VIRGIL ORTIZ Pottery Mermaid Figurine [SOLD]

This beautiful pottery mermaid by Cochiti Pueblo artist Virgil Ortiz has a lovely face with eyes and eyelashes and dark black eyebrows.  She is wearing a crown on her head, a necklace and her breasts are covered in seashells.  Each of her arms sports a bracelet.  Her tail is beautifully decorated in orange and black.

Virgil Ortiz [b. 1969 ] obviously picked up the idea of a mermaid from his mom, Seferina Ortiz, as she made them as well.  He started making pottery at age 6, under the tutelage of his mother.  He has gone beyond making this style of pottery and has progressed to making his own style.   These early pieces of his pottery have become very collectible. This figure is signed and dated.

Virgil Ortiz’s figurines were featured in a two-person exhibit at the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe in 1999. The exhibit catalog is entitled: Clay People, which may be available from the museum gift shop, The Case Trading Post.

Relative Links: traditional pottery vessels, jewelry, Seferina Ortiz, Cochiti Pueblo, figurative pottery, Virgil Ortiz, Cochiti Pueblo Potter