This bi-lobed water bottle or jar resembles gourds that the Zuni grow to make containers. The opening of the vessel (now worn from use) appears to have had a netsikâ (a crook, or drumstick, used in ceremonies) and lapanawe (feathers) motif with a zigzag band of red and black cloud motifs under it and a spirit break under the clouds.
The lower half of the bottle has alternating red and black bands of connecting downward facing triangles that may represent bands of rain clouds or falling rain. A spirit break at the bottom completes the painted decoration.
John Wesley Powell Collection of Pueblo Pottery (Illinois Wesleyan University)
