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Pottery art

The traditional art of pottery in Margarites village of Milopotamos

In Rethymno, a variety of folk art forms are still alive and practiced consistently such as pottery, basket making, wood sculpture, lithography and of course weaving. Some of these occupations are practiced by tradition in entire villages. At a certain extend people can base their whole economy on this occupation. Thus, in the village of Margarites of Milopotamos, pottery is the main occupation of many of its residents, who produce not only traditional decorative objects but also practical objects.

In earlier years, four large centers of production were found in the island

• at Nochia in Kissamos,
• at Margarites in Milopotamos,
• at Kendri in Ierapetra and finally,
• at Thrapsano in Pediada

In addition to the large pottery centers, it should be mentioned that a number of smaller centers of production is active in West Crete.

• at Karoti in Rethymno as well as
• at Agioi Pandes, Asfindiles, Vraska, Eksopoli and Kampanos in Chania

Margarites is undoubtedly the most important pottery centre of West Crete. There is a plethora of argil deposits in the area that explains the long occupation of the residents with the art of clay. The potters from Margarites use three kinds of argil: "kokkinochroma" (red soil), "lepida" and "koumoule". "Lepida" is mined from "Stenolakkos" or "Plai" sites three kilometers south of the settlement. The red soil can be found in large quantities in the entire area and especially on the road that leads to the foothills of Psiloritis. Finally, "koumoule" is mined from "Orne" and "Pidima" sites, six klm away from the village.

HISTORY

The first reference to the occupation of the people of Margarites with pottery comes from the American traveler Richard Pococke, who travelled in Central and Western Crete in 1739. However, it is possible that Margatites started as a settlement of potters since its foundation

According to the folk myths, the village was built when the queen of Eleftherna, Margarita, impressed by the beauty of the land, sold her jewelry and ordered for the creation of a settlement that was named after her. It is needless to say that this story is not based on any historical facts and consists a myth trying to justify the name of the village, connecting it with some kind of glorious past.

The opinion of Vallianos is more reasonable. He connects the name of the village with the natural environment and more specifically the gowans. Besides, it is not the only case of a village taking its name from a plant or a flower. Lambrinakis connects the name with the location, speaking of the glowing location of Margarites.

In Venetian and Turkish documents, however, the village is mentioned as Margarites and its residents as Margaritsanoi.

For the etymology of the word there are two opinions: According to the first, the name possibly comes from the medieval noun "margaritis" that indicates the defector, the renegade and is related to the first resident of the village. According to the second opinion, that is generally adopted, the name of the village is connected to the byzantine word "magarikon" that indicates a vessel made of clay. If this is the case, then it is possible that in Margarites, there was a facility of potters, given the abundance of raw material, clay, water and fuel material.

The name Margarites is mentioned inadvertently, for the first time, in scripts of late 19^th century. Although in the censuses of the Cretan State the old name is still mentioned, from 1920 and onwards, the name Margarites prevails in the official documents of the Greek State.

THE WORKSHOP OF MARGARITES

Unlike the other large pottery centre of Crete, Thrapsano, in Margarites one comes across numerous permanent workshops even before the 2^nd World War, given that the residents of Margarites did not adopt the custom of seasonal moving in the same area.

The workshops are organized outside the main cohesive part of the settlement, which is an ancient practice, but is also provided by the Byzantine legislation, at the south part of the village. Thus, the location of the workshops was not a burden to the other activities of the village, while it assured fastest and easiest access to mining sites of raw material.

Although there is no production of pots (tiskalia) in Margarites, that is utensils, the settlement of the potters is called tsikaladika. This name is possibly taken from an older period in time, during which this particular vessel was produced in the area.

There are two categories of workshops: the workshops for the production of small objects and the workshops for the production of earthenware jars. For the production of the first, the necessary foot-operated wheel was placed in a small rock built building, while for the production of the second, wheels were placed outside. In both cases, on the outdoors space there was a kiln called "aplotare", that is the space of soil and clay process called "limbes", in which the clay was cleaned and finally the bolting machines.

THE TECHNICAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE CROCK

Characteristic type of vessels due to their constructional particularities, the crocks were created in four phases.

The technician created the first part with the bottom of the vessel on top. Then, this part, called "kitema", was dried on a wooden board. "Kitema" was wrapped in a shoddy, while the bottom was the only uncovered part in order to dry better.

Once "kitema" was dry, the technician hit slightly the bottom with the comb. Then, he would turn it over and fit it in the base made of clay in a shape of a roll called "tomes". Then, the technician would raise the clay a little higher. The complete parts were called shells or bubbles.

When the shell was dry the process of "laimoma" would begin. That is the shaping of the neck. In the same phase the lip was finished.

The crock was finished, when the handles were in place.

DECORATION

In the vessels made in Margarites one can distinguish the four kinds of decoration:

the written, the incised, the depressed and the application.

The written decoration was made through different kinds of brushes, such as a wood with three parallel bunches of wool and a feather for easier writing.

The most usual written decoration themes were flowers, branches, birds and abstracted lines. The written jewelry, the inlays of the local dialect, were usually made from the wives of the potters with white or red color.

The incised decoration was made with combs or other sharp objects.

The applied decoration, that is the belt, is recommended in venations crossing the periphery of the vessel. Belts were placed on top of the join of each bunting after it was dry. This way the joins were reinforced. There are the round and wide belts.

From the 15^th to the 19^th century, a form of suppressed geometric decoration was used in the Cretan jars or a mimic of a script with a seal cylinder from wood or clay. The suppressed decoration, however, was made with the pulley or the fingers of the technician.

This article was written by Nikos Simandirakis, Archeologist Tutor of the Modern Ceramics Research Centre

Source:
Goodnet
Prefectural Committee for the Promotion of Tourism