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Navajo Sand Painted Pottery Bear. Maker unknown.
This beautiful sand painted bear is covered in petroglyphs and would be a lovely addition to any room. Rough to the touch, but pleasing to the eye.

Measurements:
Height = 5 inches
Length = 10 inches
Width = 2 1/2 inches

Sand painting on pottery is an extension of the traditional Navajo sacred sand painting thought to have been taught to them by the Pueblo Indians.

Most ethnologists and other researchers believed that the Navajo learned the art of sacred painting from the Pueblo Indians. These people's ancestors were the prehistoric Anasazi, Mogollon, and Mimbres. Studies of prehistoric paintings on cave and kiva walls show that many were painted or plastered over and then reused with different art.
It is well known that early sandpainting used a variety of materials - colored sands, crushed rock, charcoal, crushed flowers, gypsum, ochre, pollen, and cornmeal. These sands or "dry" paintings were used in the Pueblo's rituals in prehistoric times.
To read more about Navajo sandpainting check out this article. http://www.americana.net/sandpaintings_article.html