SW Pottery & Sandpainting
Updated September 5, 2026
| Lot number | 394 |
| Category | Pottery, China & Glass |
| Auction | Hancock Estate Auction |
| Date | September 25, 2026 at 9:30 AM CDT |
| Auction house | Harrison Auction & Realtor |
| Location | Gracemont, Oklahoma |
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
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