[ May2016 ] In the afternoon one day during our stay in Bratislava, Slovakia, we joined a local tour. The other tour members were two couples from England and we had a small female guide. First, we went to a town called Pezinok which is about 20km away from Bratislava. This town is on the 60km wine route called the Small Carpathian Wine Road. People around here make wine in the traditional way. But the place we visited was not a winery, but a pottery studio whose name is Majolika R. It was a very small place which looked a cottage industry. The potter who looked rather rough at a glance showed how he makes a vase using the potter’s wheel and explained the process of making pottery in details through the interpretation of the guide.
Apparently the technique was passed from Germans in the 16th century. It takes two days to prepare the clay and one month for the whole process. The most traditional pattern does not have the red colour, because in the past people used to think that the red was the colour of the Devil. In fact, the real reason was that the red was the most expensive colour. Their products were quite reasonably priced and we bought two items from them.
