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

This pot is made from beautiful Mata Ortiz clay by hand from start to finish. This is a stunning piece of art featuring hand painted images of black running ants on the red clay. It has been stone polished to give it a smooth shine. This one is 12" tall, 13-1/2" wide, 42-1/2" in circumference, and has a 5-1/2" opening. It is signed by the artist Lucy Mora De Bugarini. This piece of pottery would make a beautiful addition to your collection, one to be proud of. In recent years, Mata Ortiz pottery has become highly prized by knowledgeable collectors.

The inspiration for Casas Grandes pottery is taken from the historical 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, but after the excavation, a new awareness developed. 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 MataOrtiz, painted with human hair brushes and natural pigments (minerals and roots of plants). It is hand-formed, without the use of a potter's wheel, and is dung fired. Building the pot starts as coils spiral upward, one above the other. The potter squeezes them between her thumbs and fingers. This thins the coils to the thickness of the finished pot. The cracks between the coils are smoothed out as she turns the pot. As the walls rise, the potter smooths them and slopes them inward and outward.