This is a large and early piece of Santa Ana pottery by Eudora Montoya.  She is the most well-recognized potter from Santa Ana Pueblo. In 1972 she began teaching Santa Ana women the art of pottery making. She had 17 students in her first class. Only 5 or 6 of them continued making pottery. Although Eudora’s pottery was traditional in materials and construction, generally her designs were creations of her own.  In 1973 she visited the White House with other Pueblo potters.  This jar is from the 1960s.  It is coil built and painted with clay slips. The jar has a high shoulder and a short neck.  The painting is more precise than much of her later work, with bolder imagery and her signature checkerboard and hatchure lines.  The jar has classic Santa Ana rain, cloud patterns on the body, and plant designs around the neck.  The white slip is applied first and then the designs are painted with two different colors of clay.  The base is slipped red.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  It is signed on the bottom, “Dora Montoya, Santa Ana”.