Your Direct Connection to Mata Ortiz

Mata Ortiz village panorama with summer rainbow

Rainbow over Mata Ortiz

 
Pottery and People
 

Our fascination with Pueblo and Mesoamerican pottery began in the early '50's.

Our searches revealed amazing treasures

and our efforts were rewarded with some significant finds.

We found many interesting pieces and our collection was born.

 

                         Tlaoc Aztec Rain God effigy 12th Century                                  Prehistoric Casas Grandes Paquime polychrome classic olla           

                                                    Tlaloc - Rain God                           Casas Grandes, Mexico

                                                      Nayarit, Mexico                              Ramos Polychrome

                                                       900 - 1200 A.D.                                   1280 -1450 A.D.

                         Casas Grandes polychrome olla      Casas Grandes stone bear with "tableta"    hooded effigy

    

                                           Casas Grandes double-faced effigy        Casas Grandes black and white

         

                                                  Casas Grandes, Mexico       1280 - 1450 A.D.

                                                              

               

 

Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso black on black signed Marie and Julian

Maria Martinez - San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico

signed - "MARIE AND JULIAN'

1930's

  

In the late 50's, Dr. Charles DiPeso's now famous excavations at Paquime in northern

Chihuahua turned our attention to the richly decorated pottery of Casas Grandes,

only a few miles away and a 3 hour drive from our home.

Frequent treks to Paquime led us to the remote village of Juan Mata Ortiz.

              

Young boy herding cattle through main street Mata Ortiz               Old door modern television antenna Mata Ortiz village home

 

In Mata Ortiz we learned that well-executed Casas Grandes style pottery

was being created by Juan Quezada and others.

early Mata Ortiz pot late 1960's      early Mata Ortiz pot late 1960's    early Mata Ortiz pot late 1960's 

Examples of early Mata Ortiz pottery which were inspired by original Casas Grandes ollas.              

 

 

As archaeology buffs, we respected ancient culture, and were therefore

initially skeptical of the Mata Ortiz replicas of ancient Paqime pottery.

However, we soon learned that these replicas were never directly copied

but were creatively inspired and skillfully crafted by artisans faithful to ancient traditions.

Those Mata Ortiz potters whose early works are shown below,

from our permanent collection, are now internationally recognized artists.

 

Juan Quezada early effigy hooded Paquime style side view       Juan Quezada early effigy hooded Paquime style front view      Juan Quezada early effigy hooded Paquime style back view

Early effigy by Juan Quezada

early polychrome Consolacion Quezada tan clay    early polychrome Nicolas Quezada tan clay  early Reynalda Quezada black on black incised design

                                 Consolacion Quezada                        Nicolas Quezada                            Reynalda Quezada                          

early Reynaldo Quezada black and red on white clay     early Taurina Baca black and red on white clay    early Felix Ortiz (recently deceased) serpent design polychrome 

                                         Reynaldo Quezada                         Taurina Baca                                  Felix Ortiz

 Juan Quezada zoomorphic turtle black design on red clay vintage     Lydia Quezada early olla black over mixed clay      Vintage classic Juan Quezada polychrome serpent theme                                                                                                 

   Juan Quezada                                     Lydia Quezada                                 Juan Quezada

(NFS)

 

  

Mata Ortiz pottery represents a genuine effort to create original designs by employing exactly

the same materials and methods used centuries ago.

Clay sources are the same, human hands form the pottery (no potter's wheel) and

paint colors are all natural, coming from minerals .

Paint brushes are made from human hair to apply the designs .

Firing is done over open ground, not in a kiln.

       chilicote polishing beans             Guillermina Quezada polishing unfired olla for her husband, Juan              newly fired Juan Quezada olla on hot coals cooling             Juan Quezada inspecting freshly fired olla             

Guillermina Olivas, Juan Quezada's wife, uses tiny chilicote beans to polish our unfired olla.   

After firing, the olla cools and is inspected by Juan Quezada.

 

TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION

...rebirth of contemporay art out of ancient methods    ...the results are amazing!

Classic early Mata Ortiz olla, potter unknown         Contemporary Paquime style classic olla by Sabino Villalba

           very early Mata Ortiz olla                   contemporary Mata Ortiz olla

                                                                        artist unknown                                     Sabino Villalba                                

 

Respect for and appreciation of this newly discovered art demanded our serious attention.

Our monthly visits are always rewarded

with constantly emerging designs born of centuries old traditions.

 

     Oscar Rodriguez intricate cuadrito design black on white clay  Martin Cota stylized Mimbres modern black on white clay sculpted story pot  Graciela Gallegos classic intricate design polychrome ultra classic design

                                                                             Oscar Rodriguez                        Martin Cota                               Graciela Gallegos  

                                                                (sold)                                            (sold)                                             (available)

 

  street scene in Mata Ortiz affectionately called the Mata Ortiz Taxi

Mata Ortiz Taxi

Mata Ortiz villagers watching the Independence Day Jaripeo (rodeo)

Watching the Dia de Independencia Jaripeo (bull riding)

 

Manuel Rodriguez collection of effigy " Pochteca" traders

Ancient Pottery Trader effigies from the creative imagination of Manuel Rodriguez

 (NFS)

 

 

      JUAN QUEZADA STARTED IT ALL...

      JUAN QUEZADA           Juan Quezada examining a current completed olla    

At the center of it all was Juan Quezada.

Juan single handedly gave birth to the movement

and shared his knowledge with family and friends.

 

       THEN SPENCER MAC CALLUM SPREAD THE WORD...

    Spencer MacCallum in our living room assesing our collection      SPENCER MacCALLUM  

The catalyst in this magic formula was Spencer MacCallum who discovered

Juan Quezada's work in 1976 and introduced Quezada's art to the outside world.

"The classic period for Mata Ortiz pottery is now: (Mata Ortiz) potters produce new, innovative works each day.

We are not looking upon relics from the past but have the pleasure of participating in the full flowering of

a significant art movement, whose culmination still lies ahead. The best is yet to come."

                 

                                                                                                         Spencer MacCallum / Walter Parks

                                                                                                 ARTES DE MEXICO

                                                                                                Issue #45, 1999

 

Juan Quezada signing a vintage olla recently discovered in El Paso

Juan Quezada signing one of his recently discovered older ollas.

 

Now you can share in the joy and excitement of collecting fine Mata Ortiz art.

Please proceed to our galleries.


 
   
   
           

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