Family of potters preserves traditional craft for over half a century

Upholding the centuries-old craft of making ceramics, artisan Nguyen Van Loi, his wife Pham Thi Chau, and other villagers are maintaining the soul of the Bat Trang pottery village and help their products reach global markets.

Nguyen Van Loi, who holds the Meritorious Artisan title, is a native of Bat Trang in Gia Lam district, Hanoi. He has spent more than half a century connected to his hometown. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Loi always thinks he is lucky to grow up in a traditional craft village and a family practicing this craft. He gained access to clay and pottery turntables at a young age. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

He said according to his family history, the first generation of the family made ceramics in 1736. Initial ceramic making techniques were simple, but products still required skillfulness and diligence of producers. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Since 1986, the village has developed strongly. Many families have built their own workshops and sought their own ways for developing ceramic products, but the essence passed down from ancestors is still maintained. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Loi said it is his good fortune that his wife Pham Thi Chau has always stood beside him on the path of preserving the long-standing craft and developing new products that can penetrate international markets. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Nguyen Van Loi and Pham Thi Chau were granted the “artisan” title in 2003 in recognition of their efforts in enriching the “soul” of ceramic items. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The couple has successfully recovered the blue and brown glazes of the Ly Dynasty (1009 - 1225) and the green-blue glaze of the Tran Dynasty (1226 - 1400) and the Le Dynasty (1428 - 1789). (Photo: VietnamPlus)

His family perseveres in maintaining the essence of this traditional craft, but they also base their work on the tastes of foreign markets to develop attractive products. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

They now possess the technique for making the Raku glaze, inspired by an ancient ceramic genre of Japan dating back to the 1550s and often used in its traditional tea ceremonies. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

After nearly four years of research, he can produce a unique glaze that reveals colour change depending on the temperature of kilns and the thickness of objects. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

This type of glaze requires two trips to the baking kiln before objects are covered tightly with wood shavings or rice husk so that the glaze produces its colours. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Each product is unique, but Loi has managed to find out a method for controlling colour, thus meeting requirements in the Canadian, British, and Dutch markets. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Loi’s family and other Bat Trang villagers are working tirelessly to maintain the soul of their village, whose craft turns “mud bowls into precious items” and “clay into gold”. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

VNA