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The city of Arraias is the first within Tocantins state just after the frontier with Goiás. Visitors do not always manage to stop, but it’s impossible not to notice the pots lined up beside the road. There is no sign, no advert but the pots and pans, made of clay by Lucrécia Bento Filho – known as Pretinha – and her daughter Rose Gentil Bento can be found in many Brazilian art shops.
Feeling a bit tired, Lucrécia is slowly passing on to her daughter the task of moulding the pieces in the same way she learned with her grandmother, right there, on the ranch where the family lives and works. Rose says the clay comes from Monte Alegre (TO) and that the patterns and drawings have always been done the same way, using the clay itself and their fingers.
The granddaughter is in charge of selling the pots whenever someone stops by. “There is always a customer. People like them, find them beautiful, and we make our living from that.” |
