Tortuga shaped incense holder made of clay in the Pai Pai community on a white table.

Pai Pai Tortuga Incense Holder

$35.00

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Tabletop clay incense holder shaped like a tortuga (turtle) handcrafted in the Pai Pai community of Baja, México. A two-piece set featuring natural burn marks on the clay from the ground-firing process. Remove the tortuga lid and place incense cones in the body. Once lit, the lid can be re-placed on the body.

Designed and made by Daria Mariscal in a remote town in northern Baja. Daria harvests and hand-processes local clay and shapes each piece before sun-drying, burnishing, and ground-firing. She is one of less than 200 members of the Pai Pai group, an indigenous community in Baja pre-dating the Spanish settlement.

Due to the handmade nature of the pieces, each plate will vary slightly in size, shape, and appearance.

Handcrafted in Baja, México
Materials: Baja clay
Size: 6" D x 3.5" H (expect slight variation in size / shape among pieces)
Care: Carefully rinse with water, if needed. Lay on a clean towel to air dry.

MEET THE ARTISAN

Pai Pai Pottery

Several hours south of the US - Mexico border, in a remote part of the mountainous, high-desert region of Baja California, is a tiny town home to the indigenous Pai Pai community (a group of less than 200), where pottery-making has been a way of life for more than 500 years.

The pottery is ground-fired using dried yucca wood as fuel. The firing process gives the pottery its distinctive reddish-brown hue with a unique, marbled appearance.

Daria, one of the community leaders, was taught to make pottery by her parents and grandparents. Pottery has a significant cultural and spiritual significance for the people of the Pai Pai community.

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