Bibliograph

Fayoum pottery, ceramic arts and crafts in an Egyptian oasis, R. Neil Hewison ; with photographs by the author

Type

Label

Fayoum pottery, ceramic arts and crafts in an Egyptian oasis, R. Neil Hewison ; with photographs by the author

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-178) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Fayoum pottery

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1237630858

Responsibility statement

R. Neil Hewison ; with photographs by the author

Sub title

ceramic arts and crafts in an Egyptian oasis

Summary

"The Fayoum, a broad, fertile depression in Egypt's Western Desert, known for its great salt lake, its rich green fields, and its unique pharaonic and Greco-Roman remains, is also home to three very different centers of pottery production. The potters of Kom Oshim specialize in decorated garden pots and other utilitarian ware, and guard the special secret of how to make the largest clay vessels in Egypt, up to an extraordinary two and a half meters tall. At al-Nazla, ancient traditions are kept alive, as members of a single extended family continue to use millennia-old techniques passed down from generation to generation, hand-forming among other things their distinctive spherical water jars with amazing dexterity and speed. In the small village of Tunis, the establishment of a pottery school by a Swiss couple in 1990 led to a complete transformation, and the village now hosts more than twenty-five pottery workshops and showrooms, whose products are sold in Cairo, London, and New York. In this lively insight into a varied and vital craft, the author reveals the stories of the three villages and the skilled potters who make their living there, looking at how they learned their trade and how they work, from the preparation of the clay to the formation of the pots on the wheel or by hand, to the decoration, the glazing, and the firing, and finally to the display or distribution and sale of the finished product. For past and future travelers to Egypt, lovers of the craft of pottery, practitioners, and collectors, this beautifully illustrated exploration of the ceramics of the Fayoum will inspire and enchant."--, Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Al-Nazla -- Kom Oshim -- Tunis -- Khnum's Children: Lives of Clay

Classification