Ceramic Tea Cup – Vitrification in Spain
Country of the crafting: Spain
Region of the crafting: Andalucía
Town of the crafting: Mijas
Type of the crafting: Glass, ceramic and pottery
1. Geographic area
This activity is done in Andalucía, specifically in Málaga.Málaga is a big city with a lot of little villages.Then, the craftsmanship is located in the mountain’s towns such as Antequera, Frigiliana…
In Málaga there is a town called Mijas. Here, ceramic tea cup are produced every day usingprocessesand a technique . the reason why it’s produced specially in Mijas is because the amount of galleries and wells where they extract the materials. Usually people who work in this job is because their family’s job was this, and is like a “tradition” to work at the same job as your relatives.
2. The technique
The technique used is the vitrification. It consists of putting the material (in this case for example porcelain) and raising it to high temperatures in big tubes, to be able to treat the material better. Once this vitrification technique has been completed, it’s more easier to continue working and also to apply in the different processes.
3. Craft characteristics
The main processes are: -GlazingDevelop compositions and forms at an advanced level.-DecorationSculptors and painters design an artistic drawing and give it color-FiringPassage of the “raw” product to vitrified product and ready for sale. It is also glazed for more consistence.
Ceramic tea cup is very precious because the materials, they are mainly kaolinite, feldspar, clay in granules,crystal,porcelain…The material for do it it’s not cheap, because the extraction of materials and the technique and processes that have to been realised arent easy. When all the processes have been done, almost all the ceramic tea cups are decorated with different designs like mandalas, historical events …
4. History
Since the 17th Century ceramic tea cups are famous because their characteristics and history.In Andalucia this craftsmans activity is so recognized because of the meaning, since the 1600 more or less, the designs that craftmens did were inspired in the feelings of that years.The designs of the teacups were of the topics such as the society (kings, slaves, nobility…) and then since 1600 this acitivity is still in process with designs of the actuality too.
5. Youtube video
Here we can see a video about the process of the ceramic tea cup:
In this new video we can see that the spanish people uses the tea cup every day and we have to choose the perfect one for them. The most famous is the porcelain cup in Mijas.
6. Gallery
And here are some photos of tea cup with differents designs.
