Exceptional!  This is a deeply carved bowl by Nancy Youngblood.  The bowl has 16 melon ribs, each very deeply carved into the clay.  They come to a sharp point on the edge which gives the piece an amazing feel. The ribs twist back and forth FIVE times. Nancy said of this style of jar:

“It is extremely difficult to polish because you are moving your hand right to left to right to left to right to left as quickly as you can. Then you have to flip the pot over and do it the opposite way. When I polish a piece like this, I can only do three ribs, and then I leave two unpolished and I do the single ribs at the end. I like to be able to focus on the final single ribs.  The first vase I did like this, I took it down to show my grandmother [Margaret Tafoya], and she looked at it for the longest time. And she said to me, “How many ribs did you polish at a time?” And I said, “I can only do three at a time,” and I couldn’t do more than that. She said, “I thought so. I think I could make this, but I don’t know if I could polish it.” That was the greatest compliment. She stared at it for the longest time, and for the first time I think I impressed her.  Nancy Youngblood, Spoken Through Clay

The symmetry of the 16 ribs is quite extraordinary and it is stunning how they are carved at just the right angle to reflect the light.  Nancy said this style was a “waterfall”, as the ribs seem to cascade down the surface.  The piece also has a lid.  The lid is fully carved on both sides with seven melon ribs.  This style of lid is one that Nancy calls a “flame” lid.  The lid fits perfectly into the bowl.  Both were traditionally fired to a glassy black appearance.  Nancy has won numerous awards for her melon bowls including Best of Pottery several times at Santa Fe Indian Market, along with Best of Show.  The jar is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Youngblood”.