Featured Is this pot Casa Grande

Am pretty sure it is Casa Grande pottery, Am not very sure of age though, There may be a signature on the bottombut much to small to see, never mind read, one observation, the lip of pot is much thinnerthan rest. 6 inches tall,again thank you all.

 

Yes, it looks to me Casas Grandes in style. Could you try to take a photo of the signature?

 

Well my young neighbour from next, told me he thinks it Beto Enriquez, I can find very little information on him so still at a loss ,Is he a native potter?

 

I can see the word Enríquez on the photo. There are many artisans working in this style in Chihuahua, so should be one of them. I wouldn´t call this ´native´ pottery though, rather traditional

 

When this type of pottery first came on the market in the late 1970s, it was called "Casas Grandes Revival," since the potters were copying designs from the prehistoric Casas Grandes ruins nearby, and because there was a lot of misinformation about where it was from, and who the potters were.

Today it is generally called Mata Ortiz, after the village in northern Chihuahua where it is made. This is because sellers were leaving off the "Revival" part, and it was often being sold as genuine Casas Grandes from ca. 1200/1400 A.D.

Also, it was determined that none of the potters are Native American, or claim any tribal affiliation. They are all Mexican, and not related in any way to the original makers of Casas Grandes pottery...so it really wasn't a "revival" in the first place.

In addition, many people spelled it as "Casa Grande," which is a town in Arizona, but again, unrelated to the pottery in question. So it's best just to call it Mata Ortiz pottery. The Mexican government considers it contemporary Mexican Art Pottery.

Norbeto "Beto" Enriques is listed in the Potters Index of The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz (published 1999) but that's the only reference I've found to him.

 

Also, it is sometimes called Paquimé ceramics, for the town nearby, but it is not used much because of the archeological site with the same name.
There is a very small indigenous population in Chihuahua so it´s unlikely that the potter would be indigenous. The notions of a´tribe´ and a´Native American´ aren´t usually used in the case of Mexico.

 

I found this sold pot from him
http://www.icollector.com/Mata-Ortiz-Polychrome-Jar-by-Norberto-Enriquez_i23051971

 

Gorgeous pot, Nancy.

Revival in art terms generally refers to the style, not to the ethnicity of the makers. A lot of Etruscan Revival was made by English makers, Egyptian Revival by just about the whole Western world, and even some in Egypt (by people who may or may not be descendants of the ancient Egyptians).

 

There is also the problem that several Mata Ortiz potters reportedly started their pottery career by making pots that were sold as authentic prehistoric Casas Grandes pots, and many of those ended up in some museum collections. Apparently there is sometimes a fine line between "fake" and "revival."

It reflected rather poorly on those honest Mata Ortiz potters who were making their living producing beautiful works of art, with their own designs. So calling the pottery Mata Ortiz is probably best, avoiding any confusion, or reference to the prehistoric pottery.

But, again, it's not "Casa Grande," that's an Arizona town. "Casas Grandes" is the prehistoric pottery found in and near the Paquime Ruins. This pot is neither of those. The preferred term today is "Mata Ortiz" pottery.

 

Thank you all for the wealth of information, I really appreciate it.