This vessel is part of a collection of three ceramic vessels (catalog numbers E432917 - E432919) made by Caddo tribe member, Jereldine (Jeri) Redcorn, née Cross. "Bell Dance" is a semi-spherical (ellipsoid) jar that the artist refers to as a "seed jar" type. The mouth of the vessel is a circular hole at the top of the jar, with no distinct neck (restricted neck). "Bell Dance" is decorated with an abstract design of swirling lines that are incised into the vessel, and then filled in with cross-hatched lines. Each of these cross-hatched sections are bordered by a smoothly burnished section of roughly equal width. In areas where the cross-hatched line segments come to a point, there is a circular area of burnished body inside the cross-hatched section. The burnished areas are chocolate-brown in color, while the incised areas have been rubbed with reddish-colored hematite dust after firing. The design on this vessel is reminiscent of pottery styles from east Texas found in Caddo tradition archaeological sites dating to the period of A.D. 1100 to 1300. Some of the well-known ceramic types with swirling designs include Fatherland Incised, Hatina Engraved, Hodges Engraved, Keno Trailed, Taylor Engraved, and others (Gonzalez et al. 2005). Gonzalez, Bobby, Robert Cast, Timothy K. Perttula, and Bo Nelson. 2005. The W. T. Scott Collection at the American Museum of Natural History and Other Caddo Collections from Arkansas and Louisiana. Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, Binger, Oklahoma.
The Caddo Bell Dance consists of a pair of dance leaders with bells (or rattles) who lead two lines of dancers in a pattern of interlocking spirals.
