Dark red and brown butterflies soar across a field of warm, earthy orange on this ceramic decorative vase handcrafted by Chorotega pottery artisan Harry Garca of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. The butterflies are bordered by decorative bands of deep red and brown with a lively etched motif, topped by a solid band of dark brown around the rim.

Chorotega pottery is completely handmade with traditional techniques passed down through the generations for 3,000 years, and one of the last surviving cultural elements of the Chorotega people indigenous to Costa Rica’s Guanacaste region and Nicoya Peninsula. Chorotega pottery is made from local clay mixed with a very fine freshwater sand. The artisans shape the clay on hand-operated pottery wheels and hand-polish the art piece to give it a smooth texture and luster. Designs are etched by hand and the pieces are painted with natural pigments made from pulverized local colored rocks mixed with water, then fired in traditional wood-burning brick kilns. The result is a beautiful, earthen pottery unique to this region.