Ancient Art of Mayan Potters in Mexico
My modest objective was to discover
how pottery was routinely made by Mayan potters for two thousand years without
the use of a potter's wheel or modern kiln. Ever since Cortez subjected and
decimated the Mayan peoples in the sixteenth century, Spanish porcelain has
been used and fashioned by the colonizers. No one seemed to know, however,
where the traditional Mayan potters were at work and what methods they were
using to fashion those large brown cooking pots and storage vessels exhibited
in the Palace of Cortez (Cuernavaca). Surely these elegant vessels were made
"by hand" without the use of plaster molds. Slowly but surely, I
discovered those remote villages, out there beyond the ends of the bus lines,
where Mayan pottery was still being created following ancient traditions.
With persistence, I finally arrived at Tlayacapan and the methods used there
staggered my imagination. Using simple ready-made tools--hands, feet, water-soaked
rags, volcanic rocks, kiln-fired forms, and adobe-brick--these potters replicated
the masterful arts passed on to them by their ancestors. It is this ancient
art that I have attempted to document, to duplicate, and to honor.