This is a striking and unusual melon bowl by Nancy Youngblood.  It is one of the few all-tan polished melon bowls she has made. The piece as 32 swirling melon ribs extending from the rim to the base.   They are very deeply cut into the clay and they are each fully polished.  Note the sharp edge to each rib!  Nancy says that she can only polish three ribs at as time, as each rib has two sides and they are very time-consuming to polish and not chip them.  This piece is polished tan, which is one of the most difficult techniques in Santa Clara pottery, as the piece is only polished using water on the surface of the clay!  The bowl was traditionally fired and has a clean, even caramel tan coloration.  It’s hard to photograph, but the coloration is beautiful in person!  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Nancy Youngblood”.  It is from 1984.  It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair.