Earthenware in Morocco

To most places that I travel, I usually manage to fit in a local clay experience along the way.  My trip to Spain and Morocco in early 2016 was no exception. Beautiful works in clay seem to be everywhere in Spain and Morocco, from architectural features to park benches to everyday wares in the markets.   Plus the Museo Nacional de Cerámica in Valencia was fabulous; gotta love digital cameras!  

Earthenware pottery in Morocco is in use everyday and is plentiful in all of the markets.  A visit to the Salé Pottery Center outside of Rabat made for an especially interesting day trip.  In this post I am including a bunch of photos from Salé. There were numerous workshop where every aspect of pottery making was taking place. As well there were numerous shop selling wares from other regions, beautiful carpets, intricate metalwork and more.  A good portion of the works produced in Salé were larger pieces designed for outdoor uses.

Throwing off the Hump

high production using a kickwheel

A day's labour

produced a floor covered in pots

Large pots

halfway done, stiffening in up in the sunshine for the next stage.

Stacked and drying

getting ready for firing.

A firing mid-progress

done entirely with waste brush.

Another kiln cooled down

and getting unloaded.

A craftsman cutting zellige

tiles using a sharp hammer.  These are used in mosaic work

Zellige tiles ready to lay up

into a mosaic form

A cement mixture

is sprayed onto the backs of a mosaic patterns.

Mosaic pattern samples

Curved form for laying up

mosaic fountains.