Clay Times Back Issues Vol. 3 Issue 10 • May/June 1997 | Page 20

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY RICK BERMAN

T

he city of Ahmednagar,
India is located approximately 200
miles east of Mumbai (Bombay).
On my first visit to this area in the
summer of 1972, I naturally asked
if there were any potters in this district. Not only was there an active
pot making area in the center of
town with dozens of potters working and living communally, but six
other one or two family potteries
were also located in neighboring
villages. In the seven other trips to
this area, which now spans twentyfour years (1972-1996), I have discovered that there are well over a
million potters presently working
in India.

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The clay in this district is
brought to the potter by donkey
trains from the local river beds. It is
mixed with roughly 15 percent

horse and donkey manure which
has been broken down by hand
into small fibers. This tempering
has been done for ages by potters
depending on where they were
located and what was available.
Seashells, dung, straw, grog, sand
and various other things have been
used to give clay working strength
and better thermal shock capabilities for firing.
In the Ahmednagar district all
of the potteries make the same type
of pots. Round bottom gourd-like
jars called "mutka" are made in
many different sizes. They are
made on the potter’s wheel with
very thick bottoms and then paddled out round when leather hard.
The potter’s wheel in India has
been documented to have been in
use for 7,000 years. It originated in

Upper left: Dagroo Kale begins rotation
of the stick wheel.
Upper right: A thick-bottomed pot to be
paddled later is thrown on a wheel positioned six inches off the ground.
Lower right: The lip of a water jar is
thickened for strength.
Opposite page, top: Typical water pot
from the Ahmednagar district.
Opposite page, center & bottom: Vanaji
Borude shapes pots with a wooden
paddle, stone, and the paddling nest.
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