Black, with red stripes chulucanas pod vase
$49.95
Product ID: #5G0329
Black, with red stripes chulucanas pod vase
Chulucana pottery is made in small villages located on the side of Mt Vicus, in Northern Peru.
The Vicus Indians inhabited this mountain up until around 400 BC. For them, making pottery was not simply forming clay into desired shapes; it was considered a way to communicate with the secrets of the earth and a way to give praise to the creative Gods of the Universe.
In the late 1960's, a tomb of a Vicus nobleman was discovered at the base of Mt Vicus. Under the supervision of the Peruvian government, a small group of young potters, all of whom were descendants of the Vicus Indians, formed a village near the tomb site. The 17 members of this new village founded an organisation called "Sanoc Camayoc," and subsequently named their new village ‘Chulucanas’.
Most of the pots are hand built, whilst some are thrown on a potter’s wheel. For the hand-built pieces the artist sits on the ground, with his/ her bare feet crossed in front of them. They use the soles of their feet to hold the pot while their hands shape its form. The finished piece is given a slip coat of colour and is burnished with a special polishing stone to a brilliant shine. Using a paste which is a mixture of earth and water, the artist draws designs onto the pot, before the pots are fired in open stack fires and low temperatures. After the firing, the paste mixture designs are removed, and that which was covered retained its original slip colour while everything else has turned a lustrous black or deep chocolate brown from the smoke of the fire. The smoke is achieved with mango leaves being added to the kiln during firing.
It is the belief of the potters that in making vases and figurines they are giving an offering to the ancient Gods. They say that the earth has been good to them and it is only right that they give back to the earth through creating what they call, "Mud Jewels." We know their work as Chulucana Pottery.
Country
Peru
Peru
