South American Folk Pottery: Traditional Technique

The tradition of pre-Hispanic and Spanish influenced pottery-making still flourishes along the west coast of South America. In the countryside of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela there are still artisans, as well as entire families of potters, who make pottery in the same way that their ancestors did. The pottery - handbuilt from locally dug clays and low-fired with wood, bamboo, or animal dung - ranges from simple earthenware containers for everyday use to elaborately painted, glazed, and decorated figures and candelabras. And here, for the first time, these age-old techniques and processes have been fully documented, providing not only an historically important, permanent record of a vital folk craft, but a rich source of methods and approaches that potters and ceramists can adapt and use in their own work. This research is not only invaluable for practicing potters, but it is a way of preserving for future generations an artistic tradition that, without encouragement and support, may very well die out. 224 pages, 8-1/4 x 11", over 30 full color plates, 2785 black and white illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. Glossary. Index.