Ceramics Saturdays: Taos Ware

There are a few Puebloan pottery styles that eschew glazing in favor of simply burnishing the dried clay with a curved potsherd to a gloss. In the case of Taos ware, this technique allows the glittering mica flecks embedded in the local red clay to shine–as they do in this gorgeous bean pot by Pam Lujan Hauer. The irregular black streaks are created by heat/smoke anomalies within the kiln during firing and are considered part of the natural beauty of the finished pot.