Оахаканың қара топырақ ыдыстары

Style of pottery from Oaxaca, Mexico

Barro negro pottery ("black clay") is a style of pottery from Oaxaca, Mexico, distinguished by its color, sheen and unique designs. Oaxaca is one of few Mexican states which is characterized by the continuance of its ancestral crafts, which are still used in everyday life. Barro negro is one of several pottery traditions in the state, which also include the glazed green pieces of Santa María Atzompa; however, barro negro is one of the best known and most identified with the state. It is also one of the most popular styles of pottery in Mexico. The origins of this pottery style extends as far back as the Monte Albán period. For almost all of this pottery's history, it had been available only in a grayish matte finish. In the 1950s, a potter named Doña Rosa devised a way to put a black metallic like sheen onto the pottery by polishing it before firing. This look has increased the style's popularity. From the 1980s to the present, an artisan named Carlomagno Pedro Martínez has promoted items made this way with barro negro sculptures which have been exhibited in a number of countries.

Barro negro pottery can trace its origins to 2,500 years ago, with examples of it found at archeological sites, fashioned mostly into jars and other utilitarian items. It remains a traditional craft of the Zapotecs and Mixtecs of the Central Valleys area to this day. This relatively recent popularity stems from the look, rather than durability, so many pieces are produced now for decorative purposes rather than utility. The workshop is still in the family home, where shelves of shiny black pieces for sale line the inner courtyard. Another important person in the development and promotion of barro negro is Carlomagno Pedro Martinez. He was born in San Bartolo Coyotepec into a pottery making family. This community is located south of the city of Oaxaca, In 2005, the Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca (State Museum of Popular Art) was opened here. It has one of its three halls dedicated to barro negro, with pieces from the Monte Albán era to the present day.

Many different kinds of objects are made of barro negro including pots, whistles, flutes, bells, masks, lamps, animal figures with most being of a decorative nature and not for the storage of food and water. Another quality the gray matte version has is that it can be struck similar to a bell, and the cantaros are also used as musical instruments. The sound produced is crystalline. When they emerge, the polished pieces are a shiny black and the unpolished ones have a grey matte finish.