Tonita Roybal remains one of the great innovative names in San Ildefonso pottery.  This jar is one of her distinctive shapes which has a wide shoulder and a sloping neck.  The design is painted on the polished surface with a very modernist style.  There is a rainbow band with rain and lightning designs below.  As the jar is turned there is a double lightning pattern.  It is a complex design but striking and note as well how the firing of the black has created areas of gunmetal coloration!  Below the shoulder is a checkerboard pattern.  The jar was made and polished by Tonita and painted by Juan Cruz, her husband. It is signed, “Tonita + Juan” on the bottom in the clay. It is in very good condition with no cracks, restoration or repair.

Click here to read about the Early San Ildefonso Innovators