Dolores Juanico is a daughter of Marie S. Juanico and a granddaughter of Dolores Sanchez.  She learned to make pottery from her mother.  Each piece is coil-built, painted with bee-weed (black), and painted with native clay slips.  Much of Dolores’s pottery is inspired by historic Acoma vessels. This jar is a classic Acoma shape with a round shoulder and a short neck.  The jar is inspired by a classic Acoma jar from around 1900.  Dolores said of this piece:

This 20th Century style traditional Acoma pot signifies a rainbow like pattern on all four sides which are the four directions as rain is needed. The diamond in the middle also includes four directions, with clouds and rain in the center. The orange zig-zag on top signifies the sun. This Matriarch may have been going through a drought at that time and was praying for all that is needed to grow. Or perhaps she was grateful for seeing blessings in sun, clouds, rain and rainbows after a beautiful rainstorm. Acoma still today has no running water or electricity and relies solely on Rain for everything.”

The jar is not only thin-walled but precision painted.  The jar was traditionally fired.  It is signed on the bottom, “D. Juanico”.