INSIGHT Tarom

Horezu pottery,
fOlk ARTISTRy IN clAy
i
f your agenda includes a trip to Sibiu, save some time for
a visit to the small town of Horezu, so that you get a
taste of authentic Romanian tradition. After less than a
three-hour drive, you will get the chance to see from up
close how clay pots come to life, skillfully molded and
minutely decorated by pottery masters in these lands.
Horezu pottery is famous due to the unique folk motifs that
adorn it, inspired from the animal world. The rooster is the
trademark of Horezu pottery. The song of the rooster,
heralding sunrise, symbolizes the victory of the sun and the
light against night and darkness. In legends and fairytales,
ghosts, demons and all evil creatures that lurk about during
the night are afraid they might be caught out by the song of
the rooster, which can be fatal to them. The dove and fish,
both ancient representations of Christianity, are also
frequent motifs. They are joined by rosebuds and small firtrees,
which symbolize immortality, the clover, as a sign of
good luck, grape bunches, leaves, stems as symbols of the
tree of life.
p
otters abide by an entire ritual in producing their pots, a
ritual that guarantees ceramics’ finesse. To begin with,
the clay is mixed and then left to rest for at least half a year.
Then, the soft clay is molded into the desired shape.
Afterwards comes the decoration part, which requires a lot
of skill. The master uses a cattle horn, with a goose feather
attached to its end. The horn is filled with dyes that drop
through the feather that now acts as a quill.
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f you want to see the most refined Horezu pottery items,
you can visit the Romanian Ceramics Gallery, a permanent
exhibition hosted by the town’s cultural center.
July - August 2010 TAROM INSIGHT 25