Chamba Vessels

Handbuilt Vessel with Terra Sigillata and Glaze

Pitcher: H: 13” L(spouts): 9.5” D: 7” (Lid: H: 1.75” D: 4”) | Pot: H(pot body): 6” H: (with handles) 7.5” D: 7”

The core inspiration of this project is my Colombian heritage. While i did have things like food and the occasional story from my Colombian family members, it was never something that was rooted in my psyche. So, with this project i decided to try and dig up some of that heritage and learn about myself in the process. While researching, i stumbled upon pottery from the La Chamba region of Columbia. Fascinated with these elegant hand built forms, i decided to try and recreate 3 of the vessels as close to the original style as possible. Beginning with the forms, I was fairly comfortable with the rustic aesthetic of the hand built form. The surface decoration, however, required much more testing. I used terra sigillata to replicate the red clay slip the people of La Chamba use to decorate their pots. After extensive testing, I managed to recreate a terra sigillata and glaze combination that resembles the softness of bare terra sigillata while having a semi-metallic sheen. This piece was shown in the Kutztown University Clay Club Annual Exhibition: Connection in 2023.