This large bowl by Samuel Manymules.  It is coil built and slipped with a red clay and then traditionally fired.  The melon ribs on the bowl are pushed out from the inside of the clay. On this piece, the ribs begin right at the  mouth of the piece and extend in a swirl to the base.  There are 12 ribs and they are widely spaced and the separating is a sharp edge.  The coloration from the firing ranges from tan to black to red.  Samuel said that the areas which turn tan are the ones where it reached the highest temperatures in the firing.   It is how Samuel places the jar in the firing and the smoke which determine how the colors will range from black to red.  The color changes as the jar is turned but in the photos you get a good sense of the color variations.  After the firing the jar is the covered with pine pitch in the traditional way expected of Navajo pottery.  It is extraordinary vessels like this which keep Samuel among the top Navajo potters working today.