Over the years of my travels, I have collected an international assortment of pottery representative of the indigenous peoples I visited. When possible, I like to buy museum reproductions of ancient pottery, as I did in Petra, Jordan. Archeologists found shards and it took both a chemist and a modern potter to be able to replicate the very thin but strong clay formula from the second century CE. I also have a replica of a Greek plate from the Black on Red period, about 500 BCE and a Canopic jar from Egypt which is a copy of those used to bury the organs of mummified royals in their tombs.
Often I find contemporary but historical pottery by indigenous people like the Aborigines in Australia, and the Ibo tribe in Nigeria. I saw the potter make the pot I bought in Nigeria- coiled from a lump clay on the ground and fired in an open fire. I have several contemporary pots from the famous Native American pueblos in the American southwest, such as Acoma and Taos in New Mexico.
In many European countries, there is a distinctive traditional pattern that is used on newly made pieces. That is the case with pieces I have from Bulgaria, Portugal, the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Pakistan and Italy.
I have several pieces that are miniature replications of large terracotta works. For example, I have a plaque that replicates some of the bas relief carvings on Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and miniature terra cotta soldiers from Xian, China. I have a little replica of the intricate carvings on a gate at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, and a tiny ewer in its stand like the huge ones in Turkey and Greece that were used to hold oil or wine.
Some of my pots are actually not terra cotta, such as a bowl from Tonga made from a coconut husk, a carved wooden vase from Figi, and a carved gourd with a silver edge from Argentina called a calabash, for drinking mate.
I am honored to have been invited to showcase my collection at the Palatine Public Library for the months of August and September, so I made placards to identify each piece. I have 37 countries represented at the exhibit. Here are photos of the exhibit with some of the pieces.
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