SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP PROJECT TRACE (Discovering Traditional Crafts Across Europe) Made by : Anna Rácz, Regina Fekete, Eszter Balogh, Réka Danyi, Daniella Gökler, Beáta Szutor and Lídia Herceg Lajos Kossuth Primary School of Debrecen University Debrecen,Hungary2010

Pottery in the Debrecen area, Hungary

Ancient history Pottery is one of the oldest crafts. The earliest pottery dishes were hand built and they were fired in bonfires to make them last long.

The History of Pottery in Hungary We have beautiful stove tiles and various pots from 15th century Renaissance times.

Haban Art From the early 17th century, the most beautiful plates, jars, jugs and bowls were made by the Habans, an Anabaptist community from Switzerland. The decoration of their products originally showed Italian influences.

Turkish influence Decoration which looks more Hungarian soon replaced the Habaner style. The new motifs (tulips, roses, birds, etc.) were taken from the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Hungary in the 16th century.

All kinds of pots were needed. Cooks used a different kind of pot for each type of food. As the saying goes:” Smelly food has a smelly pot.”

Because of mass production and cheap foreign crockery, in the middle of the 20th century people didn’t buy handmade pottery. However, traditional craftsmanship is becoming more and more popular again.There is a great demand for cooking, baking and serving dishes, …

and potters sell their products at fairs, or straight from their workshops.

There are galleries and exhibitions where today’s housewives can find beautiful, …

… unique and very practical pieces for different purposes.

Our Region

Nádudvar is a small town about 45 km from Debrecen. It is the western gate of the Hortobágy National Park, which is part of the world heritage. The town was named after the yards surrounded by reed (=reed+yard). It was inhabited in prehistoric times.

The unique method of decoration from Nádudvar is special because it is done by rubbing with a pebble. The top quality clay found around Náduvar made the town the most important centre of black pottery. A famous potter family called Fazekas (=Potter in English) has made the famous black glazeless ceramics here since the 17th century.

The members of the family do everything themselves from the mining of the clay to the sale of pots. The potters from Nádudvar made the bowls, water jugs, dishes and tiny spice containers for the whole territory east of the RiverTisza. The most spectacular working process is the forming of the pot. Shaping something on a potter’s wheel is called „throwing”. Then comes the decoration. There are three types of decoration. Two of them –scratching and superpositioning (putting clay ornaments on) -are done when the clay is still wet. scratching superpositioning scrubbing

Besides geometric patterns, leaves, rosemary twigs, pine branches, wavelines, dots,...

flowers and birds are also frequently used motifs - both with light glazed …

…and…

… red glazed ceramics. These ornamental pieces are also made in Nádudvar, but the town is really famous for its black pottery.

In Hungary, the second kind of decoration – scrubbing - is made only in Nádudvar. It is used on the dry pot just before firing. This process is done with a simple river pebble. The part of the pot which is scrubbed with the pebble becomes shiny, and after the firing it will be bright black

The firing is done in a traditional wood-burning kiln at 950 Celsius. The kiln is covered, smoke is trapped inside and soot colours the pieces black.

Jugs As in many other places, the potters of Nádudvar made a kind of „tricky” surprise or „decoy” jugs. A legend says that it saved the beautiful daughter of the mayor from the harem of the Sultan of Turkey. He returned the girl for a jug that could turn water into wine. Potters who make the black ceramics have only two colours to play with: black and blacker. This way they create a wonderful balance of light and shadow. The jug had a double bottom, so they could keep wine and water in it at the same time. It has several false sprouts, so it’s difficult to find out how you can drink from it. (The Sultan didn’t!)

Jugs in the shape of the famous Hungarian hussars of the 19th century were very popular. They are called – depending on size – „Big Mike Jug” („Nagymiska”) and „Little Mike Jug” („Kismiska”). The female jug is called „Juliska”.

‘Nagymiska’, ‘Kismiska’ and‘Juliska’

A Visit to a Local Potter’s The potter is putting the ball of clay onto the potter’s wheel, centering and forming it with her hands, so she is „throwing” it.

She is trimming the piece, removing the excess clay with a fishline.

Thrown pieces are waiting to be fired in an electric kiln. Pouring white glaze into the jug. The design is drawn on the jug with „íróka”, meaning „little writing tool”, which has a tip made from the stem of a goose feather.

After dipping the pots into the glaze to give them an outer coating, they are fired again.

To have this light green glaze, the ware is first dipped in white slip, then in the green glaze.

Products waiting to be sold