This beautifully hand-crafted pottery comes from the village of San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua. The majority of the artisans in this village work in small family group units. Although pottery-making in this area has been around since pre-Columbian times, it was during the 1970's that San Juan de Oriente experienced a revival of this traditional craft.

The potters of today use more elaborate techniques and designs than 500 years ago but still make each piece by hand. Each artisan has his or her own personal style of decoration. Some of the artisans prefer the traditional pre-Columbian designs while others like the technical challenge of contemporary Escher-like designs. Mineral oxides are used most often for the colors and are lead free. These pieces are fired at low temperatures and are not glazed inside, thus will not hold water. Dried flowers are preferable or a plastic liner may be used.