Ceramic bowl BARRO

contemporaryby Sebastian Herknerhome

This bowl belongs to the Barro dining range, a collection of unique and high-quality ceramics made using traditional pottery crafts. It’s designed by Sebastian Herkner who has taken inspiration from the archetypal forms of jewellery shown in the Museo del Oro in Bogotá. The result is a rustic-elegant series of vases, bowls and pots that can also be used as plant containers Ames collaborates for the production of these ceramics with two family-owned businesses based in Tolima, a province that’s been a centre for pottery making and ceramic production for more than 300 years. Their workshops employ more than 70 people, many of them are family members, with specialists for each production stage – from clay digging to kiln firing to polishing. One of the few tools the makers use - most of the work is done by hand - are corn husks. Once water and clay have been mixed, the mixture is simply left to dry in the sun. This natural process requires stable weather conditions and air temperatures of more than 35 degrees Celsius. The dark glaze is applied to the vases before they go into a kiln that’s fired by wood. As the last step, the pieces are polished with semi-precious stones to create a subtle shimmer German designer Sebastian Herkner is a long-term collaborator of ames and has visited Colombia multiple times to experience the country’s cities, nature and people first hand. He also visited many of the ateliers that ames has partnered with to learn about the unique traditional crafts of Colombia's regions.