Decorative pot

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 glazing, the soft touch of burnishing and the symbolism of its pottery to the negative. The craftsmanship of Huancito has an indigenous background, for the artisans it has a dynamic function, it is part of their culture, their way of life and their sensibility. The burnished pottery is characterized by the magnificent shine and smooth texture achieved by polishing with a river stone. This piece is molded and decorated entirely by hand, highlighting the typical floral design of the region in black and orange, accompanied by representative images of fauna in bright orange tones on a white base and a detail of corn leaves colored in brown. Burnishing is a pre-Columbian technique that consists, once a piece is decorated, in polishing the surface with a pyrite stone to close the pores of the clay, giving it softness and smoothness to the surface, as well as a special shine. The most common designs used in the burnished pottery of Huancito are flowers, birds, human figures, fretwork and deer, which are painted on the piece with mineral or natural pigments. Huancito, an indigenous Purepecha community of the Tarascan plateau, is one of the pottery centers that most preserves the indigenous tradition, it is made in molds, burnished and painted by hand. Red clay is used, which is extracted on the outskirts of the town, and is decorated in white, black or brown charanda with figures of flowers, leaves and fretwork, with mostly pre-Hispanic forms. Currently the pottery in the town is a domestic or family task, it is the women, unlike in the past that only kneaded and modeled the clay, are the ones who mostly elaborate the craftsmanship in all its stages, from the extraction of the clay to the decoration and painting. The workshops in Huancito are the same houses of the artisans and their kilns are built in the backyards. Pottery is one of the main activities of the village, along with agriculture. The traditional pieces are the pots, the famous rice jugs and colored vessels, although the burnished pottery of Huancito maintains the indigenous tradition that has been transmitted from generation to generation, innovative proposals have emerged in the decoration and colors resulting in fine floral designs as in the case of the pieces of the renowned artisans Elena Felipe and Bernardina Rivera.