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🎶 Culture1 min read

Trinidad's Pottery

Porrones for the cane fields and jugs for the home: clay work passed through generations in Trinidad.

Decorated pottery in a Trinidad workshop, Cuba, January 2015. The source does not identify the workshop as belonging to the Santander family.
Decorated pottery in a Trinidad workshop, Cuba, January 2015. The source does not identify the workshop as belonging to the Santander family. Ji-Elle · Trinidad-Poterie (4).jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0

Trinidad's Pottery

A porrón from Trinidad once went to work in the cane fields. It carried drinking water for the cane cutters. 🏺 Household jugs had the same practical job: hold the water until someone needed it. Clay vessels were part of the working day.

The Santander family has passed the craft through several generations. Their workshops made useful vessels as well as decorative pieces. A jug had to be shaped, decorated, dried and fired. Each stage took time and someone who knew the material.

A decorative vase comes out of that same craft. Barro, torno y horno: clay, wheel and kiln. There is a long family history behind an object small enough to take home. 🔥

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