Pottery from Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a nation with beautiful and rich diversity of handicrafts. Nicaraguan pottery is absolutely beautiful and very popular. Pottery making has been a part of the culture since pre-Columbian times here and hence the pieces are inspired by traditional pre-Columbian designs. All the pottery collection that you see here are entirely handmade. All of the Nicaraguan handmade pottery is made using a manual “kick” wheel to throw the desired shape. The potters of Nicaragua use mineral oxides to color the vases. They then fire them at low temperatures in brick kilns. Most of the potteries of Nicaragua come from San Juan de Oriente, a small village near Nicaragua’s capital, Managua. Among the various styles, individual pieces may be painted in the traditional fashion, using natural mineral oxides for the different colors, or they may be accented by scoring or etching the outer layer of soft clay or even pecking to remove a portion of the outer-most layer to produce a 3-dimensional effect.