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 that are then filled in to create larger images in the squares.  Frederica said this was the first time she had made this shape in her pottery.  What is unusual is how the jar dips in at the shoulder and then extends up the neck.   The neck of the jar is a checkerboard design with three different colors of clay along with white and black.  These are complex to paint as the creates the squares first, then applies the color clay slips and then paints over them again with the black.  Below the shoulder are mesa and cloud designs using clay slips.  The black-and-white areas are snow, rain, clouds, and lightning.  The painted designs accentuate the “dip” in the shoulder and I took a few photos to show the depth of the indention.  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”.