This is a large water jar with a relief-designed scene by Elizabeth Manygoats.  She is a daughter of noted potter Betty Manygoats.  Elizabeth is known for her folk-art style pottery with figures in relief or applique on the surface.  She says that she often emphasizes Navajo women and their daily lives in her work because “They’re the ones I look up to.”  This jar is coil-built and very thin-walled.  It is one of the largest of this style we have had.  It is very subtle in coloration, relying more on the colors from the firing than painting the surface.  In raised relief, there is a Navajo girl on one side with a dog.  On the opposite side is a horse that is tied to the tree with a string.  In relief on the surface, there is a hogan and a wagon, corn, sun,  a goat, sheep, chicken, and plants. The tree where the horse is tied has another girl relaxing in the shade.  Note the subtle detail in the folds of her skirt!  Various colors are added to highlight the imagery.  The jar is traditionally fired to create variations in color to the clay surface.  After the firing, the entire piece is painted and covered in pinon pitch in the manner of traditional Navajo pottery.  The piece is signed on the bottom in the clay, “EM”  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  Elizabeth has won numerous awards for her pottery over the years.  It can also be found in museums throughout the southwest.