Description
This minimal-style clay candle holder is perfect to add an earthy feel to any space.
This black clay piece can also hold water so you can use it as a decorative pitcher.
It can also be used as a decor on your bookshelf.
The Process
Traditionally, the clay is molded by hand or on a potter’s wheel. After it is shaped, the pieces are set to dry for up to three weeks. If the intention of the artist is to obtain a sheen finish, the piece is then polished when it’s almost dry. The surface of the piece is lightly moistened and then rubbed with a curved quartz stone. This compacts the surface of the clay and creates a metallic sheen and dark color during firing.
The pieces are then fired in this above-ground kiln, using wood fires that heat the objects to extremely high temperatures.
This black clay vase is made by the artisan women of the Sierra Mixe in Oaxaca using ancient techniques that have been passed down through the generations.
The designs are simple, however, don’t be fooled, the richness and expression of these pots are in the textures and unique colors born of the earth and fire.
No one wants an ancient tradition to vanish, but most do, and more will. The Women of the Sierra Norte, Oaxaca are keeping this tradition alive.
With your support, we can continue to preserve traditional art and culture.
Please contact us for wholesale and industry inquiries.
Culture
These unique pieces of art tell stories of the earth and the women born into a world of discrimination.
50 years ago in the mountains of Oaxaca, women had no right to anything, being born a woman was synonymous with being a housewife and being guarded, with no right to study or vote or to participate politically. The women of the Sierra Norte took refuge in the clay, dedicating their lives to creating beautiful meaningful pieces of art, created from only the resources given to them by the earth. Today they see how they have made a better life for their children. Every day while they work with the clay together they reaffirm to each other that women are powerful.
“Modeling clay, that brown mass from mother earth, with only our skin, is something unpredictable, something with which we were born and gives us strength and courage, we have grown up watching our grandmothers make figures, that example is what motivates us to continue creating more from our family’s workshop, an independent space where life in quality is privileged.”
In pottery, the artisans have discovered their strength and value as powerful women, thus overcoming the inequalities they have faced.
Together the women have maintained their ancestral tradition and have rescued the importance of traditional arts that are at great risk of being lost in the face of the so-called “development” that the industrial ceramic industry represents, where the mind is no longer applied or the heart.
Our Vision
We have a strong commitment to ethically made and fairly traded products.
We have established fair trading partnerships with the artisans and their families by developing direct personal relationships based on communication, transparency, and mutual respect.
When you purchase our products, you support communities of Mexican artisans by empowering them to preserve their traditional art and cultural heritage.
We hope you love these gifts these artisans have spent their life creating and perfecting.
