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Signed Mata Ortiz Pottery Along
the They
had discovered how to pinch and coil clay to near perfect symmetry, how to
burnish with hard stones to a high polish, how to craft the finest brushes from
human hair, and how to make and then fire clays in the open air. Formed and
painted entirely by hand using only local materials and without benefit of a
potter's wheel or kiln their works reach artistic heights rarely seen before. In the mid-seventies an archeologist, Spencer MacCallum, entered an antique store in Deming, New Mexico. There he found 3 pots of a unique design. Requesting to see them more closely, he marveled at their lightness and fragile strength. When he asked where they had come from he was told "from some place in Mexico". Within a few short months MacCallum found the dry, dusty town of Mata Ortiz, and the artist, Juan Quezada. This pottery has been widely publicized and featured in exhibitions and museums around the world. It has set new standards of quality for hand-built pottery. Today nearly 300 Mata Ortiz potters are producing this fine craft, and Juan Quezada was awarded the National Art Award by the Mexican government in 1999. HISTORY
OF MATA ORTIZ The
original inhabitants of Mata Ortiz were part of the Casas Grandes civilization,
a vast network of villages in Some
three hundred years later the region became home to the Apaches who controlled
large parts of what is now Around
the turn of this century large stands of timber were harvested in the Sierra
Madre above Mata Ortiz, and an important railroad complex was established in the
town. Entrepreneurs met the many needs of the railroad gangs by building houses,
stores and workshops, all of adobe. From 1910 until the 1920s, Pancho Villa and
the Mexican Revolution swept through the area bringing great changes in land
distribution. The
railroad industry remained until the mid-1960s when the yards were relocated to
nearby Nuevo Casas Grandes. Mata Ortiz fell into hard times. Then, about ten
years later Juan Quezada rediscovered the ancient pottery-making process and an
artistic and economic renaissance was born. How
MATA ORTIZ Pottery is Made Clay
is brought down from the mountains in the area. The various colors are
red, gray, orange, and pure white. The clay is dried, ground by hand on a
stone metate, and mixed with volcanic ash. Then it is sifted and ground to a
fine powder. After the powder is mixed with water, it is spread out on a
gypsum slab to cure for two to three weeks. More water is added, and the
clay is kneaded to a proper consistency for pottery making. To
form the pot, a clay "tortilla" is patted out and then pressed into a
shallow bowl mold. This gives many of the pots their characteristic,
rounded bottoms, and traditionally, would make the pot a good shape for evenly
heating foods over a fire. A thick "donut" of clay is
placed on top of this base. The pot is shaped up into a very thin wall,
usually by pinching, sometimes by coiling and smoothing the clay. Finally,
a small "donut" of clay is added at the top so that the rim can be
shaped. After
being smoothed with a piece of hacksaw blade, the pot is dried, finished with
sandpaper. Polishing with stones or deer bones creates the fine texture and
compresses the clay for strength and finish. Using
only a brush made from single human hair with paints that originate from
minerals and clays the fine lines and incredible
designs are painted on. The
pot is fired to harden the clay. First the pot is warmed in the sun.
Outside, the pot is heated in an efficient, hot fire which can reach a
temperature of about 1600 degrees Fahrenheit. Back
to Signed Mata Ortiz Pottery
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Hours: Monday through Friday
10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (PT)
© 2004 Hensler Fine Art, Inc., and the respective artists |
