Barro Negro

San Bartolo Coyotepec is a village built on black clay. For over 2,000 years, Zapotec potters have transformed this local material into vessels of such deep, lustrous black that they seem to absorb light. The secret is reduction firing—starving the kiln of oxygen so carbon penetrates the clay. Then burnishing: rubbing the surface with quartz stones until it gleams like obsidian. Doña Rosa Real de Nieto revolutionized the tradition in the 1950s, developing new forms and achieving unprecedented shine. Today her descendants and neighbors continue the work, each family with its own style. The pottery is made entirely by hand—no wheel, no glaze, just clay, fire, and patient polishing.