This is a tall carved jar by Jeff Roller.  Jeff is a son of Toni Roller and a grandson of Margaret Tafoya.  He continues a family legacy of extraordinary traditional pottery.  This bowl is coil-built, stone-polished, and traditionally fired black. The jar has a tall shape and is carved with a double avanyu.  Each avanyu has a geometric design to their bodies as they encircles the jar.  The rim and base are also highly polished.  The jar was fired a glassy black.  It is signed on the bottom, “Jeff Roller” 2024.

The story of the avanyu:

 The water serpent, we were told, it represents life. It represents the water, which is important to life, to people, plants, and animals. The water design is very important to put on pots to honor that serpent. We used to ask, “What is the water serpent?” We were told the water serpent is in the rivers, the big rivers. At one time, when my mother was young, there were no bridges to cross over the Rio Grande. They were always told that if you see a water serpent, your life is going to be long. She did see one laying on the rock. She said it was huge, snakelike, and she said she just stared at it and couldn’t holler for anyone else to see. If you look at the serpent design, it has all the weather designs. The lightning on the tongue of the serpent, and there are mountain designs and rain designs and all the weather elements. .”  Toni Roller, Spoken Through Clay