This is an exceptional large bowl by Ida Sahmie.  It is the Day Chant Dance with 14 male and female Yei-bi-chi dancers encircling the jar.  The entire jar is fully polished vertical in the classic “onion skin” style. The figures are elongated, much like in a sandpainting.  They alternate between male and female dancers. The figures are each painted and etched into the clay. They are painted with bee-weed (black) and natural clay slips.  There is incredible detail in this piece, such as each of the male dancers has different designs on their dance skirt! The women have etched concho belts. The jar is thin-walled and traditionally fired.  Ida is a daughter-in-law of Priscilla Nampeyo and she continues to make beautifully formed pottery with wonderfully complex designs.  She has won numerous awards for her pottery at events such as Santa Fe Indian Market.  She is the only Navajo potter creating this unique style of ethnographic pottery.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Ida Sahmie”.  This jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair. It was made in 1987.