tháng 2 2015 | EKPottery Vietnam

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Hanoi Highlights Traditional Pottery

In the traditional house at 87 Ma May Street, the administration team of the Hanoi Old Quarter are promoting the traditional pottery of the North of Vietnam from places such as Bat Trang, Chu Dau, Tho Ha, and Phu Lang.

This is one of many activities to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi. It is also a cultural event to preserve traditional pottery traditions and help both local and foreign tourists enhance their knowledge about Vietnamese pottery.

Pottery has long-standing position in the culture of Vietnamese people and throughout the generations has been used in daily life for everything from statues, vases and embossments to art used in both decoration and spiritual life. Pottery has also been applied in architecture in ways such as tile, carved brick and embossed works, for example.

Northern pottery has developed through the prehistoric, feudal, and modern ages, categorized by time as terra-cotta pottery in the Bronze Age, Han-Vietnamese pottery, pottery with gem glaze, tricolor pottery in the Le-Mac age and more. These items are not only historically important in the country's long history and national development but also evidence to the artistic skill and creativity throughout the ages.

Tho Ha pottery was sold in Thang Long from the 14th century until the 1930s and specific products included jars and steamers were favorite household commodities of Hanoians. However, Tho Ha pottery has nearly vanished due to limited supplies at very low prices and customers have recently switched to plastic items which caused production to be limited. Despite that fact, Tho Ha's natives have strived to find solutions and markets for their products and overcame in finding and winning over new markets and positions. Many people consider Tho Ha pottery their favorite because of its natural brown color and cool and long-wearing exterior.

Phu Lang pottery has the same casing as Tho Ha's, but is currently getting considerable limelight. People are attracted by its natural brownish glaze and raw but eye-catching design.

Also, Chu Dau pottery from Hai Duong Province and Bat Trang pottery from Hanoi have been getting considerable attention because of their unique cultural features. Hence, despite pottery being considered by many as an archaic, it is holding its own in a market full of new, innovative products.

Source: Vietnam Economic News

GRC furniture & fountains

Saigon Pottery will continue our efforts to support of eco-friendly products. GFRC products, lighter than their regular cement counterparts, reduce emissions from transportation. Moreover, by eliminating the use of resins, we greatly increase the environmental benefits of

GRC furniture & fountains In 10 years we have gained experience in mass production, supply chain management, order management, QC standards and programs, and packaging and container supply.

In 2003 Saigon Pottery began to explore the use of GFRC (glass-fibre-reinforced concrete) after a year of research and development. 2 machines were commissioned and built, and Saigon Potteriy came into existence.

TTPOTTERY CO., Ltd

Contact:
John Nguyen
Address: 3913 Vinalopo Dr.Austin, TX 78738, U.S.A
Email: John@ttpottery.com
Tel: (512)584 1802
Factory:
Address: 55/1 Binh Phu Quarter, Binh Chuan Ward,Thuan An Town, Binh Duong Province, Vietnam
Email: factory@ttpottery.com

Artist puts creative spin on traditional pottery

While the north once had many pottery villages producing quality ceramics, most of today's artisans are only interested in commercial work. But artist Tran Do Nghia is an exception. Phan Hoang reports.

On the occasion of the 2010 Hue Festival, painter Tran Do Nghia unveiled 40 poetry-inscribed ceramic plates in the former royal city of Hue on the banks of the Huong River.

His works of art, made at the Bat Trang pottery village on the outskirts of Ha Noi along with book covers made by calligrapher Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung, attracted a lot of viewers during the event.

Born in 1963, Nghia studied at the Ha Noi University of Fine Arts before pursuing further studies in Eastern Europe. After returning home, he started his art career by painting pictures, making pottery, and organizing exhibitions across the country. His love for traditional art heritage has drawn him to pottery villages, such as Phu Lang and Bat Trang.

Phu Lang Village is located in Que Vo District's Phu Lang Commune in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

Nghia stated that the village had been founded and developed during the Tran Dynasty in the 14th century and has a heritage of creating ceramics with special characteristics. Its ceramics have unique enamel colours, including dark brown, yellowish, and dark yellow.

