base and rim photographs it lies loose across the piece, so all of these figures are close estimates only. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Neither piece was weighed. Photographed on a dark oak table against a white wall. Both pieces appear together in the openin