| Handmade pottery from Chulucanas, Peru is world | | | | dark hues with bright, vivid colors, maintaining the |
| renowned, as the potters have discovered an unusual | | | | contrast of color that has made Chulucanas pottery |
| technique of painting, burnishing, and firing their | | | | so popular. |
| pottery wares. Pre-Columbian vessels found in the | | | | Designs and Uses |
| burial sites of the Vicus tribe were studied and found | | | | With the variety of designs available, Peruvian |
| to have been created using a negative smoke resist | | | | pottery can make attractive home accent vases for |
| technique. The technique was then revisited in the | | | | display on tables, or in bookshelves. For decorative |
| 1960's by the potters in Chulucanas. Their | | | | use, you can easily create a centerpiece using dried |
| experimentation with the technique led to uniquely | | | | botanicals. Often times you will find various sizes |
| distinguishable pottery which is now sought after | | | | available in the same pattern, or even complimentary |
| around the world. Now, the majority of the | | | | patterns, so you can easily group two or more pots |
| Chulucanas community is involved in making pottery, | | | | or vases together to create a more dramatic effect. |
| earning fair wages for their artwork. | | | | Potters in Chulucanas, Peru and Fair Trade |
| Distinguishing Characteristics | | | | The majority of the Chulucanas, Peru community is |
| The unusual technique of painting, burnishing and firing | | | | now involved in making pottery. Handmade pottery |
| used in Chulucanas results in pottery most notably | | | | that is produced according to fair trade standards |
| characterized by elements of stark contrast. The | | | | benefits the potters and their families. Fair trade |
| pottery pieces are formed by hand, colored using | | | | practices and payment allow Peruvian potters to |
| lead free mineral oxides, fired, and then smoked. | | | | maintain their craft, while earning a fair wage and the |
| Smoking the pottery creates deep black and brown | | | | income necessary to provide the basics, such as |
| hues, which are then offset with contrasting colors | | | | food, health care and education for themselves and |
| to further emphasize the design. | | | | their families. |
| You will often see Chulucanas pottery designs with | | | | Copyright 2009 © Amy L. Milligan, bluedango This |
| white or ivory accents counterbalanced with dark | | | | article may be freely published. Permission to publish |
| backgrounds of black or brown. The inverse, where | | | | this article, electronically or in print, as long as the |
| potters use the smoking process to create black or | | | | byline is included with a live link and the article is not |
| brown accents in contrast to lighter backgrounds, is | | | | changed in any way (grammatical corrections |
| also characteristic of Chulucanas pottery. In many | | | | accepted). |
| contemporary pottery designs, potters offset the | | | | |