pots and kiln

Travelling further upstream and Robin advises we should be prepared for anything, ie getting stuck on a sandbank!, and that the schedule will become increasingly captain and river dependent.
It is already clear to see that water levels are very low and channels are found by two of the crew at the bow with long painted sticks with which they read the river depth calling out the numbers. This is done by all craft on the river whether it be bamboo and teak rafts, fishing boats and supply craft including these carrying glazed Martaban jars from the village of Nwe Nyein.

Ashore at Nwe Nyein village, villagers work for in three collective ‘sheds’ making these huge ’50 gallon’ jars from a mix of yellow and red clay, a two person job with great coils of clay built up on a wheel. Glazed with a mix of limestone and crushed lava they are fired in closed kilns in batches of 90 pots.
The clays are dug from the river bank, lava from the Shan state and the most expensive part of the whole process is the firewood, purchased from driftwood collectors who scour the river after the monsoon stashing away trees and branches for on selling.
These pot makers in this village are descendents of 18th century captive potters brought to this area from Pegu by Bamar King Alaungpaya though the original pots were made Martaban in the Myanmar’s Mon State.
14th century Arab traveller and writer Ibn Battuta wrote in his travelogue of coastal Burma of ‘Martaban or huge jars, filled with pepper, citron and mango all prepared with salt, as for a sea voyage.’
Prized in the 16th century also as decorative items they were traded by the Peguans along with gold, rubies and musk in exchange for cloth, sandalwood, pepper, cloves, silk and iron.

Very beautiful..imagine a few in a garden. $15 to buy in the village and probably $350 to ship !