General part: Pottery
23/05/2012 0:00:14
Tunisia is considered the country of pottery, and one of the oldest places where the technique of turning the working table with the feet was used. We visited a job shop in Guellala, first production town in Djerba.
We went to the shop of Ben Amour, the owner of about 50 years old has a jop shop and a shop. He shows to us a traditional job shop that is now being redone and he explains how the production is done.
The oven must be heated slowly. First palm wood serves to increase the temperatura up to 300 degrees Celsius, the next day palm are used and the temperatura can reach up to 800 degrees, finally olive tree wood is used to get up to 1200 degrees.
The raw material is clay from Djerba; however, nowadays plenty of clay is brought from other places. If the clay is mixed with sea water it will end up being a quite white pottery, instead when the clay is mixed with sweet water it will end up being the typical orange / brown color.
Once all work is done the pieces are put in the oven and stay there for one week when traditional Djerba pottery is done, for instance “Maï”. This last type of pottery is submerged in a copper and lead liquid mix. After one week the result is either a shiny green or yellow es the final color. The pieces cannot be used for food because they are toxic.
Traditionally the name of the owner was written on the pottery jars.
There is a whole range of products available: jars top store oil, traps for octopus fishing, diner services, ashtrays, etc.
And finally you can also use jars to take some pictures inside them!
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