Jar

The proposed gift includes pottery made in a style named for the small Mexican village of Mata Ortiz (Chihuahua, Mexico). The tradition draws upon the ancient work of the Casas Grandes culture (1000-1400 AD), and was established in the 1960s and 1970s by Juan Quezada (Mexican, born 1940), after he discovered prehistoric shreds in the country side of Mata. Quezada trained other in his community and in as relatively short, the village has become and a mecca for ceramic collectors,

The global vessel by Armando Silviera features a very different, more geometric painted design that culminates the head a ram at the neck vessel.

This work will expand the Native American communities represented the MFA collection and will serve as complex examples of the linage of traditions and contemporary innovation found in the rich  history of art and trade in the Southwest. Like recent acquisitions of Shan Goshorn's basketry and the forthcoming gift of Wounaan basketry from Panama, these works will contribute the story of living tradition of Indigenous making, taking inspiration from historical and ancient work, but which support contemporary communities.