During his first visit to the village, he developed a keen interest in discovering techniques of making pottery and decided to make regular trips on the weekends. These trips and his experience in making pen and pencil holders nurtured his passion, leading him to the world of pottery.

The village's products are made with red clay, mainly comprising three kinds: ceramics for worshippings, such as incense burners and lamp bases; ceramics for family use including vases, bowls and plates, and things used for decoration such as pictures and statues. Nghia focuses his efforts on creating decorative arts with creativity and change in appearance and enamel-based techniques to make ancient pottery products. Taking advantage of his network, he has constantly popularised the village's products within and outside the country.

On show: One of Nghia's exhibitions.

In 2014, Nghia brought products of Phu Lang to display on the banks of Hoai River in Hoi An ancient town. The pottery jars, bearing the carvings of old streets and people of the town, attracted significant attention from the residents and tourists.

After achieving success with Phu Lang ceramics, Nghia continued learning about pottery in Bat Trang. While the original beauty of Phu Lang pottery is the nature of dark brown enamel, the specific characteristics of Bat Trang pottery is the diversity of enamels.

Bat Trang is situated more than ten kilometres from Ha Noi city's centre. Every day, Nghia drove his motorbike to the village to meet the local artisans and learn from them. As a result of this sharing, Nghia has grown closer to the local people who regard him as a member of their family.

"In the period of market economy, everything is measured in terms of money. It is very difficult to find a young person with great passion for pottery like Nghia. Not only we, but also other artisan families hold him in high esteem and support him," local artisan Nguyen Duc Duong claimed.

According to Nghia, during the period between 1989 and 90, the artisans did not understand why artists distorted and made holes in ceramic products. They thought that making products, such as jars could hold water, but distorted and holed products could not.

"When pottery artisans, such as Nguyen Trong Doan and Nguyen Bao Toan, altered the products, the local people felt sorry as they had put in many efforts to make them. They did not know that it could rouse ideas for new designs," Nghia exclaimed.

Passion for pottery: He spends significant efforts on crafting ceramics. — VNS Photos Phan Hoang

He emphasised the importance of a painter-sculptor in the village and expressed his sadness for Tho Ha pottery village's fading art form. The village, located in the neighbouring province of Bac Giang, was founded in the 12th century and used to be one of three ceramic centres in the north, besides Phu Lang and Bat Trang.

However, the residents have stopped making potteries and stories about the craft village are only found in documents. Nghia noted that there was an old man trying to revive the business but he failed and passed away a few years ago.

Spending a great deal of time in the two villages, Nghia witnessed a change in making pottery there.

"When I make ceramic products, I always use traditional enamel. Meanwhile, I now see products made at Phu Lang with colours that made them appear ludicrous. At the moment, the artisans are no longer devoted to their work. They make pottery products with the aim of earning money and do not consider it as a work of art," he pointed out.

When his friends went to Ha Noi, he often invited them to visit the villages to introduce them to the beauty of pottery and exquisite talent of the artisans.

At the beginning of this year, he drove a motorbike from Ha Noi to Hue and Da Nang cities with the objective of holding a new exhibition in the centre of the country. He also dreams of painting poems on ceramic products to display at Nguyen Tieu Festival, the full moon day of the first month in the lunar calendar, annually held on Nhan Mountain in the coastal province of Phu Yen.

Undying creativity has nurtured his passion for ceramics, and it has continuously opened up new horizons for the Hanoian artist. — VNS

Vietnamese ancient pottery displayed in Hanoi

As many as 75 ancient terracotta exhibits, which date from thousands years ago to the early 20th century, are being displayed at an exhibition that opened on April 22 at the National History Museum in Hanoi.
The exhibition titled “Vietnamese Ancient Ceramic Statues” shows how the materials, forms, technique and decorations of ceramic statues have evolved over time.

Ceramics is the earliest craft in the history of human civilisation. In Viet Nam, the oldest pottery statues trace back to the Phung Nguyen, Dong Dau and Go Mun cultures 4,000 years ago and take the shapes of humans and animals.

Organisers hope the exhibition will help domestic and foreign visitors better understand the country’s ancient ceramics, thus raising public awareness on preserving national cultural heritage.

