Señor Hilario Quezada Jr.
Weight - 1 pound 10 ounces
Width - 6.75 inches
Height - 7 inches
The Mexican holiday Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead ) is celebrated throughout Mexico. November 1st is a wonderful time to visit this nation and marvel at the respect and splendor descendants show to their beloved, deceased ancestors. In the community cemeteries, it is a day for the living family and friends to renew their respect and love for the deceased. By gathering to pray for, remember them and participate in their spiritual pilgrimage, the family bond remains more powerful than death.
Hilario Quezada Jr. is one of the ultimate masters of depictions of this holiday. He has transformed images of dead to those of living souls, where they experience everything we the living love. As with all of Artist Quezada pieces, this pottery is full of imagery. A gentleman rides a penny farthing, another plays the string bass, and another a guitar. A gentleman wearing a sombrero rides his trusty horse and another stands proud and tall on his parked Harley - Davidson, with shoulders back, and wearing his aviator goggles. The most prominent the witch flying her broomstick while holding a mystical round globe bearing a pentagram in her free hand.
The trees are bare and show it is in fact early winter, with owls and doves and other birds flying to a fro. Every image is a parade of activity and life. And as an homage to his fellow artisans, Señor Quezada Jr. has placed the names of actual deceased residence of Mata Ortiz on the headstones. With 'Descanse en Pas', or 'DEP' (Rest In Peace), and 'En Recuerdo Eterno' (In Eternal Memory), as well as 'Tus hijos te Recuerdan' (Your Children Remember You) we are brought to the strength of affection and reverence by our Latin cousins toward their deceased loved ones. And a final effect of his artistic abilities is Señor Quezada Jr.s utilization of the style of sgraffito, an etching method going back thousands of years. This method demands a great commitment to time carving through the hard black glazed surface to the underlying white clay. It is challenging and is very difficult to achieve.
This is a very fine and very high quality piece of folk art created by one of the masters of the Latin Ceramic movement.
I include a pottery ring for setting this on.
Señor Quezada signs his pieces.