Cocotte artisanale I Poterie noire Bisalhães I Artisanat portugais Cocotte en terre cuite noire de Bisalhães

Black terracotta cooking pot from Bisalhães

29.90€

Authentic Portuguese Product drapeau portugais

Ref PONO-007-1

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This small cooking pot is still commonly used to cook rice in Portugal. It is part of the pieces traditionally made by Sezinando Fernandes Ramalho, one of the last 5 potters to use the ancestral technique of making black pottery in Bisalhães, a technique registered as a UNESCO World Intangible Heritage Site.

The originality of this pottery lies in its color, which can vary from coal black to dark gray. This coloring is obtained naturally by firing in the open air, in a fire of wood, grass and damp earth. More than an object, this pot is a part of the Portuguese heritage, considered today as world heritage to be safeguarded, by UNESCO.

Why I love it

A part of the Portuguese heritage recognized by UNESCO.
A unique object and an ancestral technique.

Characteristics

Diameter: 17 cm approximately
Height: 8 cm approximately

Black pottery is made in several stages. First, the clay is crushed with a wooden hammer in a stone vat before being sifted, added water, kneaded, shaped, smoothed with pebbles and decorated with a stick.

The firing is always done in the heart of the village of Bisalhães, in a community oven, built in the open air. The potteries are placed on the ground, covered with wet earth and herbs, and finally with wood that is set on fire.

The slow firing process gives the pottery its special appearance and also its solidity. Passed on almost exclusively through family ties, the future of this practice seems threatened today because of the disappearance of the holders of the know-how.

If you want to know more about this manufacturing process, go to our blog and read our article on the black pottery of Bisalhães.