WOW!  This is a spectacular large jar by Sylvia Naha.  She was the daughter of Helen “Featherwoman” Naha and a sister of Rainy and Burell Naha. She was known for her distinctive pieces painted with intricate designs on a white, polished clay surface. Throughout the 1980s, Sylvia was considered among the most innovative of the Hopi potters. Her pieces were classic in form and amazingly intricate in design. This jar has a wide shoulder and sloping sides. The entire piece is painted with bee-weed (black) and clay slips. One half has two large Mimbres-style lizard on either side of a stalk of corn. The other half has a combination of very tightly painted shard patterns. There is a turtle, a bird wing, a bear paw, and other traditional designs. These sections are taken from her mother’s classic imagery. The background has been stippled with bee-weed to create a brown coloration.  Amazingly, the inside is also fully polished when you look into the jar.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair. The jar is signed on the bottom with a feather and an “S”. It is certainly an extraordinary piece in terms of shape, design, and size, by his exceptional Hopi-Tewa potter!