Product Description
Hand Sculpted Clay Mask by Folk Artist Gerardo Ortega, 8.5" x 8.8" x 6"
One of a Kind Ortega 115
The Ortega family is known for Barro Betus pottery.
Eleuterio Ortega Hernandez is the grandfather of Gerardo Ortega from Santa Cruz de las Huertas, Jalisco, Mexico.
He and his wife worked in the fields in during the planting and harvesting seasons, they used their spare time creating unique clay art.
Eleuterio made elaborate Tastoan dance masks (Dance of the Spanish conquest of Mexico) He also began to design more surreal figures. He took his clay from mines in Tonalá as does Gerardo, today. The large chunks of earth are crushed and then mixed with a harder clay called liga.
The face is hand painted and hand formed. It is a wonderful piece of Mexican folk art.