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 filled in to create larger images in the squares.  This jar has a round shoulder and straight sides.  The neck of the jar has an “escher-like” series of squares.  Technically, the squares are painted with clay slip for the colors and then the black is painted over the top of the clay, which adds to the complexity of the piece.  The body of the jar is black-and-white with her “micro squares” that are smaller than her normal squares.  They create four panels of designs representing the four seasons. Each of the sections is then separated by four colors of lightning extending across the surface. 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”.