According to experiences descended from generations at the well-known pottery village of Bat Trang in Hanoi, clay to make potteries must be jammed to ensure the strength of the products. It takes a very experienced and adept pottery maker to create a piece with a variety of colors as well as to bake it.

According to experts, one of the distinctive characteristics of the pottery has been the fine white clay from the Bat Trang mines. The clay, enamel and the art of baking are what make Bat Trang pottery unique from anywhere else in Vietnam. The enamel, lam (a hue of the blue color) is the most favored color of Bat Trang pottery and has become one of its characteristic features.

Nowadays, the mines in Bat Trang Village have been fully exploited. Potters use clay mined from their neighborhood instead. Fortunately, the material has the same quality and Bat Trang pottery keeps its value.

Workers there think that a pottery product has the same characters as a living body. It has a wonderful combination of the five basic Eastern elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) and brings the spirit of human beings.

Bat Trang is one of the peripheral towns of Hanoi. Along both sides of the narrow alley leading to the Red River’s dike-side are walls covered by thousands of pieces of peat (photo). This is the result of the tradition of handicraft pottery from 1,000 years ago.

Today, while the process remains the same, the methods have changed recently. Craftsmen are using gas to reduce the amount of soot in the air and to produce high-quality products.

(Source: SGT)