The exhibition will run until the end of August.

By Vien Nhu

Bat Trang pottery village

Bat Trang, traditional porcelain and pottery village with history of seven centuries, is an interesting attraction in Hanoi that tourists should not ignore.

Bat Trang, the seven-century old pottery village, is an interesting attraction in Hanoi that tourists should not ignore.

History

Located in an area rich in clay, the village has advantage of ingredients to create fine ceramics. Moreover, lying besides the Red river, between Thang Long and Pho Hien, two ancient trade centers in the north of Vietnam during 15th-17th century, Bat Trang’s ceramics were favorite products not only in domestic market, but also foreign ones thanks to Japan, Chinese and Western trading boats that passed by.

In the18th and 19th century, due to restricting foreign trade policy of Trinh, Nguyen dynasty, it was difficult for pottery products in Vietnam to be exported to foreign countries, and some famous pottery making villages like Bat Trang, or Chu Dau ( Hai Duong province) went through a hard time. Since 1986, thanks to economic reforms and development, more attention has been vested in the village and the world gets a chance to know more about Vietnamese porcelain through many high quality exported Bat Trang’s ceramic products.

Products

Bat Trang ceramics are produced for daily household use (bow, cup, plates, pot, bottle…), worshipping, or decoration purposes. Nowadays, the pottery artists bring into ceramics many innovations in production techniques, and creativity in products’ features, hence many new products have been born, and even daily household items may have the beauty like decoration ones.

Activity

Visiting Bat Trang, tourists can take a walk or join a buffalo tour for sightseeing and shopping. Besides many ceramic stores along the road in the village, tourists should visit Bat Trang Porcelain and Pottery Market where they can directly make pottery products by themselves. Many youngsters and foreign tourists are interested in in this pottery- making experience, and spend a whole day in the market to make a gift for family or friends.

Location

Bat Trang belongs to Gia lam district of Hanoi. You can catch the bus 47 (Long Bien- Bat Trang) that stop just a few steps from Dong Xuan market with the end terminal in Bat Trang. The bus runs every 20 minutes. You can also ride a motorbike from the center of Hanoi to Bat Trang ( 20 minutes) – rent one or ask a Xe Om to take you there!

A big mosaic pottery picture at Thai Nguyen - Viet Nam

Today the demand for interior decoration for the villa on the increase, Quang Minh ceramic joint stock company had developed mosaic pottery picture project in villas at Thái Nguyên - Việt Nam

A big mosaic pottery picture had installed at here and total area about 50m2
The subject of picture is forest, moutain, it made everyone feel commune with nature

Here are some pictures decorating projects villa with mosaic ceramic.

One View

The precense view

Brick in the wall: Local researcher Nguyen Viet Hong introduces a piece of earthenware brick dating back to the 9-10th century. A small part of Hong's collection was lent to the Kim Lan Ceramic History Museum for display.

by Nguyen Khanh Chi

An old-style tile-roofed house appeared in the middle of a large open public ground next to the headquarters of Kim Lan Commune People's Committee. Hesitation stopped me for a while before I entered the first community museum in Viet Nam.

The ceramic wares inside glass cabinets quickly caught my eyes. There were too many pieces to comprehend during a short visit.

I intended to take my eight-year-old son to nearby Bat Trang Village, which is known far and wide for pottery making. However, a talk with some other passengers on bus No 47 from Ha Noi's centre convinced me to change direction.

Kim Lan, the last stop of the bus route, is actually one of the oldest pottery villages in the land of Thang Long (the old name of Ha Noi). Kim Lan Village, several kilometres across the Red River from Bat Trang Village, was where the craft originated before it spread to Bat Trang.

Previously Kim Lan commune was located on the bank extending out to the Red River at the site of the current Kim Lan community. However, annual flooding, especially the large floods between 1970 and 1971, eroded the land. This also exposed the earthenware and ceramics that prompted the subsequent archaeological excavation.

Kim Lan doesn't enjoy as vibrant a business as Bat Trang as its residents focus on farming and pottery, while those living in the latter see pottery as their main livelihood. Thus, visitors to this craft village should not expect a bustling scene.

