Harrison Begay, Jr. has won numerous awards over the years for his deep carved pottery.  This piece is deeply carved with a Yei Sun on one side and a Yei moon on the other.  These are traditional Navajo designs often seen in sandpaintings so it is exciting to see them featured in Harrison’s pottery.  Separating them are old-style dragonflies on one side and a cloud swirl on the other.  The shape of the dragonflies brings to mind historic Navajo and Pueblo jewelry with the dragonfly pendant in this formation. Harrison has a very distinctive style of carving, which has a beveled appearance to the angle of the cuts into the clay. The jar is highly polished and there is a strong contrast of the matte and polished surfaces.  Harrison uses both polished and matte surfaces to draw the eye to his complex designs. The bowl is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Harrison ’20”