Handmade Peruvian Pottery Plate Hand-Painted 9" Natural Clay Traditional

At just over 9 inches, this traditionally-made pottery plate is packed full of detailed cultural symbols from the Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia. The central medallion features a dark brown llama or alpaca set against a tan background with grasses and prickly pear cactii. Five concentric bands of geometric patterns fill the rest of the plate, all meticulously painted by hand using natural earth colors. Made by hand from local, natural clay, without the use of a wheel, and then fired in traditional ways using wood or other natural materials, this plate was made using centuries of evolved traditional pottery knowledge. Andean potters from the Inca and surrounding cultures made some of the finest ancient ceramics ever found, and these skills have been passed down to the modern era and are kept alive in pieces such as this one. This plate is made to be decorative, and it has two holes at the top so that a loop can be passed through and used to hang it on the wall. The natural ceramic body (seen in the back view) is a dark buff color, and the material feels dense and strong.