Williams, Rose -Traditional Water Jar with Rainbow Band (1990s)

6"w x 6.75"h

$ 375.00

Rose Williams (1915-2015) was one of the great matriarchs of Navajo pottery.  Shew as from the Shonto/Cow Springs area of the Navajo Reservation.  Rose was an adult when she learned to make pottery but continued doing so for over three decades.  Her children, Alice Cling, Sue Ann Williams, and Susie Williams Crank, and her daughter-in-law, Lorraine Williams, are all recognized potters.  This is a classic shape jar with a low shoulder and sloping sides.  There is a raised band encircling the neck of the jar.  It is incised with a rainbow pattern.  Do you see the open area in the design? That is the “spirit line” seen on traditional Navajo vessels.  The jar was traditionally fired and afterward covered in pinon pitch.  This was a traditional method historically to make the pottery waterproof. Today, potters continue this process as a testament to the past. The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “RW”.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.