Present Production
In Burma almost all of the daily containers are of unglazed and glazed earthenware: plastic or cement containers have not yet conquered the market (not even to the present day - Webmaster). Most likely the manufacture of pottery, their shapes and styles of decoration have not changed much since early times. The Burmese still produce only glazed and unglazed earthenware. In general pottery is an occupation pursued only in dry-weather months when there are no agricultural operations going on, but there are a few traditional pottery centres which manufacture pots the year round. The pottery villages which we have visited are Twante in the south, Sagaing, and Shwe. Nyein in the Shwebo region, Upper Burma.
The Shans from the Shari State are considered the best potters and Kengtung and Mongkung are traditional pottery centres. Green glazed ware of a light green colour are still produced here. But the wares from Papun in the Karen State are considered to be the best. Mr Saosai Long Mengrai, the last descendant of the kings of the Shan State19, informed us that according to legend a Chinese merchant met with an accident there and he settled down and taught the people to make pottery in the Chinese tradition. Other traditional pottery centres are in Pyinmana, Tavoy and Bassein in the south. In Bassein they produce black plain jars without handles (Burma, Apa Production 1984, 171). In the Rangoon market one can buy pottery from Twante, Pegu, Pyinmana. Sagaing and Shwebo and maybe from other regions as well.
Sagaing
The traditional paddle and anvil technique for unglazed earthenware pots is still used at Sagaing near Mandalav. The pots are usually decorated with striations out of which the patterns are cut on a wooden paddle. As in many parts in Indonesia the manufacture is only done by women. The pots are fired in an open grassfire and are normally used for drinking water.
One may see them alongside the road, topped by a cup to slake the thirst of the weary traveller. They are also decorated with colourful paintings of flowers mostly in red which is a festive colour, or faces, which is a recent innovation.
Twante
In Twante, Pegu and Shwe Nyein they make glazed and unglazed wares and here they use the potter’s wheel. It consists of a simple wooden wheel which rotates on a wooden rod stuck in the ground. The potter rotates the wheel with his foot while seated, and has usually an assistant who helps turn the wheel.
Twante is a traditional pottery centre since early times and is situated about 30 km southeast of Rangoon across the river. There are public jeeps which bring you to the village along a badly-paved road. It produces now only black glazed ovoid jars, flower-pots and small bowls; also unglazed jars, pots and bottle kendis. The plain glazed jars without handles are of three sizes, the smallest is ~10 cm high, the medium sized ~30 cm and the largest is around 60 cm. The clay body usually burns a bright terracotta. The unglazed jars are burnished and are of rounder shape and equipped with a cover. They all have everted rounded lips and are decorated with incised bands at the neck; some have groovings or tiny buttons around the shoulder. Most of the jars have a vitreous glaze but some are dull-glazed which might be caused by a lower firing temperature.
Although Twante at present does not produce green glazed wares they might have produced them in the past as there are many Shan potters in Twante. According to information there are still about 30 kilns in Twante with a production of about 500 jars a day. Along the road and in Twante you see large black and red-brown jars which are produced in the pottery villages in the Mandalav province in Upper Burma. The jars are transported down the river Irrawaddy. However based on historical sources Burmese archaeologists believe that Twante was the ceramic centre which produced the famous Pegu jars.
Red clay for the pottery is taken from the surrounding area and is mixed with dried river mud. Since a few years ago they use grinding mills to pulverize the clay and the glaze material. The glaze material comes from the Shan States. According to J G Scott (1921, 278), in the Shan States the slag, called “Chaw” or “Bhwet” from the argentiferous lead mines is used for glazing. It is yellow and has as much as 90% lead in it. After it is pounded up it is mixed with clay and water in which rice has been boiled. To obtain a green glaze, blue-stone (sulphate of copper) is pounded up, and mixed with the “Bhwet” and rice-water. This description is still valid for the present production.
The large jars are manufactured from two parts: the first half is shaped as a flowerpot and when it is in the leather stage (after being left for several days), the upper half is set up with the coil method and then turned on the wheel. The whole procedure takes only a few minutes. One potter can finish about 50 jars a day. In Twante no slip is used, the finished pieces are dipped into the glaze and a small amount is then tossed around inside it.
The kilns in Twante, Pegu and Shwe Nyein are identical. It is a cross-draft kiln, beehive-shaped with a domed roof, made of unfired bricks and mud with a sloping floor. There is no division between the fire and firing chamber. All the kilns have a centrifuge in the back wall and some have additional smaller openings beside it. The kiln is supported at each side by a high brick wall and each is protected by a bamboo roof. The largest kiln in Twante is about 4x3x2m high on the inside which can fire about 500 pieces.
Tubular pontils and spur pontils are used for stacking. Some pontils have three spurs but the larger ones with a diameter of about 17 cm have four spurs. When asked why they did not use the spur pontils for stacking the bowls to save space, they answered that it would leave unsightly marks on the inside. We were told that the firing including the cooling period takes about 10 days. The firing temperature is probably about 1,000°C. We were fortunate to be able to take pictures of a kiln which had been opened the day before.
