The revival starts; while collecting wood as a young boy, Jaun Quezada collected pottery shards from the area that was once Paquime between 1000 and 1500 A.D. Paquime is now the Casas Grandes area. Jaun set out to reproduce the method the ancients used by digging local raw clay, transforming minerals into paint, and discovering the original formula to fire his pottery. This created a high shine without common cracking. After a curious anthropologist, Spencer MacCullum, tracked down Jaun and his craft in the seventies in the village of Mata Ortiz; the market took off. Hundreds of households in the region now use these age old methods to preserve this art. All we sell are hand-coiled Mexican pottery [just rub your fingers inside a pot] that is painted and prepared by
Casa Grandes
What is now labeled as Casas Grandes Pottery was first produced about 1,000 years ago in an area of Northern Mexico, called Paquime. This Native pottery was very primitive, at first, then evolved into a higher and desirable art
Paquime
The Paquime culture ended by the 14th century. Only shards are left of this pottery to study. Since the Paquime area was abandoned, becoming what is now Casas Grandes, these two terms are often confused. Like everybody else, we will refer to Paquime pottery as the higher grade Native American designed pottery; now you know the truth.
Tarahumara
The Tarahumara Indians history in Mexico dates back to the 16th century. They call themselves Raramuri [the runners] because this is their primary mode of transportation. Their population, approximately 50,000, still live in caves and small wood or stone cabins in the Copper Canyon region of Mexico. They still live a primitive lifestyle dressing in traditional clothing, and farming mostly corn--their primary source of their food
Mata Ortiz
The Mata Ortiz region produces more potters than any area in Mexico. There are over 300 households in this village producing pottery today. The most popular is the black pottery produced by original hand forming and dung-firing. This style is for the most exquisite decor; it is bought by many celebrities, and displayed in many of the finest museums.