This superb pottery jar was made by Quico Marquez, a Mata Ortiz potter in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. Well-known for his blackware pottery, Marquez also created this buff clay jar decorated with traditional Casas Grandes designs, a tribute to ancient potters. Hand painted in fine detail using a brush made of human hair, the geometric motifs are precisely rendered in red and black, one side the twin of the other. The walls of the jar are thin, the interior smoothed and the exterior stone-polished to a nice gloss, all signs of a quality piece.
The pot stands 7 1/2 inches tall, is 3 1/4 inches wide across the mouth and has a circumference of 16 inches at the widest point of the body. It stands on an incredibly small, flat round bottom only 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Still, the artist managed to sign it, incised into the clay "Quico Marquez" (we darkened and greatly enlarged it in our photo). It weighs one pound, two ounces and is in excellent condition.
This is a handsome piece of Mata Ortiz pottery, symmetrical and balanced and desirable.
>>>To pronounce the potter's name: Kee-ko Mar-kez
PYH 5358
US$295.00