Moroccan Pottery

[Redalinho]

[Ratlegs]

image hosted on flickr

Moroccan Pottery by TamaraM., on Flickr

[Gadiri]

[safiot]

[teystoon]

Pictures by Me

Preparation of the clay
Potters of Fez use the gray clay. They put the clay in big vats full of water for some weeks. Then, they pass it through a sifter to remove all impurities. Then, it is going to be cut in some small pieces and stored.

The potter's wheel
The potter puts one of these pieces on the wheel whose rotation speed could be controlled by his foot, creating between his hands the shapes he wanted.

The drying
The pottery is dried under the sun for a week.

The kiln
After being dried by sunshine, the pottery is put in the kiln. The kiln which is two-story is heated by the olive pulps. The baking lasts about eight to nine hours. The potter lets the kiln cool down for twenty four hours before opening it.

[teystoon]

Glazing and decoration
The pottery of the cities is always glazed and decorated. The potter's assistants will draw the designs after the first cooking. First, they pour in some pots a colorless glaze, then they coat the outside of the earthenware with the slip which is either a white or yellow powder mixed with water. Before it is dry, an apprentice will add water to some oxide stains in small pots, and paint with a brush the wanted motives. Then the second cooking, of eight to nine hours, will transform the oxide stains in a glaze of magnificient colours.

[teystoon]

The potters produce tiles out of cooked clay and glaze. This what we call "zellige" (mosaic). This is a wall art based on the juxtaposition of carefully cut up pieces of tiles, in order to form numerous variations of the traditional design, according to the principle basis of the mosaic. First the master, zelligeur, orders tiles. These tiles of clay of 10 square centimetre are cooked, coloured, glazed and recooked. The zelligeur will prepare the tiles on which the apprentices are going to draw the neededmotive contours. With a sharp hammer, the zelligeur will cut with a dry stroke these motive contours. When all the decorative elements are ready, they are assembled upside-down to even soil like a puzzle. A mixture of cement and plaster will be applied on the back of the panels to fix them all.