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.  This jar has a classic water jar shape with a low shoulder and a turned out rim. The jar has four sections of “rainbow ribbons” extending from the rim to near the base.  They are five different colors (brown, red, white, black, tan). To create the precision of these designs she first paints the checkerboard pattern.  Then fills in the triangles with the various colors and then paints over the edges again to give each section more definition.  Separating the colorful areas are four sections with snow, rain, lightning, and cloud patterns. Note how small the squares are on this jar! The inside rim is also slipped red. 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”.