Ana Leopoldina Santos, known as Ana das Carrancas, daughter of an artisan and farmer, was born in 1923 in Santa Filomena, Ouricuri district, Pernambuco.
In her childhood, clay was an attraction in her playtime. At the age of seven, she began making pans, pots, toys, zebus, horses, and saints for the lapinha, to help her mother, who had long made clay utensils and sold at the fair, to ensure the family’s livelihood.
Ana married a mason at the age of 22, but became a widow very early. This union left two daughters. A little more than a year later, she married José Vicente de Barros.
Due to the financial difficulties in which she lived, she moved to the city of Petrolina, in search of improving her life. As a devotee of Saint Francis of Assisi and Father Cícero, she asked these Saints to show her a way to make money.
The next day, she went to the São Francisco River to get clay to make pans. Faced with the immensity of the waters, she felt a strong inspiration, seeing the multicolored wooden carrancas [figureheads, commonly found in the North and Northeast of Brazil] of the barges that docked on the banks of the São Francisco River. Still in the river, she made her first small carranca. She took it home, where everyone liked and approved the idea. From then on, in addition to the pots, pans and jars she already made, she started to make clay carrancas in large quantities.
In view of the great demand, she tried to form a group of ceramist women, but it did not work. Then, she limited herself to working only with the family, the sisters, Maria José and Antonia dos Santos, the nieces Maria dos Anjos and Dulcinéia, the daughter Maria da Cruz, her husband José Vicente and her mother and master Maria Leopoldina.
According to Ana das Carrancas, the process for making clay pieces is very laborious, ranging from the removal of clay in the riverbed, at half a meter deep; cooking; curing, which lasts three days; kneading and finally modeling. It is a work that requires a lot of love and dedication from the artisan.
The works of art by Ana das Carrancas are pieces of surly aspects, created in the artisan’s own style, with simple, primitive shapes and with an important detail: they have hollow eyes, in honor of their husband, José Vicente, who is blind, and has always actively participated in Ana’s work, preparing the clay for the making of pieces.
The artist says that the production of carrancas is part of her world. This is a job she loves. But in addition to enjoying making these rude figures, she also has the skills to make delicate pieces, such as some images of saints she has done.
In her whole history making carrancas, she has had the opportunity to participate in fairs and exhibitions in several Brazilian states, and her pieces are internationally recognized, especially in Europe.
Ana das Carrancas died on October 1, 2008, in the city of Petrolina, Pernambuco.
Recife, July 1, 2003.
sources consulted
ANA das Carrancas. Foto nesse texto. Disponível em: <http://cafscomletras.blogspot.com.br/2013/06/homenagem-ana-das-carrancas.html>. Acesso em: 7 out. 2016.
CARRANCAS são a cara de Petrolina. Suplemento Cultural D. O. PE, Recife, ano 15, p. 43, set. 2000.
how to quote this text
MACHADO, Regina Coeli Vieira. Ana das Carrancas. In: PESQUISA Escolar. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, 2003. Available from: https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/pt-br/artigo/ana-das-carrancas/. Access on: mês dia ano. (Ex.: Aug. 9, 2020).