Charger Burnished Fired Pottery Polychrome Decoration With Calacas Riding Nahuals

Charger Burnished Fired Pottery Polychrome Decoration With Calacas Riding Nahuals from Tonalá, Jalisco

José Ángel Ortiz Arana

Ceramics

Ht 24.5″ x W. 24.5″ x D 3.5″

José Angel Ortiz Arana, working in Tonalá, Jalisco, is one of the most skilled potters working anywhere in Mexico. His brushwork is exquisite. José Angel learned the craft from his father. Tonalá has been an important center of ceramics for more than 500 years. This spectacular charger depicts two calacas (skeletons) riding a nahual (magical mythological creatures, popular in Mexican folk art).