This is a striking carved water jar by Margaret Tafoya.  The jar was made in the late 1940s with a lighter weight clay and the earlier deep red slip on the surface.  The jar is coil-built and has a low shoulder and elongated neck. There is a water serpent carved encircling the jar.  The mouth and eye are painted “red-on-red”.  The background area is slipped with the traditional white clay.  The neck, base, and avanyu are all polished with a deep red clay.  This clay was primarily used in the 1930s-40s and then was lost and the new slip for polishing was more orange than red. The jar was traditionally fired with slight color variations to the surface.  It’s exciting to come across such creative pieces of her early pottery!  It is signed on the bottom, “Margaret”.  It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.  Definitely a piece of Pueblo history in clay!