Mexican barro negro sculpture from the Doña Rosa family workshop ."Barro negro" translates from Spanish to "black clay". This clay is found in only one place in the world- San Bartolo Coyotepec in Oaxaca. Here, the clay is excavated from the ground, molded, and pit fired. Its glossy finish is achieved by polishing the clay with quartz stone before firing. This technique was invented and perfected by Doña Rosa, a ceramics artisan, in the 1950's at her workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico. The polishing of the clay compresses the surface which along with being fired at a lower temperature results in the shiny black surface we see in all barro negro pieces. A normally fired ceramic piece using the same clay would instead result in a dull gray finish. All craftsmanship is done by hand using only natural materials.
Origin: Town of San Bartolo Coyotepec in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Length/Height/Width: 9.5" x 4" x 7"
