Mata Ortiz Day of the Dead Wedding Vase

Mata Ortiz is a city in Mexico located near the archeological site of Casas Grandes in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juan Quezada Celado taught himself to recreate the authentic traditions of making pottery at Casas Grandes. In the mid 1970's he began to teach family and friends the skills and techniques necessary to produce pottery using the traditional methods from Casas Grandes. Today, several hundred artists produce pottery in Mata Ortiz. Their work is found in museums, fine art galleries and cultural institutions around the world. This community of artists and their success has helped to bring this region out of poverty and provide income for those related directly and indirectly to the art of pottery.

This hand coiled wedding vase was made by Ana Trillo. Ana has produced pottery in Mata Ortiz for over 30 years. She is well known as a skilled artist, teacher and demonstrator of the art. This traditional wedding vase has a unique Day of the Dead theme and is a very good example of her etching (sgraffito) skills. 10″ H x 7″ W.