Van Son Village keeps up ceramic love affair

Tag : ceramic toys

(02-11-2008)
A rival is creeping up on the countrys better known potteryvillages, as this skilfull southern village makes a name foritself. Phung Van reports.
Quietly developing alongside Viet Nams other well-known potteryvillages, such as Bat Trang and Phu Lang in the north and Bien Hoaand Lai Thieu in the south, Van Son village in southern Binh DinhProvince has unique characteristics, which have earned it afollowing among many pottery buffs.
Skilful village craftsmen make pottery of all shapes and sizes,from enormous jars and flower pots to small necklaces andchildrens toys. Van Son pottery is fired at extremely hightemperatures to produce the trademark reddish-brown colourpreferred by customers.
The secrets of the Van Son ceramics trade have been handed downthrough many generations. "As long as people continue takingChinese traditional medicine, planting orchids in traditionalceramic bowls and eating rice cooked in earthenware pots, thetraditional work still exists," said Phan Thi Nhai, acraftsman in the village.
In additional to traditional markets such as Da Nang City and ThuaThien-Hue Province, Van Son pottery products have earned a firmfoothold in other provinces, such as Kien Giang, Rach Gia and QuangNinh.
In order to produce high-quality products, every step must becarefully followed: choosing and preparing clay, making glazes,shaping and smoothing the product and finally firing, according toLe Van Hung, head of a pottery production plant in Van Son village.
"Clay affects all these stages and the pottery items value.There are many kinds of clay, such as reddish-brown clay and whiteclay and each kind of clay can be used to make a certainproduct," he said.
Artisans must first choose clay which is malleable enough to ensurethe sustainable quality of the product. After the clay iscollected, it will be dried out, smashed into pieces and coveredwith a plastic bag to preserve it.
Making trademark glazes is an important step in the creation of VanSon pottery, he said. Dull and transparent glazes are the two typesof glaze used in ancient Vietnamese pottery. However, in order todraw more customers, local craftsmen have created glazes ofdifferent colours and characteristics by combining the two mainglazes with natural materials like silt, tree ash, straw andstones.
"Depending on the purpose, pottery can be glazed once, twiceand sometimes more, either before or after it is fired. It can alsobe painted underneath or on top of the glazed coat, or even betweencoats. In some cases, a glazed product, like crackle-glazed items,may require the potter to control the temperature it is fired atusing his knowledge of the type of clay," he said.
Shaping the product is not physically demanding work, but requirescareful craftsmanship; it is not simply throwing some clay on awheel and shaping it with your hands.
Products must be left to dry and are then smoothed, carved andcarefully checked before they are fired. This important jobrequires highly skilled potters since it will determine theproducts value.
The last step  firing  is hard and complicated work. "Asmall mistake will lead to considerable damage so firing is thechallenge, and also the pride, of potters," Hung said.
There are many types of kilns used for firing different kinds ofpottery, such as a cylinder kiln and a square kiln. First, artisansput unfired products and timber or charcoal into the kiln in aparticular order, to ensure that all clay is fired at a suitabletemperature. The chief potter then watches the colour of the fireinside the kiln to determine when the pottery is finished.
Van Son pottery is popular among customers due to its quality andunique colour.
"In order to get the reddish-brown colour, a uniquecharacteristic of Van Son pottery, local craftsman use  chanh ranh  leaves  a special kind of tree which grows in Van Son  to firethe products.
The clay of Van Son village is good, but without the fire burnedfrom  chanh ranh  leaves, the products would look the same as others in themarketplace," Hung said.
In order to further develop and promote the traditional craft,local authorities have opened training classes for young labourersand are actively seeking new markets, according to To Hong Phuong,chief of Van Nhon Districts Peoples Committee Secretariat.
"The majority of products have been sold in the domesticmarket, including Kien Giang, Rach Gia and Quang Ninh, but have yetto find a foothold in foreign markets, which requires increasedefforts from local authorities, craftsmen and businesses todiversify and improve product quality," he said.  VNS