Tierra Negra Ceramic Oven-to-Table Cookware – An Ancestral Tradition

This is the story of the artisan families who, following a 700-year-old ancestral tradition, make the satin-black ceramic cookware we know as Tierra Negra oven-to-tableware. Part of the cultural heritage of a few remote villages in the Colombian Andes, their skills have been handed down from generation to generation. Using only basic tools and locally-sourced clay, the pottery is crafted to designs unique to each family, and with each running their own small business.

These clay pots are widely used in restaurants and in homes throughout South America, where the rich flavours of slow cooking are highly cherished. The casseroles, cooking pots, saute dishes and tagines are typically seen in use on open fires, on other sources of direct heat and in ovens, before being brought to the dinner table.

27 thoughts on “Tierra Negra Ceramic Oven-to-Table Cookware – An Ancestral Tradition”

  1. <3 ive always love the Tierra Negra cookwear and seeing it be made aw love it. Wish my skills at hand with clay was better...cuz i am a sculptor but i still kind of suck making cups and such lol.

  2. Fabian Muñoz

    I just hope those family artist are getting a good money for there great efort skills and art. exelent job potters

    1. nateman10

      @R. Fernandez How much do you think it costs to ship a heavy clay pot across vast distances without breaking? That’s the most expensive part and is surely why they cost so much. Imagine trying to get a clay pot around the world without breaking it, imagine how few you can safely fit on a truck. Trying to ship a heavy wooden crate internationally might cost hundreds of dollars, unless you have a distribution network and can ship entire shipping containers full of them on a boat, and have a warehouse to ship to in the intended country, and know how to do the paperwork and pay any import fees. But running a business like that takes a lot of time and money.
      Maybe they could work out a more lucrative distribution agreement through someone else, but just becoming a distribution company on top of making pottery might be difficult.

    2. noodleheadx

      @Kelly Gutierrez Kelly I am interested in purchasing the clay pot direct from your family. please know that there is a large demand for the utensils that your family create.

  3. Carlos Augusto Palmeira

    Trabalho de Alto Nível desses Ceramistas 700 anos de Arte em Cerâmica transmitida de gerações.

  4. Jyoti Sitapure

    so much hardwork for the masterpiece… all the best for the people who make this the pots are so so soo beautiful luv from india

  5. Colin Gantiglew

    Magnificent! I would hope that the local potters receive the lion’s share of the ultimate profit and not a series of gouging middle-men.

    1. Julian P

      ​@Concerned Citizen concerned capitalist-idk what your bent is about defending the wonders of market equilibrium prices and/or some kind of rational actor theory but you fail to even engage with the word choice of “profit” if that’s what you’re on. profit is revenue above input costs including capital and labor…so the mere practicality of a supply chain in connecting potters to eventual consumers does not address where along that chain profit should be allocated. considering that scot columbus (the name is columbus lol, if that doesn’t hint that something is being appropriated and taken advantage of i don’t know what does) has the trademark in their name, control of the end sale website where they get to set prices, and i’m sure several negotiating advantages, i would certainly imagine that the lion’s share of the profit is on their end. that is not to say there isn’t value in organizing and maintaining the chain and that they don’t need revenue in order to maintain operations, but more so to say that I assume the profit scot columbus makes puts several people in nice homes in the UK whereas the potters (and probably a lot of people involved in the transport as well) remain in cycles of poverty. sure, thats “the way it works”, but should it be, and why are you so glib about it? essentially your argument claims that what scot columbus is doing adds more value to the product than the manufacture of that product (materials, time, knowledge, skill, imparted culture etc), and just because capitalist systems imply that through profit allocation, does not mean it makes inherent sense or is right or fair. this is why fair trade practices exist, and ultimately why consumers ought to at least do their homework to see if those practices are in place and should pay more if it’s morally relevant to them-seems like it isn’t for you.

  6. I hope that their cultural traditions live on strongly for generations!

  7. Rubina Merchant

    My kind of cookware! Loved all the pieces. This is real art. Practical and amazingly beautiful.

  8. María Teresa

    Maravilhoso. Parabéns a todos os artistas que fazem esses objetos tão lindos e úteis.

  9. Indranee Senanayake

    So painstakingly done and with a lot of love and focus on detail, make this type of work a work of art. Exquisite.

  10. Elmer G. Melliza

    A craftmanship with lots of sacrifices, ingenuity, hard work, and love. 🇨🇴🇨🇴🇨🇴Viva Columbia!!!

  11. Veda Devotee

    Skill❤️ cooking is clay pots is 100% more healthy then any other cookware , it retains maximum nutrients

  12. catherine martina

    Beautiful, I hope you teach either your children or someone elses children to keep up this beautiful skill and art work. Magnificient

  13. Milo's Mom

    Gorgeous pottery, gifted potters. Love the natural settings where they live and work. I hope these traditions continue forever 💝

  14. David Lyall

    Amazing. Seeing it done makes you realize anybody can do it, if you know how.

  15. Howard Pohatu

    Geez I hope they are well paid for their pottery skills, I’d buy them if these items were here in Gisborne NZ.Awesome work.

  16. Joelson nogueira

    Não me canso de ver esse vídeo. Verdadeiros artista 👏😍

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