While Nancy Youngblood is known for her swirl melon bowls and carved pottery, she started out her career making miniatures.  This miniature is from 1978 which makes it a very early piece of her pottery!  It is a miniature water jar and it is fully polished.  There is a double shoulder.  The jar has been stone polished a glass like appearance.  The jar is painted with a water serpent around the body of the piece.  The painting is crisp and a striking contrast to the polished surface.  Note as well the complexity of the design, with all the edges and loops in the pattern!  In the photos the painted line gets distorted with the reflections of the light, but it is a perfect consistency all the way around. The jar is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration or repair.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Yellow Aspen Youngblood “.