Pottery

AFTER AIR-DRYING

After being air-dried indoors, the potter adds various attachments to the pieces, such as handles, previously shaped by hand from softer clay.

The spouts of botijos are made separately on the wheel and then added to the finished vessel, piercing its body with a stick.

Depending on the piece, decoration was carried out at different stages of the process. Incised designs were made while the fresh clay rotated on the wheel. Simple painted motifs were applied with oxide before firing.

The pieces were then left to dry: in the sun for common pottery and in the shade for finer ceramics. Afterwards they were stored until firing.

JARS DRYING IN THE SUN

Some foods were kept in round-bellied glazed earthenware pots. In the darkness inside them, preserved in fat, lay the appetising products of the traditional pig slaughter: slices of pork loin, longaniza sausage and tasty ribs.

UNGLAZED POTTERY

Unglazed pottery for water —jars and botijos— from the potteries of Tamarite de Litera and Huesca, whose kilns ceased operating during the first half of the 20th century.

LOADING THE PIECES

Loading the pieces is a delicate and slow task.

They are stacked vertically in the kiln, usually mouth to mouth, or separated by three-armed fired-clay supports known as trivets.

The kilns consisted of two chambers: a lower one for the fuel and an upper one for the pottery.

The firing of the pieces lasts approximately one day. Fuel is added continuously. There is first a phase of moderate heat, during which the pieces lose their remaining moisture, before the temperature is raised to around 800 or 900 degrees Celsius.

Once firing is complete, the kiln cools for between 24 and 48 hours and is then unloaded from top to bottom.

The pieces were stored while awaiting sale, either by the potter himself or through muleteers and commercial establishments.

THE CLAY

The earth is spread out on the ground in the open air. The clods are crushed with rollers and the resulting powder is then passed through a sieve.

The earth is placed in a large tank with water. There the clay is softened with hands and feet. Once it has become liquid, it is transferred to another settling pool where the water is lost through evaporation.

After the clay is removed, it is left to dry for a time. Before it is kneaded for use, it is divided into manageable pieces.

To remove air from inside the clay, it is kneaded with hands and feet, forming the lumps that will immediately be taken to the potter’s wheel.

GLAZED POTTERY

Glazed pottery for cooking, preserves, oil and wine from the potteries of Naval and Bandaliés (Huesca), whose kilns ceased operating during the first half of the 20th century.