Cultural Notes
La cerámica de barro negro de San Bartolo Coyotepec – short version
The Black Pottery of San Bartolo Coyotepec
- Remember, expect this to be challenging.
- First, read the English version.
- Next, read the Spanish version.
- Click the control to hear the audio.
- Listen several times, following along on the transcript.
- Finally, listen without looking at the transcript.
- See how many words and phrases you can pick out.
- Then try the long version.
Short Version
The Black Pottery of San Bartolo Coyotepec
Located only 8 miles from Oaxaca City, the small town of San Bartolo Coyotepec is famous for its unique black pottery. Lovers of arts and crafts come to peruse a wide variety of highly burnished pieces, decorated with textured floral motifs. Although the pots were once made to carry mescal on the backs of burros from hillside farms to the surrounding towns, the introduction of lighter plastic jugs in the 1950s made them obsolete. A new technique developed by Doña Rosa changed the character of the pots from the simple red-gray color to the brilliant black surface with artful designs that today so many visitors find attractive.
La cerámica de barro negro de San Bartolo Coyotepec
Ubicado a unos 13 kilómetros de Ciudad Oaxaca, el pequeño pueblo de San Bartolo Coyotepec es famoso por su especial cerámica de barro negro. Los aficionados a las artes y la artesanía vienen a examinar una gran variedad de piezas bruñidas y decoradas con motivos florales tridimensionales. Colocados sobre los lomos de burros, antiguamente los cántaros llevaban mezcal de las granjas a los pueblos circundantes. La introducción de recipientes ligeros de plástico en los años 50 hizo obsoletos los cántaros. Una técnica nueva, inventada por Doña Rosa, cambió la apariencia de los cántaros. Antes de un color rojo grisáceo, hoy son de un negro brillante, adornados con los diseños artísticos que tanto admiran los visitantes.
