Brazilian Potter - Tota

Antonio Pascoal Regis, known as Tota, was born in 1932 in the Pernambucan city of Tracunhaém, one of the chief pottery making centers in the Northeast. Stemmed from the purest tradition of potters in his city, Tota dedicated to this art from very early, having also been a worker in ceramics industries in São Paulo. He moved in 1968 to João Pessoa, where he died in 2002. He made his useful and decorative pieces with clay collected from deposits in his region, that he prepared by sifting and packing with his feet. His heads and human figures in expressionistic style are remarkable. Tota used a potter’s foot lathe and other modeling techniques; he decorated them with different tone enamels and burnt his pieces in a rustic log kiln. He held several exhibits and left a significant assortment of works in museums and private collections.