Rachel and Eric on sun 20 sep 98
Betty,
Here in Oaxaca potters in three villages that I'm aware of use tree
barks as dyes on their pots. I two of these villages, Rio Blanco Tonaltepec
and Yojuela, the bark comes from oak trees ( I don't know what kind, but
they say the trees have to be mature). The bark is boiled for many hours and
then left for a few days. What you get looks something like coffee. This is
then splattered or brushed on the pots (lowfire) as they are pulled, hot,
from the fire. The juice and tannin stain the pot. This stain will come off
or fade with exposure to weather. The third village uses the bark of a tree
called qujiote. I'm not as familiar with this process though I understand
that the dye is extracted by boiling as with the oak. This dye is applied
to the pot while it is cold and washes right off with water.
Eric
Eric Mindling & Rachel Werling
Manos de Oaxaca
AP 1452
Oaxaca, Oax.
CP 68000
M E X I C O
http://www.foothill.net/~mindling
fax 011 52 (952) 1-4186
email: rayeric@antequera.com
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