This is a classic coil-built melon jar by Samuel Manymules.  It has a round shoulder and a short neck.  The jar has eight swirling melon ribs pushed out in the clay.  Samuel is one of the few traditional potters who continue to make melon vessels in this manner, and you can actually see and feel the ribs on the inside of the jar.  The ribs create the shoulder and there is a sharp edge at the neck. It is impressive how they are rounded out and create symmetry in appearance.  The jar was traditionally fired, and the coloration is dynamic and vivid!  The variation of colors from black to red to brown gives the piece a sense of motion on the surface.  The browner areas are where it was fired to a higher temperature.  After the firing, the jar is covered with pinon pitch in the traditional way expected of Navajo pottery.  The jar is signed on the bottom, “SM”.  It is extraordinary vessels like this that keep Samuel among the top Navajo potters working today.