This is a classic water jar by Robert Patricio.  This jar has a high shoulder and a short neck.  The jar is painted with bee-weed and red clay slip.  The design has clouds around the neck of the piece.  Around the body of the jar are swirling rainbirds.  They are accentuated with hatchure areas with thin lines.  The thin lines, detail, and black-and-white coloration the jar a modern appearance.  The base is painted with red clay.  It is signed on the bottom, “R.  M.  Patricio”.  The jar is an exciting extension of his artistry in clay and continues the amazing Acoma legacy.   

Robert said recently of his pottery:

““The pottery inspires me to keep going.  Keeping the tradition alive in making pottery, that’s how we were brought up.  Our ancestors started making pottery.  It’s amazing what comes of a piece of clay. When you come to Acoma it’s peacuful and quite.  When you look a piece of pottery, you see the same peacefulness.”   Robert Patricio, 2020