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  • Sung cereal bowl in handcrafted black clay showing hand-molded form and burnished surface, Lyrnai pottery from Meghalaya India, from WILLAGE
  • Sung cereal bowl in warm brown-toned black clay filled with cereal, banana, cherries, and fruit on a linen napkin and rustic wooden table with orange juice, handcrafted Lyrnai pottery from Meghalaya India, from WILLAGE
  • Sung black clay cereal bowl displayed in a styled table setting with other Sung Valley pottery pieces
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Sung Cereal Bowl — Black Clay

$38.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.

A cereal bowl made from black clay, shaped entirely by hand — no potter's wheel involved. The women who make these pieces stand over the form and work it with their hands and basic tools until it takes shape, which is why every bowl has slightly uneven walls and a rim that curves where it wants to. The tone varies from deep black to warm brown depending on where the fire reached each piece during firing — so your bowl may look different from the one in the photo, and that's not a flaw; it's how you can tell it was made by a person.

This is Lyrnai pottery from Meghalaya's Jaintia Hills — made by women in the villages of Tyrchang and Lyrnai using clay pulled from the Sung Valley floor. Each piece is hand-molded, fired in an open kiln for nine to ten hours, then plunged white-hot into Sohliya bark water to give it the distinctive black finish. This tradition received a Geographical Indication tag (GI No. 1095) in 2024.

15 cm diameter × 5 cm height (approx. 5.9 × 2 in) · Black clay · Burnished with serpentine stone · Hand wash only · Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, India

Dimensions

15 cm diameter × 5 cm height (approx. 5.9 × 2 in)

Origin

India

MATERIALS

Black Clay, Burnished with Serpentine Stone

STORY

Lyrnai pottery is made by women in two villages in Meghalaya's Jaintia Hills — Tyrchang and Lyrnai, population under 2,000 combined. The clay comes from the Sung Valley, a 26 km² area with a mineral composition found nowhere else. There is no potter's wheel. Each piece is hand-molded, fired in an open kiln for 9–10 hours, then plunged white-hot into Sohliya bark water to achieve the black finish. This tradition received GI tag No. 1095 in 2024 after a decade-long application. WILLAGE carries this collection because this is exactly what we exist to do — bring indigenous craft to tables that would never otherwise encounter it.

Care Instructions

Hand wash only with warm water and mild soap. The unglazed surface is porous — dry thoroughly after washing. Do not microwave or dishwasher.

  • In stock

Preserve Traditional Craftsmanship and Generational Artistry

Made from locally sourced clay using no electricity, no machinery, and no synthetic materials. The entire process — molding, firing, finishing — is done by hand using methods unchanged for generations. Your purchase supports women artisans in villages with a combined population under 2,000.

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