Codex Corn Ceremony

Codex Corn Ceremony is a ceremonial figure piece: three individual deities giving homage to the corn ceremony, their headdresses and body designs incredibly detailed outfits. The shaving through the polished color to the native clay becomes a design innovation — using the clay itself as the pigmentation of the body, with detailed shaded work.

The metallic color in the geometric work at the bottom and the feather work at the top is a delicate accent, as is the background night sky etching featuring twenty day symbols. The metallic color comes in as an after-firing contemporary touch, adding brilliant color to the immense amount of etched and carved textures.

This is a museum-quality effort on the creative, cultural, and contemporary design layer — one of the best pieces of my career.

Kick-wheel thrown, burnished, and sgraffito-carved in my San Juan de Oriente studio.

My Process

Every Atlantis sculpture begins with the same Gran Nicoya materials that have been worked in San Juan de Oriente for more than a thousand years: local dug clay, sourced slip clay, burnished slip color, and etching and carving back down through those layers to the clay beneath.

Enhanced slip colors and my own application techniques bring innovation to that palette while the traditional methods stay exactly as they were.

And here is the irony: it is the native no-glaze method that opens the door to the contemporary layer. Because nothing seals the surface, I can come back after the firing and hand-paint modern color directly into the exposed clay.

Specifications

• Made by Paul Devoti and the Atlantis Studio team
• Origin: Atlantis Studio, San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua
• Tradition: Gran Nicoya clay technique
• Glaze: none — all fired color is clay slip
• Edition: unique, one of one
• Signed: Atlantis — PHD
• Height: 16 in
• Width: 13 in
• Depth: 13 in
• Weight: TO BE ADDED

Frequently Asked:

Are designs repeated? Every sculpture is a one-of-a-kind expression within a design collection. Nothing is cast, duplicated or reproduced — each one meticulously handcrafted.

How is it packed and shipped? Made in Nicaragua, ships from North Carolina — no international transit, no customs, no duty for US buyers. Boxed by hand, fully insured. Typically delivered within 5 business days.

Can I return a piece? Fourteen days from delivery, in original packaging and original condition.

How do I care for it? Dust with a dry soft cloth. No water, no oils, no polish. Not for outdoor use.