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Pottery of kalpurkan
Iranian pottery is as old as this country’s
history. Its earliest manifestations, found at ancient sites in
Balouchestan, date back to the Paleolithic and the prehistory.
A remarkable production of pottery items
flourished at shahr-e-sokhteh around 3200 BC.
Alas, after developing in multifarious manners
in various centers across Iran. This industry now appears on the verge
of the of extinction despite its unique character among these ,however
,the story of the pottery of kalpurkan is different one
altogether . The pottery items produced at kalpurkan bear a
great similarity to the specimens unearthed during 3rd
millennium archaeological excavation carried out in Sistan ,
Balouchestan ,Kerman ,Gillan and parts of Japan
and India.
The village of kalpurkan is a dependency
of the township of Saravan and is located 25km east of this
township, in Balouchestan province. Perhaps the most stinking
particularly of the pottery of kalpurkan concerns its
manufacturing technique, which perpetuates ancient methods and models.
This type of pottery is produced using the coil technique. Its
products are unglazed and adorned with black patterns.
An aqueous mixture of tytok (type
of ferrous oxide) and a stone found on Mt. Birak, near the
village, is used in this decoration,which is applied using a
match-sized stick of daz (wild date) wood. The decoration
appears reddish brown at this stage, but turns deep black after the
firing. The patterns used consist entirely of abstract symbols and
mental images transmitted from generation, which sometimes bespeak the
artists’ aspirations and at other times draw their inspiration from
her religious beliefs or features of her environment.
The majority of these symbols are similar to
those found on pottery items belonging to the prehistory and the
early historic period. The raw material used in the manufacture of
kalpurkan pottery consists of a particular type of earth. The men of
the village bring it in from a region known as Mashkotak, two
kilometers northeast of kalpurkan, and blend it with a
slip-like mixture to prepare the mud, which they hand over to their
nimble-fingered women.
The pottery items produced at kalpurkan
consist essentially of bowls, jugs, cups, pitchers, drinking vessels,
etc. most of these vessels feature a lid which can also be used as an
independent vessel. Another interesting feature of the pottery items
produced at Kalpurkan is their handles. Unlike in present-day
pottery, these handles are even more resistant than the vessels
themselves. Each handle is formed out of a thick coil of mud ,which
the artisan pastes to the moist body of the vessel and gives it the
desired shape by means of appropriate tools.
The potters of kalpurkan have ever been
women, who thus contribute to the economy of the family. They do not
use the wheel. They shape their products with their hands and adorn
them with particular geometric patterns that are several thousand
years old.
In the early 1970s a workshop was set up at
kalpurkan to coordinate the activities of the region’s potters.
Today this workshop has been transformed into the museum of
kalpurkan pottery, which in fact makes it a living museum.
On the year 2002-2003 I have taken these images
in this living museum
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