History lesson: The Kim Lan Ceramic History Museum is a real treat for those interested in learning about the history of Vietnamese pottery.

Nevertheless, the Kim Lan Ceramic History Museum is a real treat for those interested in learning about the history of Vietnamese pottery.

The museum opened in March last year thanks to the efforts of late Japanese archaeologist Nishimura Masanari and five elderly village craftsmen. It was granted a Bui Xuan Phai – Love for Ha Noi 2013 award in the Job category.

Valuable collection

The 300 pieces of earthenware not only create a vivid picture of the village's past and present, they also provide a glimpse of the country's pottery-making history.

"The artefacts displayed inside the museum make a significant contribution to the study of Viet Nam's ceramic and pottery history," said Dr Bui Minh Tri of the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences.

Tourist attraction: The museum has so far attracted mostly local students as well as Thai and Japanese tourists. — VNS Photos Truong Vi

Tri said archaeological studies revealed that Kim Lan villagers were involved in the craft as early as the 9th century, although it flourished between the 13th and 14th centuries.

Pieces ranging from bowls, plates and tea sets to animal figures, tiles and bricks are numbered and described in Vietnamese, Japanese and English. The variety of techniques used, from blue and white colouring to celadon and paired white and brown glazes, offers insight into the different eras of production, which stretched from the 7th to 18th century.

Vietnamese ceramics entered the international market in the 14th century, when they were exported to the rest of Southeast Asia as well as Egypt, Iran, India and Japan.

A shipwreck off Hoi An, which retained a cargo of Vietnamese ceramics dating to the 15th century, further proves the extent of international trade at that time.

Kishimoto Kosei, a Japanese sports and culture critic, donated ceramics from the shipwreck such as underglaze-cobalt jars, bowls and boxes to the museum.

There are also goods from other Southeast Asian countries, such as a set of earthenware from Cambodia, round jars from Indonesia and vases from Malaysia.

A set of ceramic liquor bottles made in Okinawa and an intact Dutch coffee bean grinder from the 19th-20th century revealed the unique features of ceramic wares from other regions.

Head of the Research Group Nguyen Viet Hong lives about 500m away. Visiting his house with the help of the museum guards, I was amazed to find out that the artefacts lent to the museum only formed a small part of his actual collection. Sets of bronze coins hung on the walls; other objects were contained in glass cabinets and boxes.

"Based on the excavated artefacts and structures, we identified that there was ceramic production around the Bai Ham Rong archaeological site between the Ly and Tran dynasties," the 78-year-old researcher said.

"The large number of bronze coins that I gathered indicates that there were also bronze casting workshops at the site between the 16th and 17th centuries."

Many tour companies have taken tourists, mostly Japanese and Thais, to see the old man's collection after visiting the museum. He has even been asked to sell it, but he always refused.

"I learn about our history in order to leave it to my offspring. If I sold them, it would be like selling my ancestors' sweat and efforts," Hong said. — VNS

Lacquer Paintings

Not every person is allergic to lacquer or subject to ghost obsession.”

This proverb is widely known in Vietnam. It usually refers to circumstances governed by the laws of fate. Literally, it also realistically and forcefully reflects the mysterious power of “black lacquer.” Lacquer is the resin of certain trees growing only in East Asia whose characteristics vary: Rhus succedanea in Vietnam, Rhus verniciera in Japan and Melanorrhea laccifera in Cambodia. The Vietnamese Rhus succedanea has been known for a long time as the sun tree, an indigenous name.

Lacquer paintings incorporate the traditional colours -- brown, black, red, yellow, white -- and the technique of inlaying egg, crab and snail shells. Innovations include techniques in mixing dyes, the addition of various tones of green to enrich the colour scheme, the drawing of shapes and figures, the use of shade and light with a wide range of different tones, and methods of applying pumice and polishing. Realistic themes depicted in so many works through each historical period convincingly confirm the expressive, inexhaustible resources of lacquer art.

