Cliousclat - potters village

Pottery colors

Pottery colors depend on the coloring substances that are added to the glaze or/and in the engobe. The intensity of the color depends on how much colorant is added. To obtain different colors potters use powdered metal oxides. Manganese oxide gives violet and black shades, iron oxide - orange and red shades; copper oxide gives shades of green.

 

Traditionally, potters in Cliousclat made pottery for everyday use, with little or no decoration. In 1964, the head potter, Phillip Sourdive, decided that traditional decorative patterns would be used: flowers and animals, characters made by carving or with a “barolet”.

 

Engobes of different colors are applied to the pottery by pouring or sprinkling. This technique produces mottling of various colors.

 

 

Before glazing, all pieces are supposed to be “engobed”. The “engobe” is a mixture of clay, water and coloring oxides. Its’ consistency resembles pancake batter of a different color from the clay the pot is made of.

 

To decorate a piece by carving, a potter first covers it with “engobe” and leaves to dry for a little while. Then with a special nail he scratches the surface of the pottery. The resulting outline can then be filled with “engobe”.

 

The potter fills little containers with colored engobe. Then he applies this engobe drop by drop, and joins the drops to form a composition. Previously, these containers were made of clay and named “barolets”. But today they are replaced by rubber squeeze-bulbs. “Engobe” for decorating should be denser than an ordinary one in order to avoid it spreading over the surface.