Evolution of Basque Pottery
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival / Series 2: Basque: Innovation by Culture / 2.3: Audio
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Sound recording (digital audio file)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2016 July 10
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2016, Item SFF2016_0710_Basque_Euskaldunak_Dialogues_0002
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Listening copies available
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Argia Beriseau (presenter); Blanka Gomez de Segura; Samine Irigoien Arin (participants) Blanka Gomez de Segura's pottery workshop and home sit next to a 900-year-old kiln. As a first generation potter, Blanka learned the art of euskal zeramika (Basque pottery) from master potter Jose Ortiz Zarate when the Basque government offered scholarships for youth to learn traditional skills. Now a master herself, she recreates archaeological pieces for personal and academic research. Her focus, however, is white pottery, a Basque innovation from the Industrial Revolution. Allying with Britain in iron ore extraction and smelting techniques, the Basques traded for English tin, the essential element to create a pure white glaze. Since it was so expensive, the glaze was used only for part of each piece. Through persistence and adaptations, household objects of clay tell the grander stories of Basque history.