Luy Lau ancient pottery restored

An ancient capital, the Thien Duc river passed Luy Lau which is also next to the Duong river. Therefore, transport there is very convenient. Thuan Thanh was the center of Thuan An capital city, which contains the tomb of Kinh Duong Vuong and the temple of Lac Long Quan – Au Co.
We consider the land a memorial on the ground and in people’s hearts. Luy Lau belongs to Thanh Khuong commune, Thuan Thanh district, the northern province of Bac Ninh. In BC times, Luy Lau had large-scale pottery-kilns with modern technology such as a system of high-speed ovens and turn tables to create specific potteries.
Over the past years, archaeologists have discovered Kochi potteries dating back to the early AD times. During a national seminar held in ancient Hoi An town, Prof. Hasebe Gakydi, of Japan’s Tokyo National Museum, said that Japan had imported very beautiful Kochi potteries in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Kochi potteries were kept in Japanese families of high-rank and were found in sites of Okinawa Nakigin’s ancient citadel.

Taking over the traditional work of ancestors, the Luy Lau pottery cooperative was established in 2005. Many Luy Lau red pottery products were exhibited during the cultural festival of Vietnamese ethnic groups held in November, 2005, by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Agencies in the province and leaders of Thuan Thanh district and Bac Ninh province have given support to the activities of the Luy Lau pottery cooperative, said its head Nguyen Dang Vong.
A seminar on development history and solutions to the restoration and promotion of Luy Lau ancient pottery has been held in July, 2007, by Bac Ninh Industrial Department and Bac Ninh Unions of Co-operatives.
Despite difficulties on the way of opening markets and creating a trademark for Luy Lau pottery, its image has left deep impression in Vietnamese and foreign collectors at an exhibition during the APEC forum held in November, 2006.
Vic Tran, an expert in pottery, who returned to Vietnam from the US, visited the cooperative. After studying pottery products, he said “I had an opportunity to visit some pottery-kilns in Southeast Asia, in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Comparatively, Luy Lau pottery is very special. I see that some Americans have hunted for Chinese potteries. I believe that if Luy Lau pottery is present in the US markets, it will be liked by some people because it will be suitable with cold weather in some states in the US.
BTA (According to Nhan Dan Newspaper)

Vietnamese pottery well matched with Japanese flowers

A Vietnamese living in the Land of the Rising Sun tried to associate Bat Trang pottery of Vietnam with flowers from Japan, which has been a great success.
Ngo Hung Lam, a Vietnamese resident, arrived in the Japanese province of Chiba in 1980 as a construction worker. Since then, he underwent many years of hard working in the province. During a trip to his homeland in 1995, he visited the well-known pottery village of Bat Trang in northern Vietnam and decided to introduce the village’s unique products to Japan.
After selling Bat Trang ceramics in Chiba for two years, Ngo Hung Lam considered selling Japanese flowers in pots made by Bat Trang artisans. The decision came from his deep understanding of Japanese tastes and Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
Flowers are available in Japan all year round with a wide range of species and colours. Japanese people, who have a special love for flowers, often place them in a small pot in a garden corner or on the windowsill to improve their lives.

Following careful deliberations, he ordered flowerpots from Bat Trang craftsmen with decorative patterns designed by him. After 10 years, he has gained a lot of experience in planting and selling flowers as well as designing flowerpots. His flower shop has flourished to become the most well-known shop in Chiba province.
Ms Watanabe, who regularly patronizes Lam’s store, said the shop is the biggest of its kind in the region and offers many types of flowers priced reasonably. Japanese people especially favour the flowers planted in Bat Trang ceramic pots, she added.
However, Mr Lam’s road to success has encountered numerous hindrances. For example, it was difficult for an overseas Vietnamese like him to rent a favourable lot of land to do business on. Therefore, the man had to lease a very cheap but deserted plot. He has exerted a lot of effort to develop his business from a tiny 12m2 shop to a 6000m2 establishment with a splendid forest of flowers.
In addition to his business, Ngo Hung Lam has made active contributions to Chiba province. In the local park there are many public works ranging from stone benches and statues to flower gardens which were supplied thanks to his labour and financial support. Chiba inhabitants affectionately call him Fuji Kun, meaning Fuji boy. (Fuji is a famous mountain in Japan.)
Mr Lam is now nurturing a bigger ambition - to set up a Vietnamese village in Chiba, his second homeland. He hopes the village will be a Vietnamese cultural environment for Vietnamese settlers in Japan who have retired or who have experienced unfortunate lives to share their sympathy towards the native land of Vietnam.

