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5 Most Famous Romanian Pottery Ceramics Workshops You Don’t Want to Miss on Your Romania Trip
A great diversity of Romanian pottery workshops and centers steeped in ancient history are open to visitors. If you are interested in Romanian traditional ceramics, or the best Romanian souvenirs, here are 5 places to visit that are not a tourist trap.
Romanian Pottery Workshop from Marginea
The burnt clay Romanian pottery from Marginea, Suceava county, had it’s beginnings around 1500. Marginea prides itself in being one of the few places on earth where black pottery is still being produced by means of a prehistoric burning technique.
There is a workshop where visitors can watch pottery being made by the hands of a few artisans, without paying entrance fee and a store where you can buy ceramics at a good price. Just as in ancient times, today’s black ceramic pottery is made by kneading clay, shaping it on a wheel, drying and burning at temperatures up to 1472 °F.
Romanian Ceramics of Corund
Situated in Harghita county, Corund (Hungarian: Korond) is famous for it’s pottery and ceramics since 1600’s. On the first weekend of August, there is a pottery fair with ceramists and traditional artists of Corund.
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The craft of ceramic dishes takes a few days and goes through many processes. After the object is left to dry, it is immersed in kaolin, which gives a crisp white color, then dried again.
Next, it is embellished with beautiful floral or zoomorphic motifs and fired twice in the kiln. It is bisque fired and then glaze fired. The best known products are those with a cobalt blue or green background, as well as the white, brown or colored ceramic.
Video Source: RomanianArtCraft
Red Ceramics of Horezu
Horezu ceramic from Vâlcea county was inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in December 2012. Horezu is famous for it’s red pottery.
Potters clean the earth by use of a special mixer. Each object is shaped on a potter’s wheel with a comb and a special finger technique, which requires training and agility.
Women decorate the objects in dark shades of brown, red, green, blue and “Horezu Ivory” by use of special tools: a hollowed bull’s horn and a fine wire-tipped stick. The rooster is a central motif, specific to the area. Other motifs found on Horezu ceramics are zoomorphic (fishes, doves), fitomorphic (grapes, leaves, clovers, wheat) and geometric. Then, the object is fired in a stove.
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The Ceramics of Maramureş
Săcel is a commune in Maramureş county, famous for it’s red, unglazed pottery. The use of a very good quality clay, extracted from great depths, the shaping and the simple decorative elements result in great similarities between the ceramics of Săcel and the Dacian Pottery.
The objects are shaped by use of a wheel and decorated with simple motifs, polished with a stone and left to dry for a long while. Finally, they are burned in the oven without being glazed.
The brushwork on Baia Mare ceramics is another example of a great craftsmanship. Two color pottery, usually white/blue and decorative elements (flowers, leafs, birds) are often encountered on the ceramics of Baia Mare.
Other famous artworks are the glazed ceramics from Vama and Lăpuş, painted with horn and brush.
The International Fair of Traditional Ceramics “Cucuteni 5000”
Every year, during the last weekend of June, from Friday, 11:20 am, till Sunday, 9:00 pm, tens of traditional potters from all regions of Romania and abroad are exhibiting their artworks at Copou Park from Iaşi. It reunites potters from Bistriţa, Botoşani, Braşov, Galaţi, Harghita, Iaşi, Maramureş, Olt, Suceava, Horezu, Vâlcea, Chişinău, Cernăuţi.
Blog Comments
Ruth Hillaert
June 10, 2019 at 12:53 pm
Hi there!
I just came across this website whilst searching for ceramics workshops in Romania. I am a ceramicist but also a felting artist. I use raw wool to make interior products and clothing accesories. Since this year, I have started working together with a Romanian Shepperd (in Drageşti) who is looking after Țurkana sheep. Their lovely fur is ideal to make beautiful rugs or scarfs. The felting technique is the oldest way of making textile. It was a nearly forgotten, undervalued technique but slowly it is finding its way back.
I want to start a project to include the shepperd and other people in the local community to revalue village living, to bring pride back into traditional crafts and to improve people’s living conditions. We are starting in August with a felting workshop. This is where the fur of 1 sheep will be felted by the use of water, soap and lots of rubbing, rolling,…each person will go home with a small wollen carpet, which will look exactly the same as it would do if the sheep’s skin was still on it. But this is wool only. This will go together with a walk in nature with the shepperd and the sheep and a demonstration on how the sheepscheese is being used.
Ruth’s corner only works with wool from animals that are being cared for and are not just for slaughter.
Anyway, I wondered if there was anyway we could get a mention on your website, facebook and/or instagram. My instagram is @hillaertruth
Thank you in advance for your time.
Best wishes
Ruth
Bianca
June 20, 2019 at 3:25 pm
Good Day,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Please send us an E-Mail at [email protected]. Gr. Bianca