Mata Ortiz Hand Coiled Indian Pottery by Casas Grandes artist Mora.

From Casas Grandes Valley, this hand made pot is loaded with traditional Mata Ortiz flair. This hand coiled, hand painted, and hand fired Casas Grandes pot is a unique and intricate work. Hand painted rainbow lizards with swirling tails seem to jump off of the hand polished pottery walls. Their stylized white rainbows stand out from the design giving this pot its own unique and eye catching character. This pot is 10-1/2" tall, by ~11" wide, with a circumference of 34", and a 4-1/2" opening. Signed by Mata Ortiz potter Lucy Mora de Bugarini. Painting is still widely used to decorate pots in the Southwest. Potters make no measurements or sketches but paint designs free-hand. This pot has a mind boggling amount of fine line free hand detail.

Technically and aesthetically, Casas Grandes pottery equals or surpasses the work of the Indian potters of the American Southwest. It is made with clay from the mountains high above the village of Mata Ortiz, painted with human hairbrushes and natural pigments (minerals and roots of plants). It is hand-formed, without the use of a potter's wheel, and is dung fired. The Inspiration of Casas Grandes pottery is taken from Casas Grandes tradition. The renaissance of this beautiful pottery began in the early 1960's, following the Amerind Foundation's excavation of the nearby Paquime ruins in 1958. Until that time there was little interest in the antiquities of the area. After the excavation, however, a new awareness developed.