This is a tall jar by Susie Crank.  She is a daughter of Rose Williams, and a sister of Alice Cling.  Each piece is coil built, stone-polished, and amazingly, she says he may burnish a piece over and over as many as 15 times to get a high shine!  The shape is often referred to as a “drum pot”.  The jar is very highly polished, and around the neck, there is a single band of raised designs that represent mountains.  There is an open space in the designs, which is called a “doorway”.  It is a very traditional style of Navajo vessel.  The jar is traditionally fired to create fire clouds on the surface.  The colorations on this jar range from black to deep red.  The jar was covered in pinon-pitch after the firing, a continuation of the traditional Navajo pottery when the pitch was used to make the pottery waterproof.  Today, the pine pitch seals the vessel and gives it a high shine.  This jar has a stunning shine and a great feel to the surface!  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Susie Crank”.  Simply stunning.