This is a striking large water jar by Lorraine Williams. The jar has a  low, wide, sharp shoulder and an elongated neck.  The piece has four large Yei-Bi-Chi figures.  There is one leading and three following.  The Yei-Bi-Che figures are:

“Yei bichei (Yébîchai), or “maternal grandfather of the yei”, is another name of Talking God who often speaks on behalf of the other Holy People. (He, along with Growling God, Black God, and Water Sprinkler, were the first four Holy People encountered by the Navajo.).  “Yei” (pronounced “yay”) is the Navajo name for the benevolent supernatural beings who bring their healing power to medicinal ceremonies still performed today.  

Each figure is highly detailed and incised into the clay. They are each highlighted with color.  Around the top of the shoulder are cloud designs. Below the sounder are mountain patterns.  It is a striking large jar and was traditionally fired creating the exceptional coloring on the jar!  After the firing, it is covered in pinon pitch, which is typical of all traditional Navajo pottery harkening back to when it was utilitarian.  Lorraine has won numerous awards for her pottery and has been featured in books such as “A Legacy of Generations”.  The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “LW, Lorraine Williams”.