Posted 4 years ago
steviej
(38 items)
I believe this is from a collector that bought in the 1970`s. Maybe from the 1950`s ?? I see no signatures and do not know what this is used for. Any ideas what it is used for?
Southwest Pottery 1950`s | ||
| Pottery1489 of 12525 |  |  |
It's an item made for sale in the village of Mata Ortiz, Mexico. Pottery was first made there in the late 1970s (so this cannot date to the 1950s).
It looks older because the first pottery at Mata Ortiz was based on designs copied from pre-historic pottery found in the nearby excavated ruins of Paquime.
The Mata Ortiz potters, however, are not Native American, or Indian. None claim any tribal affiliation. They simply are Mexican people who learned to make pottery as a valuable source of income for the village, and were very successful at it.
Today the Mexican government classifies the pottery as Mexican Art Pottery, and most potters make pots that are still easily identified as "Mata Ortiz," but which don't necessarily copy the forms of the pre-historic pottery.