Soil and Wood

There is much work to do before an object shaped in clay can be placed in the kiln and converted into ceramic. One of the first steps is to extract and prepare the soil from clay-pits, whilst another is gathering wood ready to cook or fire the pottery. These are two very different but equally essential activities. This section describes the work of the woodsman and the process of extracting clay.

Why Pottery?

Pottery was born in response to prehistoric human societies’ need to store liquids and grain and cook food. As agricultural farming developed and societies became more sedentary, new needs arose, and pottery also played a role in meeting them. That is why, more than seven thousand years ago, pottery became as widespread as agriculture itself in places all over the planet.

Traditional Pieces

Having learned about the process of pottery making, we shall now look at the social and cultural aspects of this activity. The varied nature of the pieces made in the kilos of Quart responded to the needs of a society for which earthenware utensils were indispensable for many everyday activities. Behind every different pottery item was a need, a way of living and doing things. Not all Quart pottery was blackware; since at least the 19th century the town’s potters have also produced red, oxidised pottery, competing with other centres and providing for new needs. Redware is made simply by not plugging the kiln at the end of the firing process. In this section, then, we learn about pottery and the society that used its products.

Families of Potters

The town of Quart has always been famed, above all, for its pottery. Over the years, this tradition has become inextricably linked with a number of families that, generation after generation, from their homes and studios, have devoted their lives to that special craft which is pottery-making. Over the last century, around thirty families have learned the potter’s trade, going on to share their skill and experience with people from many places.
Despite the changes and difficulties of the last few decades, the pottery-making tradition is still alive in Quart thanks to five families that continue to devote their lives to the working the clay.

Pottery: Present and Future

For centuries, pottery goods have provided vital resources for many peoples. However, with the passing of time, new societies emerged, with changing needs, and traditional potters have worked with new materials and new production models. These changes have also affected pottery studios and brickyards, where the traditional machines have given way, in many cases, to new kilns and wheels that make day-to-day work easier. Similarly, pottery craftsmen, whilst continuing to model and fire their work as they have always done, well aware of the competition posed by new markets, have adapted to the needs of today’s society, creating modern pieces with something for everyone. These new models have also signified progress in art, as contemporary artistic representations and the latest in decorative trends have come along way since the first prehistoric clay figures.

The collection

The pottery produced in the fourth was intended for popular consumption. Everyone needed well water to remove poales, buckets for drinking at galet, barrals to transport the wine or water, tramosteres and Verdun for the oil, pots, pans and cooking for ansats, jugs for salar olives and preserved food, basins and silvers to manipulate them. It is also needed to keep water tubs, choose olive oil and wash the clothes.

They were pieces of very specific function, such as funnels, chestnut roasters, drinking troughs for animals, queues for heating the bed and maridets to put under the skirts of the vendors in the market, brescadores to make smoke to remove the Combs of honey or escalfetes in order to conserve warmth and heat the food.