Frederica Antonio is renowned for her intricately painted pottery. Each piece is coil built and then finely painted. Her designs are a series of fine vertical and horizontal lines which are then filled in to create larger images in the squares.  This tall jar has a high shoulder and a sloping neck.  Below the shoulder, the jar is painted with one of her “illusion” designs. There are flowing clouds encircling the piece but each is intersected by a vertical line and offsetting the cloud next to it. It created an amazing sense of motion to the piece.  The neck of the jar is painted with five different colors (black, white, red, tan, and brown). The design has triangles creating a mountain and sunset cloud pattern.  Interestingly, the triangles are painted with the various clay colors, and then she has to go over them again with the bee-weed (black) to make each square more distinct.  The base of the jar is concave, reminiscent of historic Acoma jars that were carried on the head.  This combination of thin walls, classic shape, and tightly painted design creates a piece that is visually stunning!  The jar is signed on the bottom, “F. V. Antonio”.