Souvenir Ideas -- Tolima

By -
Lest you think that fine ceramics come only from Boyacá, there are many fine potters in the department of Tolima. As in Boyacá, in Tolima the tradition of pottery comes from the original indigenous inhabitants of the area.



While in Boyacá the ceramics are orangish-red in color, in Tolima they are blackish with red undertones.





This type of pottery comes principally from a town in Tolima by the name of La Chamba, near Guamba.



The life of every villager in La Chamba revolves around the making of these ceramics, just as it has done for centuries. It is the job of the children to collect the clay and allow it to dry in sacks. Once the clay has dried, they beat the chunks into dirt using sticks. Then, the women use the dirt to make a clay and then they model it into pots and other pieces. The items are then left to dry for 30 days. When they are sufficiently dry, the men of the village build the fires where the pots will be baked.


The pots get their unique black color from a smoking process that occurs during the baking. Apparently, the use of donkey dung in the fires creates the release of an acid in the smoke that causes the pots to turn black. Bringing home the unique black ceramics from La Chamba would be a great souvenir for any child, especially one born in Tolima. Considering looking for these pots in the artisan markets in Bogotá or Ibagué.

Photo:
http://www.colombia.com/especiales/2002/ceramica_chamba/multimedia/#inicio

Comments

Kit said…
I do have a warning for this pottery. We ran into some vendors and asked if we could eat out of the bowls. They said that the black pottery that they had was only for decoration and not to eat out of because they were not the REAL DEAL. They had simply colored the typical red clay with some sort of paint (maybe shoe polish?). They also warned to be careful that you find pottery that was actually stoneware (fired twice) and not just earthware (fired once) -- as earthware doesn't hold liquids. If you do happen to find the real thing They are gorgeous and worth having just make sure you ask a lot of questions before you just buy the first set you find.
September 28, 2009 at 11:20 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Popular Colombian Names

By -
Recently, I was asked to write a post on Colombian names, and popular Colombian names. I had a hard time finding a list, but eventually I did find one. According to I.N.E. - Instituto Nacional de Estadística, -- unfortunately, when I found this it doesn't say the year -- the most common Colombian boys names across all ages are: 1 JUAN CARLOS 2 CARLOS ALBERTO 3 ALEXANDER 4 ANDRES FELIPE 5 LUIS FERNANDO 6 DIEGO FERNANDO 7 JHON JAIRO 8 CARLOS ANDRES 9 ALEJANDRO 10 JUAN DAVID The girls are: 1 SANDRA MILENA 2 LUZ MARINA 3 CAROLINA 4 PAULA ANDREA 5 CLAUDIA PATRICIA 6 MARIA EUGENIA 7 PAOLA ANDREA 8 DANIELA 9 LILIANA 10 MARTHA CECILIA Just as here, names go through ebb and flow. Fourteen years ago when we were married, I attended several baby baptisms and met numerous friends of my husband. At the time, it seemed like everyone was naming their kid Juan CAMILO (boy) or Maria CAMILA (girl). I met dozens of them. Then, about 7 years later, I heard tons of SANTIAGO, JULIAN, SEBASTIAN and FE
Read more

Muisca Indigenous Names, from Hunza (Tunja)

By -
In response to this week’s posts on names, I have received several e-mails asking about the names of famous Colombians and their stories and about Indigenous names. I plan to spend the next three days sharing some of them. Also, I will continue to post more in the future and you will be able to find them all by clicking on the NAMES link the LABELS section to the right of the blog. Name: AQUIMÍN ( pronounced: ah key MEAN) or AQUIMINZAQUE (pronounced: ah key mean ZAH kay) When the Spanish arrived on the plains of Bogotá, 1536, they found a great nation. In fact, it was the third largest group of indigenous inhabitants in America. They called themselves the Muiscas , which meant ‘the people’. Their language was called Chibcha . The Muiscas were not a united group, but rather a collection of city states. The majority of the power was held by two main cities – what today are called Bogotá and Tunja (in Boyacá). These two cities were mortal enemies and each enlisted the loy
Read more

La Madremonte

By -
Image
The myth of the Madremonte (Mother Mountain), and I do say myth though many campesinos in Colombia believe in her today, has it's roots in the indigenous cultures of Colombia and is known throughout much of Colombia including Antioquia, Caldas, Arauca, Caqueta, Amazonas, Guainia, and perhaps more departments. The Madremonte looks like a large woman. She has large, bony hands, large teeth and Betty Davis Eyes -- which on closer examination glow. Her body is covered in leaves and moss. Her hair is a tangled mess of plants and moss which often covers her face. She lives in the mountains and jungles, (in Antioquia and Caldas she lives in swamps where streams are born. People who claim to have seen her, usually report to have done so near thickets and bushes in jungle like areas. Others report having heard her bloodcurdling screams and groans on stormy nights. She rules the winds, the rains, and all the vegetation, and her role is to protect nature. She punishes those who invad
Read more