Hector Javier Martinez Mendez (Mexican, 21st century) and Gabriela Perez de Martinez (Mexican, 21st century). Sgraffito Dia de los Muertos at the Cemetery jar. Signed on underside of base. A truly stunning pottery jar of the Mata Ortiz tradition made by husband-and-wife artists Hector Javier Martinez Mendez and Gabriela Perez de Martinez depicting a black and white Day of the Dead scene in a cemetery. The scene is portrayed via the sgraffito technique in which the artist scratches through the ceramic slip to reveal a contrasting color beneath - in this case black slip on beige pottery. The elaborate narrative scene features several iconic calaveras from the annual Mexican holiday shown playing music, dancing, and parading through the graveyard. Amongst them are headstones and crosses that pay homage to famed Mata Ortiz artists - Nicolas Quesada, Chevo Ortiz, Felix Ortiz, and Tomas Villa - while ravens and crows soar above. Size: 4.6" Diameter x 6.2" H (11.7 cm x 15.7 cm); 6.5" H (16.5 cm) on included custom stand.

Mata Ortiz pottery is a recreation of the Mogollon pottery found in and around the archeological site of Casas Grandes (Paquime) in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Named after the modern town of Mata Ortiz, which is near the archeological site, the style was propagated by Juan Quezada Celado. Quezada learned on his own to recreate this ancient pottery and then went on to update it.

Born in 1984, Hector Javier Martinez sprang onto the Mata Ortiz pottery scene about 15 years ago (2008) with his distinctive style of black and tan pots incised with Day of the Dead and Night of the Dead motifs. Those designs resulted from a comment made to him by Steve Rose (a well-known American pottery dealer). Employed as an auto mechanic and gardener just to make ends meet while he figured out the pottery making business, Javier had asked what Steve thought he needed to do in order to make pottery his permanent vocation. Steve replied, "Time for something different." A few years later Javier won 1st Place in the 2013 Concurso Ceramica Juan Mata Ortiz for one of his Day of the Dead pots. Then in 2014 he won the Presidencial Award at the Premio Nacional de la Ceramica in Tlaquepaque, Mexico, for a large olla incised with Mexico City views and his Night of the Dead theme (the pot pictured above).

Provenance: private Thornton, Colorado, USA collection

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#181802

Signed on underside of base. Some miniscule nicks to rim, but otherwise intact and excellent with impressive detail.