Stunning!  This is a large water jar by Nancy Youngblood is exceptional. The shape is a classic water jar with a fluted rim.  The shape is inspired by the work of her grandmother, Margaret Tafoya, and her great-grandmother, SaraFina Tafoya. The jar has 32 ribs straight ribs extending from the rim to the base.  They get wider at the shoulder and more narrow at the rim and base.  Note, however, the depth of the carving! Each of the 32 ribs is symmetrical and evenly spaced to create visual symmetry.  The rim is perfectly carved and polished with the inside of the rim also rounded out!  It is always technically difficult to create a rim of such complexity and not have it break during the polishing!  Consider the amount of time it takes to polish so much surface area!  Each rib has two “sides” to be polished and the surface area of the piece is about double its size!  The piece was fired to a glassy black.  The last photos are of Nancy holding the jar as well as the firing.  Nancy has won numerous awards for her melon bowls and this is undoubtedly a classic of her style!  This jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Youngblood”.

“I got the idea from seeing a picture of Sara Fina’s work. Her jar had a fluted top, and the swirl went from the left to the right and ended at the raised rainbow band on the shoulder.  I deliberately curved in my fluted rim to make it more distinctive. Technically, this is one of the most difficult pieces to polish because you are continually flipping it around. You polish one side of a rib, and then you have to flip it real fast and polish the other side.” Nancy Youngblood, Spoken Through Clay