PEDRO MERCEDES (Cuenca, 1921-2008). Jug. Glazed ceramic. Signed on the base. Measurements: 24 x 16 x 9 cm. An outstanding potter, Pedro Mercedes worked with ceramics in an exceptional way, transforming the clay, opening it up between his hands, always with the masonry at the ready in search of the maximum expression of his works. His extensive production experiments in the world of shapes and volumes, remodelling concepts such as the ancestral Iberian bull, horses, deer, gods and even heroes, which Mercedes himself defined in that magical world in which the potter immerses himself. The pottery in which Mercedes modelled his brilliant works was approached by artistic personalities, and from it came pieces for all parts of the national and international scene. Even Picasso himself, an artist whom Pedro Mercedes admired, received certain pieces, commenting that: 'The same goblin has touched me and the potter of Cuenca'. In fact, in 2018 an acclaimed exhibition was held in Navarrete, La Rioja, in which pieces by Mercedes and Picasso coexisted and other pieces by great artists such as Dalí, Miró, Palencia, Sarachaga, Sanguino or Faus, among other potters, were exhibited. Pedro Mercedes began his career as a potter when in 1929 he saw his stepfather, a potter by trade, turn a piece in front of him for the first time. After leaving school in 1933, Mercedes began to attend the School of Arts and Crafts under the supervision of Fausto Culebras, a painter and sculptor from his own homeland, who introduced him to the artistic environment. The Cuenca-born artist's art is characterised by the subtle edging, scratching and polishing of the material, thus transforming the humble clay into true art. In turn, Pedro Mercedes is considered to be the creator of the scratching technique, which has transformed the concept of Cuenca pottery. To do this, he uses a nail and a razor, scraping and stripping the brown colour of the clay and experimenting with the possibilities offered by the colour black. The result of his art are pieces like the one presented here, in which the artist's knowledge of the material results in a studied bichromy and profusion of forms, almost bordering on horror vacui, adapted to the potter's wheel. Throughout his career as a potter, he has participated in numerous individual and collective exhibitions, both in Cuenca and throughout Spain. In fact, the Provincial Council paid tribute to him with a great anthological exhibition in the incomparable setting of the Convent of the Carmelites: "...Pedro is a preclear mind, he is a 'Genius of clay' who, day by day, fascinates us by leading us to that space reserved for the privileged, without ceasing to be a simple man, "a humble potter" as he says". In 2004 the exhibition organised by the J.C.C.M., made up of more than 100 pieces of his own and others donated by the artist, was inaugurated in the city of Cuenca (the former convent of the Religiosas Angélicas), subsequently travelling to the cities of Toledo (Museo Santa Cruz), Ciudad Real (Museo Provincial), Albacete (Museo Provincial) and Talavera de la Reina (Museo Ruiz de Luna). Currently Pedro Mercedes has his own museum, and his work can be found in the City Council of Cuenca, in the Antigua Caja Castilla La Mancha, in the Casa de Cuenca in Barcelona, in the Unesco in Paris, in the Spanish Royal House, in the Junta de Comunidades Castilla-La Mancha, as well as in several private collections.