Fan Flower

This vase-shaped barro negro napkin holder is handcrafted by artisan Anakarem. She works in the time-honored black pottery tradition of Oaxaca, with techniques learned from her father. The fired clay is burnished to a sheen with a piece of quartz or obsidian and fired in a wood-burning kiln, which transforms the clay and gives it a lustrous black color. This napkin holder has a fan-shaped half flower on each side made through a combination of embossing and decorative cutouts.