23Aug

Turn clay into toxic goods

Friday, September 5, 2014 15:34 (GMT+7) Clay is abundant in the Dong Thap Muoi region, but because it is heavily contaminated with alum, it can only be used to burn bricks. Ms. Phan Thi Thuy Mai turns it into unique ceramic products.

The land also has a soul

Explaining why she chose this profession, Ms. Mai (35 years old, living in Vinh Binh town, Go Cong Tay district, Tien Giang) said: "Since ancient times, our country has had famous craft villages such as Bat Trang, Lai Thieu... making pottery by hand and mixing traditional glazes. But then all of them gradually faded away, now few people bother to mix glaze anymore, instead using pre-mixed glaze from China, which is simpler and more convenient. However, unlike industrial glaze, which has different colors, fire-changing glaze is mixed naturally according to a traditional recipe to create unique products. For example, a cup before being fired is the yellow color of clay, but after 9 hours in the oven at a temperature of 1,300 degrees Celsius, it will turn purple or blue with very strange patterns, so it is called fire-changing".

Regarding the secret to making ceramics, Ms. Mai believes that "first shape, second skin", first is to create a beautiful shape, unique glaze, then the soil, the color is created by the glaze, not by the color. She explained in detail: "The difference also depends on the kiln environment, temperature, firing time and chemical composition of the glaze. In addition, because the product is fired at 1,300 degrees Celsius, the clay becomes viscous, and after a long time of use, the glaze will not chip, and when you tap it lightly, you will hear a very clear clinking sound."

However, to make precious glaze requires a long research process. Ms. Mai said that in the past, in Vietnam, there was tea-based glaze, with a slightly yellowish green color. Tea-based glaze is easy to make, but to achieve green glaze is very difficult, especially sky blue because only one type of feldspar can be made. That is why many types of glaze have been lost and cannot be recreated.

Dream of restoring handicraft villages

Although the economy has developed rapidly, Japan still has craft villages that produce handmade pottery, while in our country it is very difficult to find someone who makes pottery by hand. Ms. Mai raised the question: "Why did there exist beautiful and sophisticated ceramic objects during the Ly - Tran dynasties; but in the current industrial age, many traditional crafts are gradually disappearing? The Japanese believe that the Vietnamese economy develops vertically, while theirs is going up slowly on a slope. But thanks to that, they have accumulated a lot of experience. As for us, because we go straight into industrial production, many unique handicrafts have been lost." Perhaps, thanks to the diligence in researching and exploring to create unique differences, the products made by her Dong Gia Facility are always highly competitive. "Almost all types of clay can be used to make pottery. Interestingly, the same type of glaze but the soil taken from Tan Lap commune (in the Dong Thap Muoi region of Tien Giang) produces a very strange color, because it contains a lot of iron oxide. When heated to 1,300 degrees Celsius, the iron oxide will melt into beautiful patterned drops, creating unique products, from bowls, cups, plates, spoons to decorative items. Especially when making jade glaze, it will produce very strange colors," said Ms. Mai.

Each year, Dong Gia exports about 10 containers of ceramics to Europe, mostly to Sweden, France, Denmark... but Ms. Mai still feels regretful because her facility is made by hand, so even the domestic market demand cannot be met. She really hopes that her dream of having a soil refining factory (with an investment capital of about 5 - 6 billion VND) to create a source of raw materials and produce large quantities of ceramics will become a reality so that Dong Gia's unique products will become a reality. more famous