Handmade Burnished vase

Michoacán is a world reference in craftsmanship, a land of ancestral techniques. It has the largest number of artisan processes in Mexico distributed in its seven regions, the result of a fusion of cultures that have evolved from the utilitarian to the decorative and artistic, manifested in the delicacy of copper, the elegance of the glaze, the soft touch of the burnished and the symbolism of its pottery to the negative. The pottery to the negative is the pre-Hispanic technique that gave origin to the current ceramics, it demonstrates the great specialized artisan knowledge given its complexity, richness of forms, decorations and shiny and smooth finish to the touch. The craftsmanship of Zinapécuaro is distinguished by its adherence, more than any other pottery center, to the pre-Hispanic forms of Tarascan ceramics in the texture of the clay and the shapes of its vessels. This magnificent vase, molded and decorated entirely by hand, stands out for its burnished finish, a polychromatic and negative decoration of a peacock framed by an oval of petals in shades of turquoise and yellow. The negative pottery is an ancestral technique, one of the four decorative types characteristic of western Mexico, its vestiges are found in Michoacan around 1500 BC. This technique with pre-Hispanic designs uses an element that evaporates with the contact with heat to reveal the motifs captured in the pieces. It consists of putting a natural clay pigment, which is impregnated and polished, once cooked it is decorated, below the decoration is captured as a shadow or negative. This determines that each of these pieces are unique, unrepeatable, of a unique beauty and of great cultural value. Among the peasant population, pottery is a basic activity as important as agriculture that ensures daily food and family sustenance, while pottery is the only means to obtain cash income without the risk of alienating the harvest. The pottery in the negative of Zinapécuaro is very diverse, with flashes of indigenous and Spanish tradition, which evolved bending to the currents of mestizo taste. It is a national art with an Indian background, in the elaboration it maintains a traditional organization and of familiar character, in which all the adult, young and children members of the families participate actively, each one with specific tasks.