This is a striking coil-built melon jar by Samuel Manymules.  It has a tall shape and a short neck.  The jar has eight straight 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 straight ribs are visually striking as they are rounded out and create an impressive 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.