Joseph Cerno is known for his large coil-built vessels.  He would also make pieces with his wife, Barbara.  The jar is coil-built, and it is a classic water jar or “olla” shape with a high shoulder and a short sloping neck.  The design is a striking variation of historic Acoma pottery with Acoma birds and plants painted around the neck.  Around the body of the jar are larger parrots, with flowers and under rainbows.   The neck of the jar has smaller birds and flowers.  At the end of each rainbow is another large flower.  All the various colors are from natural clay slips and the black is bee-weed. The jar is one of their more complex patterns that flow across the surface of the piece.  Note the detail of the fine-line hatchwork on the flower leaves! The bottom is slipped red and has an indented bottom, which again harkens back to the Acoma pottery of the late 1800s. The jar is signed on the bottom “Joseph Cerno”.  It is from 2004 and it is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is certainly a wonderful contemporary Acoma vessel with a dramatic use of revivalist designs and techniques.