Gondar (Amarante, Porto)
Pottery production in Gondar appears to date back to the 17th century, potters having come from São Martinho de Paus, at the time a parish in the municipality of São Martinho de Mouros.
In 1903 the potters of Gondar were to be found in three areas: Vila Seca, Corujeiras and Rio. They worked on a low wheel and fired the pots in soenga kilns in the ground, sometimes also working land.
The potters mixed two different types of clay in a proportion defined by their experience. The clay was finely chopped with a pickaxe, sieved into a basin and mixed with water, to form massucos – clay ready to be worked on the wheel.
The pieces are simply decorated with crimping and horizontal or vertical strands, which may or may not be finger pressed, and motifs drawn using a fanadoiro.
The pottery made satisfied the needs of a rural population with few economic resources: pots, pans, jugs, bowls, piggy banks, coffee jugs, vinegar pots, chestnut roasters, pans for preparing gold, lids and flower pots.
In later years they were sold on their doorsteps, but previously they had sold them in Felgueiras, at the feast of Nossa Senhora da Aparecida, in Vila Meã and Lixa.
NOTE:
Text extracted and adapted from the catalogue: As mais antigas colecções de olaria portuguesa. Norte. Barcelos: Museu de Olaria; Vila Real: Museu de Arqueologia e Numismática de Vila Real, 2012.