Olăritul în judeţul Arad. Centre de ceramică, tehnici de lucru şi produse
Pottery in Arad County

Summary/Abstract: Pottery is one of the oldest crafts in Romania. Testimony to this are pottery fragments and pottery burning kilns found by archaeologists. However, on this job, in the modern sense, we can speak only from the eighteenth century, when potters began to be taxed on their activity. In the past, seven pottery centers were active in Arad County (Ineu, Bârsa, Nădlac, Lipova, Birchiş, Hălmăgel and Târnăviţa) spread in all ethnographic areas. What has been particularly to these centers was less the kind of products, as in all locations have been produced pots, jars, plates and so on, but specially the material from which they were made and the particular type of decoration (line with flowers, ornaments scratched or embossed). Taking into consideration the organization of labor, in Arad county we can talk about urban pottery, small workshops working with apprentices and journeymen, and peasant pottery, where potters work individually, being helped by family members. Whatever the type of work organization, working techniques and tools were everywhere almost the same, old and archaic. Starting the 70s of last century, pottery centers in these regions ceased operations one by one. The only one still active is the center of Târnăviţa, the last potters trying to survive by adapting their products to the market demand.

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