This is an unusual shaped jar by Helen Naha, also known as “Feather Woman”.  She created distinctive pottery using the white clay slip throughout her career.  The designs were all painted using bee-weed (black) and natural clay slips.  She learned to make pottery from her mother-in-law, Paqua Naha yet had her own style in form, imagery, and composition.  This jar is coil-built and is a “double lobe” jar.  It is meant to look like one piece sitting on top of another, but they are joined together. The top half has rain and cloud designs.  The bottom half has a bat wing pattern.  The proportionality of the two sections works perfectly on this piece.  It was traditionally fired and has great coloration. The jar is signed on the bottom with her hallmark feather.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair. 

This bowl has the “Awatovi Star” pattern painted on the top.  The bowl has a sharp shoulder and sloping sides.  The piece is first polished white, then painted with bee-weed (black) to create the design. The star is on top and around the shoulder is the eternity band.  Amazingly, even the inside of the bowl is fully polished!  It was traditionally fired and there is some slight variation to the color from the firing, which certainly adds to the beauty of the piece.  The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is signed on the bottom with her hallmark feather.