(CPV/VOV)

Vietnamese pottery on display in Belgium

Hundreds of traditional made-in-Vietnam ceramic products are on display at an exhibition in Brussels on Nov. 22 to introduce the traditional pottery and cultural heritages of craft villages in North Vietnam. The exhibition at the Royal Museum Mariemont, entitled "Hong (Red) River Pottery: An Cultural Itinerary", was part of a cultural project funded by the Belgium's French-speaking community and the Francophone Community in Brussels. Visitors to the exposition are also offered a chance to deepen their understanding about Vietnamese traditional ceramic making process, archeological relics and time-honoured pottery villages of Vietnam.

The show was the outcome of concerted efforts made by Vietnamese experts from the Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture and Information and their colleagues from the Belgian Cultural Heritage Agency and the Royal Museum Mariemont over the past three years, said Dang Van Bai, Head of the Department. The six-year project, dubbed "Cultural Itinerary: Traditional Craft Villages", started in 2004. Over the past three years, the project targeted traditional pottery villages and related archeological sites in the Red River Delta in North Vietnam.

Cement planter - contemporary concrete planters

Cement planter, called Fiber-reinforced concrete, is simply concrete that has been blended with fibrous material, which increases its structural integrity and durability. The fibers used are typically steel or glass, and they are distributed evenly throughout the concrete mix to help hold it together and reinforce the construction. Fiber-reinforced concrete is resistant to shrinkage and cracking that can be caused by temperature changes or inclement weather.

With the simple design, classic style of the Cement Planter, light concrete pot couldn't be easier to bring your favorite plants into your home garden or patio. Its shallow design works well for groupings, and sturdy reinforced concrete construction is ideal for outdoor use year round.

Light cement pots is a best choice for any rustic gardens. Our line of concrete Pots can be manufactured to just about any designs tall pot, round pot, square pot or saucer... This range pots will continue to get stronger for many years to come. Lightweight concrete planters are also the best choice for exposed container garden locations, in an entrance way, driveway or curbside, when you want to discourage anyone from walking off with your prize landscape pots and plants. This planter will make your garden more beautiful and provides you with a justifiable sense of accomplishment.

SIZE DIMENSIONS: contemporary concrete planters

Products code : BVT5096

Group : Set of 3

Dimension : 93x68 71x52 57x42

Hoang Pottery Ltd is a manufacturing and exporting company of pottery products from Vietnam. Our products are well-known for their superior quality and brilliant design. We offer a beautiful line of glazed Vietnamese outdoor pottery, unglazed terra cotta and indoor pottery. Our collections include high quality frost resistant pottery of all shapes and sizes as well as styles suitable for indoor decor. Our pottery products are for both indoors and outdoors, functional and non-functional (decorative), and contemporary and traditional. For the past years we have put a lot of efforts to our design capability to meet the demands of the most stringent boutique retailers, and have expanded our manufacturing capacity to fulfill the orders of many large international retailers. Customer satisfaction is one of our top priorities.

Dong Nai pottery in fight for survival

DONG NAI — Many pottery and ceramic producers in southern Dong Nai Province have stopped operating or reduced output because of a lack of export orders and high production costs.

The Thai Duong Ceramics Cooperative in Bien Hoa City, one of the largest pottery producers in Dong Nai, for example, has cut one-third of its production compared to the end of last year.

Bui Thi Kim Nguyen, deputy chairwomen of the cooperative, said fewer export orders and high input material costs were the reasons for the reduced level of production.

Even when it received export orders, the company declined because of rising gas prices, Nguyen said.

"Gas costs account for up to 45 per cent of production costs. If there is no careful calculation, production will face heavy losses," she said.

Ceramic producers expect few profits but hope to break even financially so they can continue to employ their staff.

Most small-sized pottery producers have stopped operating, according to the Dong Nai Art Pottery Association.

Up to 70 per cent of pottery and ceramics producers have no work for employees because of a drop in export orders, according to the association.

