Talkative Toucan

A black toucan with dark red accents chatters from his perch on a branch in this ceramic decorative bowl. Handcrafted by Chorotega pottery artisan Elpidio Chavarría of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, the decorative bowl has a background of light and dark browns and greys artfully blended together, and is rimmed with black. The underside is painted in the same color as the background and has three triangular feet.

Chorotega pottery is completely handmade with traditional techniques passed down through the generations for 3,000 years, and one of the last surviving cultural elements of the Chorotega people indigenous to Costa Rica’s Guanacaste region and Nicoya Peninsula. Chorotega pottery is made from local clay mixed with a very fine freshwater sand. The artisans shape the clay on hand-operated pottery wheels and hand-polish the art piece to give it a smooth texture and luster. Designs are etched by hand and the pieces are painted with natural pigments made from pulverized local colored rocks mixed with water, then fired in traditional wood-burning brick kilns. The result is a beautiful, earthen pottery unique to this region.