This is a complex jar by Virgil Ortiz.  The jar is from Virgil’s 2009 show, “Vagabond”.  The piece is coil-built and painted with bee-weed (black). The designs combine a variety of imagery from circus figures to the erotic.  There are six different faces on the jar, which is a lot for the size!  They are each in different positions and surrounded by plant tendrils, sun, moon, and other graphics.  Note how for some, the hair is just “running paint”.  One figure has his signature, “x” on his hat.  Can you see the “spirit line” in the design? It is a break in the painting that is seen on traditional Cochiti pottery.  Virgil includes in on all his vessels as a tribute to those potters who came before him.  The jar was traditionally fired and the black is deep and rich in coloration.  It is signed on the bottom “Virgil Ortiz’ with his cipher.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.