Artisan strives for preserving traditional pottery

Pham Anh Dao is the 19th generation descendant of Pham Ngu Chi’s family, who has a long tradition of crafting pottery products in Bat Trang village, Gia Lam district in Hanoi (Photo: Vietnam+)

All artisans in Bat Trang Village have admired Pham Anh Dao for his strong will to stick to traditional ceramic skills (Photo: Vietnam+)

Villagers consider him as an active descendant of the handicraft village’s ancestors. He works to revive the traditional skills to create unique products while many households have applied industrial assembly lines for mass production. (Photo: Vietnam+)

His products are unique, none is similar to another. (Photo: Vietnam+)

He could sit for hours shaping clay, and making glazes in his own way. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Dao’s workshop is located in the middle of the old village. Visiting him, one may find him losing himself in his work. (Photo: Vietnam+)

All artisans in Bat Trang Village have admired Pham Anh Dao for his strong will to stick to traditional ceramic skills (Photo: Vietnam+)

Born as a 1.5kg baby together with a twin brother, he was fairly weak and had to take lot of antibiotics, which resulted in an ear-impairment. He could not speak until he was seven and found it hard to study at school. At 17, he worked as a worker at Bat Trang Ceramic Factory, where he learned a lot of techniques. Within a year, he could do difficult tasks that had often been done by well-experienced workers. (Photo: Vietnam+)

He then decided to open his own workshop to create in his own way. While neighbours applied mass assembly lines to turn out thousands of products every day, he made only few hundred items every month. Yet his products were unique, none was similar to another. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Villagers consider him as an active descendant of the handicraft village’s ancestors. He works to revive the traditional skills to create unique products while many households have applied industrial assembly lines for mass production. (Photo: Vietnam+)

His first batches of pottery products looked so simple that his neighbours were doubt about his talent (Photo: Vietnam+)

However, he still decides to open his own workshop to create in his own way (Photo: Vietnam+)

While neighbours applied mass assembly lines to turn out thousands of products every day, he made only few hundred items every month. Yet his products were unique, none was similar to another. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Dao’s workshop is located in the middle of the old village. Visiting him, one may find him losing himself in his work. (Photo: Vietnam+)

While neighbours applied mass assembly lines to turn out thousands of products every day, he made only few hundred items every month. Yet his products were unique, none was similar to another. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Dao’s workshop is located in the middle of the old village. Visiting him, one may find him losing himself in his work. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Pham Anh Dao is the 19th generation descendant of Pham Ngu Chi’s family, who has a long tradition of crafting pottery products in Bat Trang village, Gia Lam district, Hanoi (Photo: Vietnam+)

Dao has tried to make the brown flowery glaze of 11-14th century, the blue and white glaze of 15th century as well as crackleware of 17th century. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Pham Anh Dao’s showroom in Bat Trang village (Photo: Vietnam+)

Dao has tried to make the brown flowery glaze of 11-14th century, the blue and white glaze of 15th century as well as crackleware of 17th century. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Pham Anh Dao’s product on display at the showroom (Photo: Vietnam+)

Pham Anh Dao’s product on display at the showroom  (Photo: Vietnam+)

Pham Anh Dao is the 19th generation descendant of Pham Ngu Chi’s family, who has a long tradition of crafting pottery products in Bat Trang village, Gia Lam district, Hanoi (Photo: Vietnam+)

Dao has tried to make the brown flowery glaze of 11-14th century, the blue and white glaze of 15th century as well as crackleware of 17th century. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Pham Anh Dao’s product on display at the showroom (Photo: Vietnam+)