A Myanmar potter of a thousand years ago would be quite at home if he were to suddenly come back to earth; his techniques are still in use today, and probably by his techniques are still in use today, and probably by his descendants; for it is usually a family business, handed down from one generation to the next.

          Fine river silt is sieved, mixed with good rich, earth (dried, powdered, sifted) and steeped in water for several days; the resulting day is mixed and kneaded. The potter's wheel is set in a shallow hole dug in the ground and is turned by one hand by the potter or with one foot by someone standing above it. The smaller pots are shaped on it and then paddled with a wooden bat incised with designs. The big jars, so essential to the Myanmar household, are made by the coiling method; the base is formed first and allowed to dry out a little so that it can bear the weight of the top, added on afterwards. The two halves are smoothed over, final touches added, and then allowed to dry out completely in the shade.

          Terracotta wares such as water and flowerpots are made the same way, but are then fired in a low-temperature kiln. While making water pots, sand is added to the clay to make the pots porous. Essentially done to keep the surface damp. The moisture on the outside of the pot combined with every gust of breeze lowers the temperature giving the water a refreshing coolness, as if it were from a natural spring.

           For glazed ware, a creamy paste of traditional glazes is slapped on with a rag or a bunch of jute fibers, and allowed to dry. The glaze is made from lava-like pebbles obtained while smelting silver from ore. These brownish, pebbles are powdered as fine as possible, sifted and mixed with a little clay and binding agents like hta-m'-ye' - the gluey, milky water poured out from the rice pot while in the process of cooking. The hta-m'-ye' is never wasted; it has many uses - as binder, glue, animal fodder, fertilizer, starch for laundry, sauce for pickles, food for babies and convalescents, as well as a nourishing breakfast drink!

          Once the glaze has been applied it is allowed to dry; sometimes-decorative motifs are painted on in different colors, then left to dry again. Glazed wares are fired at higher temperatures and take about five days. The kiln is left unopened for several days so that the pots have time to cool.

          The most famous of glazed pots must be the 'martaban jars', named after the port on the Southern coast where they were once made, and exported all over Asia centuries ago. The jars are four feet high with bulbous tops and narrow bottoms left unglazed outside. The opening is about 18 inches wide. Both the top and interior are glazed thickly, in traditional dark brown verging on black. The base is usually buried in the ground for stability, and for coolness. These jars, called 'Hundred-containers' hold up to a hundred viss of oil and are still used today to store water, oil, rice, pickled fish or pickled bamboo-shoots, the last two being delicacies of great popularity. The pots are an essential part of the traditional Myanmar household, squatting in shiny rows by a fence or under the eaves.

          The main pottery centers are at Kyaukmyaung, a river town in Upper Myanmar near the old capital of Shwebo. Nearer to Yangon is Twante, across the river from the capital. You can hire a boat for a leisurely cruise down a picturesque canal, or take a short ferry ride across to Dallah, then take the bus, which should be a cheap and an interesting trip, or hire a taxi to Twante, about 32 km away. Halfway to Bago, about 80 km north of Yangon is another potter's village. Pots are made here only during the dry season.



          The sheds were set on bare ground housing rows of drying pots, clay, stacks of firewood and huge kilns which looked like beehives. Bare-torsoed men carried dry pots on their shoulders into the kilns and stacked them neatly on the earthen platform set at the back.

          In other sheds women pounded earth in foot-worked pestles, while the men stamped clay in deep pits. Outside a young girl clutched a bamboo pole for balance turning the potter's wheel with her foot while her mother deftly fashioned a pot in a few seconds. Another member of the family polished the pots smooth with a wet rag.

          The scene would have been the same hundreds of years ago. A calm, deep, contented silence reigned as this clan of potters duplicated the actions of their forefathers.