Hagyományok és változások Korondon. Beszélgetés Páll Antalnéval
Traditions and Changes in Korond (Corund, Romania). A Conversation with the Potter Mrs Antal Páll

Author(s): Endre Abkarovits, Antalné Páll
Subject(s): Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Molnár Kiadó
Summary/Abstract: Korond (Corund) is a village in Transylvania which has become famous for traditional hand-made pottery. There are more than 200 Hungarian families in the village who have come to be involved in pottery in some way, either as potters and decorators, or traders. The Páll family is perhaps the best known among them. Lajos Páll, Sr. played an active role in reviving the motifs of the whole region of the Székelys, as Hungarians are called in central Romania. Several of his children have carried on his craft, Antal Páll, Sr. being the most famous beyond the borders of Romania, primarily in Hungary, but also in some Western countries. After his early death in the 1990s, his wife, Róza Páll, and son, Antal Páll, Jr., have carried on his legacy. In many potter families of Korond, the physical work of mining the clay, working on the potter's wheel and baking the finished products was the husband's job, while the wife was responsible for the ornamentation of the pottery. As the function of their creations has changed from everyday household objects in the homes of peasants to decorative elements in the houses of town dwellers, the wife's work has taken on greater significance. While it was the potters that were in the centre of attention in the past, these days an increasing number of buyers and collectors attach at least as much significance to the ornamenting talents of the women. In this interview, Endre Abkarovits talks to Róza Páll about her life, her husband's family and the story of pottery in Korond in general. The reader gains not only an insight into a famous potter family, but also a glimpse into how life has changed in the village over the past few decades. While many potters attempt to follow the taste and requirements of buyers, the Páll family insists on preserving the colors, forms and motifs of traditional Székely peasant pottery.

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