Navajo Hand-Etched Horsehair Seed Pot by Ben Billy

The seed pot is one of the oldest forms in Pueblo pottery tradition, its small opening originally designed to protect seeds from wind and pests. Ben Billy works with that form here but pushes it in his own direction. The wide, squat profile gives the piece a grounded, earthy presence, and the horsehair firing across the upper half is some of the boldest carbon work in this collection. Thick, branching trails spread like dry riverbeds across the surface, each one formed in a single moment of contact between hair and hot clay.

Below the horsehair zone, fine sgraffito lines are hand-etched in tight repeating patterns around the full circumference of the pot. The color moves from a warm sunset orange at the widest point down into deep forest green and near-black at the base. At 11 oz it has real weight in the hand, the kind that signals solid, quality clay. Signed on the base as BL Navajo.

• Artist: Ben Billy (Navajo)
• Dimensions: 3.44" H x 4.43" W
• Weight: Approx. 11 oz
• Technique: Hand-etched sgraffito with horsehair firing
• Materials: Natural clay, mineral pigments

Display away from direct sunlight to preserve the mineral pigments. Handle with dry hands and avoid moisture on the surface.

Ben Billy is a Navajo potter whose work combines sgraffito etching and horsehair firing in forms rooted in Southwest tradition. His pieces are artist signed and collected for their bold carbon patterning and rich earth tone palettes.