This vessel is sourced from the Zia tribe in New Mexico. The Zia have been known for their distinctive pottery for hundreds of years. The type of clay sourced in the Zia Pueblo is granular, creating thick and sturdy clay wares as opposed to other pueblo's thin walls and delicate wares. The Zia use a variety of symbols in their works, the most common being their tribal bird; a roadrunner. When New Mexico became a state, they sourced many symbols from the Zia such as the roadrunner, which became the state bird, and the sun symbol, which is featured on the New Mexico flag. The Zia use brick red clay and then paint on pigments of a creamy white and a dark brown for contrast. This particular vessel is painted with a red-brown pigment along with the white and dark brown characteristic of the Zia. This vessel features the roadrunner, the classical Zia symbol, central on the front and back. The signature on the bottom is unclear, but may spell out "R. Gachupin, Zia."