beautiful vase

Barro negro is a traditional pottery material in Oaxaca, whose use requires a long and detailed crafting process. Fernando and Magali Pedro follow this long process to make this beautiful decorative vase embellished with floral motifs. This charming design also features a base made of common reed.

Paddling serenely across a pre-Hispanic lake, an ancient duck is frozen en time, the moment preserved for eternity. Walter Jose Acosta depicts the beautiful bird in a ceremonial vessel in the style of Peru's Moche people, who crafted realistic clay portraits of people and animals. This exquisite replica of an ancient huaco, or clay vessel is meticulously crafted of burnished terracotta and painted by hand.

Barro negro or "black clay" has been used in the Mexican state of Oaxaca for centuries to make the most beautiful crafts like this splendid decorative mini vase by Mexican artisans Fernando and Magali Pedro. They design and hand-craft a ceramic vase with a reed straw base that will complement your spaces in the most stylish way.

Swimming sinuously down a pre-Hispanic river, an ancient fish flaunts fluted gills, bright eyes and a flirty tail. Walter Jose Acosta depicts the beautifully-detailed creature in a ceremonial vessel in the style of Peru's Moche people, who crafted realistic clay portraits of people and animals. This exquisite replica of an ancient huaco, or clay vessel is meticulously crafted of burnished terracotta and painted by hand.

The Saga of the Ayar Brothers, telling the origins of Cusco, gives life to a splendid series of decorative vases that pay homage to the ancient Empire of the Incas. Titled Ayar Cachi in honour of the fearless brother whose wrath makes the Earth tremble, Peruvian artisans Rolando and Luis' creation comes in an elegant shape imitating the classic regional vases, all beautified with a warm palette that enhances each geometric motif typical of the Andes.

The swallow motif has long been popular in authentic Talavera pottery and is usually depicted in cobalt blue, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. However this bird seems to suggest the quetzal found in the cloud forests of Oaxaca, a state that borders Puebla. Isabelle Collins works in the style and technique of classic Talavera ceramics to create a beautiful ginger jar. This lidded vase is known in Mexico as a tibor; it was brought to Mexico from the Orient by way of the Philippines in the late 1500s.

"We use the same techniques and styles used in 16th-century Puebla. Classic Talavera used only six colors, all of which were natural glazes compounded at home with mineral pigments. We create our homemade paintbrushes using mule hair or horsehair from the mane or tail, according to the thickness desired for our motifs," the artisan confides.