Chulucana Pottery
Chulucana pottery is made only in the small village of that name. The village is located on the slopes of Mount Vicus, which, in turn, is located in the far Northern portion of Peru. This magical and mysterious mountain was once the center of an ancient Indian race, after which it has been named. The Vicus, which flourished until about 400 B.C., created one of the richest cultures of the Pre-Colombian world. To them, the making of pottery was not simply forming clay into a desired shape. Pottery making was considered a way to communicate with the secrets of the earth and it was a means to give praise to the creative gods of the universe.
In the late 1960's, a tomb of a Vicus nobleman was discovered at the base of the Mountain. Under the auspices of the Peruvian Government, a small group of young artistic potters, all of whom were decedents of the Vicus, formed a village in the vicinity where the tomb was discovered. The seventeen members of this new village formed an organization they named"Sanoc Camayoc" (which roughly translates as pottery specialists), and they named their new village, Chulucana.
The stated goal of Sanoc Camayoc was twofold: First, to study the style and form of the beautiful ceramic vases discovered in the tomb; Secondly, to attempt to recapture the lost glory of their cultural and historical past through the duplication of that which they studied. Of special interest is the fact that all techniques used in the production of pottery were discovered through trial and error. It is both the techniques of making this type of pottery as well as the actual pottery itself which has brought this village International recognition. In 1992, during Europe's celebration of the 500th year of the discovery of the Americas, Chulucana pottery was selected by various Nations of Europe to represent the art of the New World .
Neither potter's wheels nor molds are used in the making of these items. The artisan sits with his bare feet crossed in front of him, soles up, and uses his feet to hold the pottery while his hands shape and mold its form. The finished piece is given a slip coat of color, and burnished with a special polishing stone (considered to be the soul of the artisan). The burnishing gives it a brilliant shine. Then, using a paste of earth and water, designs may or may not be painted on. When the paste mixture is removed after firing, that which was covered retains its initial slip color while all else is turned black by the smoke of the fire.
The figurine was a logical progression from the vase. One day, probably out of boredom, an artisan simply closed the top of one of his vases (which explains the rotund figures often referred to as "Gordidos") and put a head on it as a caricature of one of the members of the village. What was intended as a joke has become an art form of itself. The figurines are simply caricatures of the villagers doing normal every day tasks.
It is the belief of the potters that their making of vases and figurines are an offering to the ancient Gods. In effect, they say, the earth has been good to them by giving them crops to eat and feed for their animals. It is only right, therefore, that they give something back to the earth. That which they give is called, in their Indian dialect, "Mud Jewels".
We call it Chulucana Pottery.
