Costa Rica · Pottery / Ceramics
Cerámica chorotega de Guaitil
A pre-Columbian, hand-formed pottery tradition of the Chorotega people of Guaitil and neighboring San Vicente, Guanacaste province, using clay mixed with a fine river sand locally called "iguana sand" — named for the reptiles that lay their eggs in the same deposits — polished with smooth sukia stones and fired in a dome-shaped horno kiln built of brick, mud, and horse manure, sustaining nearly the entire economy of a village of about fifty artisan families for more than two centuries.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not currently inscribed on a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list under this specific technique; Costa Rica ratified the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2007 and could nominate this technique in the future.
The hand-spinning and knotted weaving of chácara, a natural plant-fiber bag central to Ngäbe-Buglé daily and ceremonial life, formally recognized by Costa Rica's own Cultural Information System as a documented traditional-knowledge…
The hand-construction of Sarchí's signature folding rocking chair — a collapsible campaign-style frame of caobilla (mahogany-family) hardwood strung with woven leather bands for the seat and back rather than upholstered padding — developed…
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A complete field-to-cloth backstrap-loom weaving tradition of the Boruca people, who grow their own white and brown cotton, hand-spin it on drop spindles, dye it with local plant sources and, remarkably, with the secretion of the Pacific…
The hand-carving and hand-painting of balsa or cedar wood masks by the Boruca (Brunca) people of Costa Rica's Talamanca mountains, worn each New Year during the Danza de los Diablitos, a three-day ritual re-enactment of the Boruca's…
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Application of five or more richly colored enamel glazes over a fired white porcelain base, fired multiple times to fix each color.
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