Bat Trang Pottery Village is located in Bat Trang Commune, Gia Lam District, Ha Noi City. This is the trade village producing pottery products and is one of the most famous traditional villages in North Vietnam.
According to history books, Bat Trang Pottery Village has taken form since the Ly Dynasty (1009-1225). when King Ly Thai To move the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long (the name of Ha Noi before), 5 families famous for producing pottery in Ninh Binh: Tran, Vuong, Nguyen, Le, Pham decided to take pottery producing artists and families to Ha Noi to make a fresh start.
Between the 15th-17thcentury, Bat Trang pottery is favorite products not only in domestic market but also foreign one thanks to Japan, Chinese and Western trading boats that passed by.
Between the18th and 19th century, due to the policy restricting foreign trade of Trinh, Nguyen dynasty, it was difficult for pottery products in Vietnam to be exported to foreign countries, and some famous pottery-making villages like Bat Trang went through a hard time.
Since 1986, thanks to new economic policy, more attention has been vested in the village and the world gets a chance to know more about Vietnamese pottery through much high quality exported Bat Trang pottery products.
Main materials of Bat Trang pottery are clay and glaze exploited in the country. The products have an ivory-white glaze and describe a pattern. Most of the pottery products are produced according to handicraft way, which shows clearly the creative talent of the artists. Basing on using meaning, we can divide pottery into kinds as follows:
-The pottery of household appliances: plate, bowl, basin, tea tray, jar and so on.
-The pottery used for worship: the foot of the candle, incense burner, etc.
-The potter used for decorating: house model, small temple model, the statues of Buddha, small lion, horse statue, dragon, elephant, tiger and so on.
Visiting Bat Trang, you can go on foot or join a buffalo tour for sightseeing and shopping. Besides many pottery stores along the road in the village, you should visit Bat Trang Pottery Market where you can directly make pottery products by yourselves. You will feel interested in this pottery-making experience, and spend a whole day in the market to make a gift for family or friends.
Bat Trang Pottery Village is one of the most famous traditional trade villages in North Viet Nam. If you have a chance to travel to Ha Noi City, do not forget to Visit this special trade village. By the way, you can also visit some trade village in the city such as Bronze casting village in Ba Dinh District, Vong Village’s green sticky rice in Cau Giay District, Thanh Khuc Banh Chung Village in Thanh Tri District.
