Pantaleón Panduro, Clay Urn w/Pedestal, Tlaquepaque Ca. 1890's

Peso Priced Item: These Greco-Romano urns lined the veranda of the Palacio de Gobierno in Tlaquepaque at the turn of the century. The legend is that during the 1920's revolution vandals stole all these and one at a time over the decades they have surfaced again. I did once see (and unfortunately did not get a copy of) an antique photo showing them all in place. We have had two of these in my 27+ years at Barbara's. . They are attributed to Pantaleón Panduro. Here is a bit of a biography of the artist: Pantaleon Panduro (1847 - 1909) Born in San Pedro Tlaquepaque on July 27, 1847 and died on August 8, 1909. Pantaleón started his adult life working at a brick factory. There he learned about the properties of clay and soon was able to master them. He was not happy with his life though, since his hard work would barely bring enough money home to support his wife and seven children. One day he started modeling in clay. He made busts of the people he worked with and they were very impressed when they got to see the finished piece. The quality of his craftsmanship brought people from all walks of life to look for him and ask him to make their "Retratos" (Portraits).  Pantaleón would readily acknowledge and in no more than 30 minutes he would make a life-like clay figure that resembled the person so much that he earned the name of "El Brujo" (The Wizard).He made Retratos of many celebrities including politicians, bullfighters, police officers, circus people and the wealthy ranchers who were amazed at the quality of his work. The story goes that President Porfirio DIaz was so impressed with Panteleons' bust of him that he offered to send him to Italy for more training. This measures 27" in diameter and 4' tall. There are a few little dings to the clay and as you can see the painted surfaces are faded. We do not really know if these were painted originally or natural clay. The other one we sold decades ago was painted solid black.