Posted 4 years ago
pjolly
(2 items)
HOPI I think? It isn't signed and I got it at Goodwill, so there is no one to ask the history of it.
Hopi Native American Pot | ||
Mexican Pottery39 of 198 |
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Posted 4 years ago
pjolly
(2 items)
HOPI I think? It isn't signed and I got it at Goodwill, so there is no one to ask the history of it.
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Line work looks a lot like Mata Ortiz pottery.
It is not Hopi or Native American. It is contemporary Mexican pottery from the village of Mata Ortiz, in northern Chihuahua. The potters are Mexican, none claim any tribal affiliation, and the pottery has only been made there since the late 1970s. The Mexican government officially recognizes it as "contemporary Mexican art pottery."
Although the colors resemble traditional Hopi pottery, and it is also hand-made and unglazed, Mata Ortiz pots are thinner, have distinctive patterns not found on Hopi pottery, and have a rounded and burnished bottom. Hopi pottery is flat on the bottom.
The first Mata Ortiz pots, in the 1980s, were based on Indian pottery from the ancient Casas Grandes culture, which was centered nearby in Paquime. Paquime was abandoned around 1450, and there are no known descendents. It was excavated in the 1960s, which led to many pre-1450 Casas Grandes items appearing in the market place. And perhaps led to the interest in Mata Ortiz pottery, since early pieces from there were unsigned, and often mistaken for the ancient pieces.
There is still much misinformation on the web about Mata Ortiz pottery. The best references are the book "The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz;" the Number 45 issue of "Ceramica de Artes de Mexico;" and the Fall 1994 issue of "Kiva, the Journal of Southwestern Anthropology and History."
I'm impressed with both of you !
Thank you soooo much for the info!!!