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 which are then filled in to create larger images in the squares.  This is a small water jar shape with a high shoulder and short neck.  The neck of the jar has a checkerboard pattern. The body of the jar is painted with horizontal and then vertical lines to create the squares.  After Frederica has painted the squares, she painted over them with clay slips.  The design is a swirling cloud pattern in black, red, brown, and orange.  It is an intricate design for the size of the jar.  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”.