Delia Rengifo Cauper was born and raised in the native Shipibo community of Caco Macaya. She learned the art of traditional Shipibo pottery from her mother, Petronila Cauper, a master potter and craftsperson who won Peru’s prestigious Joaquin Lopez Antay national prize for her work in 2009.

Delia’s earliest memories are of making pottery with her mother. From gathering all the necessary material in the jungle to forming, firing and decorating the clay, her education has been hands-on and lifelong. Under her mother’s tutelage, Delia also mastered the art of kené, the intricate, ancestral line art that famously adorns all Shipibo textiles and ceramics. 

The Shipibo are known for many styles of pottery and Delia is an expert in them all: 

• Quempo (cups for drinking, especially masato, a beer made from yuca)

• Quencho (bowls for eating)

• Quenti (fire resistant pots for cooking)

• Chomo (vessels for carrying and storing water)

• Joni Chomo (anthropomorphic vessels)

• Mahuetá (cistern-like vessels for holding large quantities of masato, often buried up to the neck to prevent clumsy celebrants from breaking them)

While many traditional ceramicists are understandably adopting modern, time saving techniques (like molds, synthetic paints, firing ovens), Delia remains faithful to the techniques that have been passed down by Shipibo women from generation to generation, a tradition archaeologists believe dates back to about 900 AD. Due to the pandemic, the loss of her husband, and a lack of clients both at home and abroad, Delia had found herself forced to give up pottery and focus on the more immediate concerns of maintaining her household and supporting her extended family. But with our encouragement, Delia has returned to the work she loves in hopes of reaching a new audience in a post-pandemic world. Her 100% handcrafted pottery is among the last of its kind.