For the last few months of 2011, Phong Son Pottery Pte, which specialises in producing many kinds of pottery and ceramics for home and garden decoration, exported about three containers to the EU and US a month.

But in the first quarter of this year, it shipped only three containers, and in April, none.

Nguyen Viet Binh, chairman of the association, said the ceramics sector had recovered last year as pottery producers had received more export contacts than in previous years.

But since the middle of the first quarter of this year, the number of export orders dropped dramatically.

"I have never seen the pottery and ceramics sector facing such difficulty," he said.

Problems are expected to continue to the end of the third quarter of this year.

However, the economy of the EU and US is predicted to be better in the fourth quarter.

Most pottery and ceramics producers in Dong Nai Province, one of the country's leading provinces in pottery and ceramics exports, are located in Bien Hoa City.

Of the 30 pottery and ceramics producers in Bien Hoa, 25 are small-sized companies.

Southern potters face bleak future

Many pottery makers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Vinh Long have stopped or cut back production because orders have declined in recent years.

The province has for long enjoyed the advantage of having plenty of the clay containing aluminium sulphate, which is needed to produce red terracotta products, as well as a skilled pottery workforce.

The province's famous red terracotta products have been exported to many countries and territories, including the EU, US, Australia, South Korea and Japan.

However, the global economic slowdown has seen a sharp reduction in export orders in recent years.

Duong Hoang Son, who had three kilns in Long Ho District's Thanh Duc Commune, stopped production three years ago. He said the province's pottery sector was at a standstill. The more they produced, the greater the losses local potters suffered, he said.

Son said that a little more than a decade ago, it was a prosperous period for potters in the province with production unable to meet demand.

Ho Minh Chau, owner of the Van Thang Pottery enterprise which has three kilns in Thanh Duc Commune, said orders for the province's famous red terracotta products had been declining over the last five years. He had closed one kiln and was operating the other two at half capacity.

Difficult

He said a set of three pots that cost VND60,000 (US$2.8) ten years ago continued to fetch the same price today, while its production cost, including labour, materials and transport, had increased three times, leaving producers in a very difficult situation.

When things were going well, buyers paid potters in advance, but now, they could only receive money three to six months after delivery, he said.

"Many producers now lack capital, are in debt and facing bankruptcy," he said.

In 2000, the province had more than 130 pottery makers, most of them located in Long Ho and Mang Thit districts, according to the Vinh Long Pottery Association.

During its pottery heyday, the province produced about 50-60 million pottery products of various kinds each year and earned average annual export revenues of US$40 million.

Last year, just 12 million pottery products were made, down 20 per cent against 2011.

The province has just 32 pottery producers now. Of these, one-third do not operate regularly.

Ho Van Vang, chairman of the provincial pottery association, said: "Orders have been declining every year and this year they have declined further."

Besides, the industry was mired in several problems including small-scale production, outdated production techniques and lack of export information, he said.

The province's pottery products are mostly exported via traders in the southeastern province of Binh Duong. —VNS

Biscuit-color terracotta pots: stimulating all glances

I make sure that you are so excited with special products I introduce to you today.They are biscuit-color terracotta pots which create new vatality for your garden.And they will become more atractive, more lovely.

Biscuit-color terracotta pots is one of vietnamese pottery line and they are called by queer alias because color of it like as biscuit.They are often made from alum clay at Me Kong delta with many different materials to have spcial color.This is unique MeKong line, after mixing to get a smoonth blend, it is cut and poured in plastic mould to form.Then it is dried and firing in tower kiln 700-900 celsious during 3-5 days.Therefore terracotta pots are very solidly,hard .They are great planters for your garden.

Forming strongly, soft lines combines subtle pattern make simple beauty to insist on elegant character within your house.You also find lovely points in each pattern.Cute flowers has round petals and embellishing thin hems near neck make special affects for terracotta pots. They are suit both elegant style and classic style.It’s great for you to grow some small trees or flowers decorating your garden.

If you want to see more informations , please contact our MINHTAMPOTTERY to have more informations :

Contact:

John Nguyen

Address: 25370 Zemel Rd. Punta Gorda, FL 33955

Email: John@minhtampottery.com

Tel: 302 256 6818

EKPottery Vietnam