Vietnam - In Cham ethnic minority villages women use age old traditions and methods to produce pottery for both local use and commercial markets

A Hindu Cham woman holds a newly-fired ceramic pot made using a traditional method outside a mud house in Duc Binh village, Binh Thuan province in Central Vietnam. Cham potters do not use a wheel to make pots, instead clay is pressed into shape using the hands. Layers of clay are added to the original piece and the potter moves around the object, pressing the clay into the desired shape. They are then put directly in the sun and completely bone dried, making them ready to be fired. Firing is done in an open pit with temperatures going up to 800 degree Celcius. The pots are arranged together and covered with layers of rice straw, which is set on fire.

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Copyright: Tessa Bunney
Image Size: 4000x2999 / 1.6MB; Tessa Bunney Southeast Asia Central Vietnam village Binh Thuan province craft ceramics pottery clay age-old traditional tradition Cham woman ethnic minority Hindu fired hands holding mud house wall portrait
Contained in galleries: Tessa Bunney - All pics, Vietnam Cham ethnic minority villages

A Hindu Cham woman holds a newly-fired ceramic pot made using a traditional method outside a mud house in Duc Binh village, Binh Thuan province in Central Vietnam. Cham potters do not use a wheel to make pots, instead clay is pressed into shape using the hands. Layers of clay are added to the original piece and the potter moves around the object, pressing the clay into the desired shape. They are then put directly in the sun and completely bone dried, making them ready to be fired. Firing is done in an open pit with temperatures going up to 800 degree Celcius. The pots are arranged together and covered with layers of rice straw, which is set on fire.