Pegu
In Pegu there are only a few small private kilns. We visited one place which produces only small vases, jarlets and flowerpots. The clay comes from Twante and the glaze from the Shan State. Here they use the yellow slip decoration and it is interesting to note that the decoration of stripes found on the 11th century Pagan sherds is still used on the jarlets of Pegu. Tubular and spur pontils are used for stacking.
Shwe Nyein
Shwe Nyein is one of the four pottery villages at the lrrawaddv river side north of Shwebo. It is not difficult to reach, there are English speaking guides at Mandalav who can take you there. In fact according to our guide John Aung Khaing we have shown him how easy it was to reach the pottery villages! We were not only the first visitors who wanted to see Shwe Nyein but it was also his first visit to this area.
The town Shwebo is about 189 km from Mandalay, and from Shwebo it is another 30 km to Kyaukmyaung on the Irrawaddy river. The road from Mandalay is in good condition and on the way to Kyaukmyaung you see bullock-carts loaded with huge martaban jars. As there is only a bullock-cart trail from Kyaukmyaung to Shwe Nyein one has to take a motorboat trip for about fifteen minutes to reach Shwe Nyein.
On the banks of the Irrawaddy we saw white Pagodas all lined with gleaming dark martaban jars. There were also large boats stacked with pottery. The smaller pieces are put on the top deck and the large jars stowed below. It was reported in the early twentieth century that the jars, called “Ali Baba jars” were transported on bamboo rafts. You still see large bamboo rafts topped with small houses of bamboo leaves floating on the river.
The village Shwe Nyein has 1,800 inhabitants and there are 60 active kilns. The entire village is busy making pottery. We could watch the whole activity from digging the clay to the transport of the wares on bullock-carts or boats. Pottery is everywhere, in all kinds of stages, from green-ware, glazed but unfired, finished products and discards. When watching the villagers working as busy as bees in a beehive, one could not help feel being transported back into the past - to the days when Martaban was an important harbour and these jars were transported to the Archipelago, India and the Middle East. The villagers were very friendly and one of them, an old headman informed us that they came down from Malar, a village north of Shwe Nyein, because the clay deposit there had dried out. He thinks that his ancestors settled down in this area about 200 years ago from the south. They had to move north because there had been a war.
The main production of Shwe Nyein consists of jars up to 1 meter, small and large bowls, flowerpots, and vases. They also accept orders for wall tiles and special shapes. The method of manufacture of the jars is the same as in Twante but here they mix three kinds of clay: red and yellowish clay is dug from the surrounding area, and white limestone comes from Pyinmana. The clay-body burns a purplish colour and is more compact than that of Twante. The glaze material comes from the Shan State. It is especially interesting to watch the making of a large jar. The sides are shaved off with a sharp bamboo ring. Before carving the small foot, a fire is burnt inside the jars for several hours to harden the clay and the piece is finished the next day.
The jars are conical shaped but the shoulders are not as wide as the early jars and the mouth is also larger; however some styles of decoration still continues for instance the buttons around the mouth and the rosette motif. Bulbous jars are still being made. The attractive bright red-brown colour is a recent innovation which is achieved by mixing the glaze from the Shan State with battery powder!
Only the pieces and decorations which will become yellow are covered with a white slip. The dual colour of yellow and dark brown known from Northern Thai wares is also used here.
Most jars are equipped with horizontal grooved handles. From a long coil of clay short pieces are cut oft which are put in pairs. One pair forms one handle, both ends get a patch of clay to fix the handles on the jar with thumb-pressed ends. The glaze will not entirely cover the hollow between the two strips of clay so that the handles are slightly grooved.
The kilns are about 4x6x3 meters high from the inside. We were fortunate to see how they stack a kiln. The kiln is lighted very ingeniously by placing two small mirrors at the entrance which reflects the sunrays and project them inside. Some also use torches for additional light. First they stack the large jars which are carried by two men to the kiln. These are stacked at the farthest end on huge tubular pontils over one meter tall. Smaller pieces are grouped around it. The bowls which are glazed till the lower body are put in separately while the bowls which are glazed just over the mouth rim are stacked on top of each other or lip to lip. A rectangular opening at a man’s height is left in the brick wall which shuts off the kiln, through which fire wood is added. The firing lasts for three days and the cooling period is also three days.
A potter earns 6 kyat a day which is about Rp 780. The largest jar cost 50 kyat at the site, the market price is 100 kyat or about Rp 13,000. At Kyaukmyaung we watched the unloading of the jars: the men unloaded the jars from the lower deck, but at ‘the gangplank the jars were carried ashore on the heads of girls.
In conclusion we would like to note that the study of early Burmese ceramics and kiln sites would greatly contribute to the knowledge of Southeast Asian ceramics and the ceramic trade between Burma and Southeast Asian countries.
Nowadays pottery is also manufactured in Yangon - Webmaster
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