Vintage Antique Mexican Nahuatl Folk Art Metal Milk Jug Vase Olinala Guerrero For Sale

This is a rare find, beautiful, antique piece of Mexican folk art. It is a hand-painted and lacquered milk jug from Olinala in the state of Guerrero. I will be listing another vintage jug under a separate listing. The indigenous artists here are Nahua. This very old piece is intricately painted over every square inch with amazing symbolism of the Nahuatl-speaking people who live in this region. There is a mermaid/serpent and a bird/serpent on the upper part. The first band is a group of colorful fish, around the bottom bands are agave, cactus, basilica, mountains, village and sun. The person I obtained it from estimated it to be from the 1940\'s. It measures 16\" tall by 11\" wide and has a 4\" diameter upper rim. A fabulous piece for your Mexican folk art collection or any Museum collection. All of the artwork is in very good condition and is still rich and vibrant. The milk jug is very strong and made of a heavier-gauge metal. The bottom of the original milk jug had a gouge and split in the metal band as shown in the last photo, yet it is not loose at all and is very stable, welded and strong. It looks like the artist just painted over it.
Olinala and Temalacatzingo in Guerrero are famous for their production of fine chests (bauls), gourds and furniture, which are delicately and intricately painted. The artwork often displaysidealized city or village scenescombining cathedrals and colonial buildings against a backdrop of mountains, which reflected nearby cities such as Puebla, Taxco and Cholula with their magnificent central squares, imposing buildings and impressive basilicas. Also present could be weddings and village life,national emblems of eagle and snake, cactus or flags, or stylized birds, animals, lakes, fish, jaguars, sun. A fabulous capsule of colonial culture.
The lacquer process in Olinala involves the use of chia oil, mixed with crushed minerals and organic colorants in the base. The paint in the artwork is made with natural pigments. To keep the piece clean, use a leather conditioner with all natural oils.