History of pottery in la Bisbal

HISTORY OF POTTERY IN LA BISBAL

Pottery is and has been one of the main economic activities in the town, at least since the 18th century (the first written evidence of the potter profession dates back to 1502). Craftsman, creator, artist, almost an alchemist, La Bisbal potters are often the last of a family of potters who have shaped clay for generations. Useful, artistic, experimental, handmade or industrial shapes, you can find anything and everything throughout the long history of pottery in La Bisbal.

La Bisbal pottery has undergone major changes during its history parallel to the growing importance of this activity. Although production was limited to a strictly local area until the 17^th century, from the 18^th century and particularly from the end of that century, coinciding with the demographic growth in the Principality, the demand for La Bisbal pottery grew. This increase in production is seen in the ever more evident presence of La Bisbal products in the main markets in Catalonia (Girona, Olot, Mataró, etc.).

From the 19^th century, particularly during the second half of the century, La Bisbal pottery experienced its golden age. Its products were not just marketed in Catalonia but were also imported to Spanish colonies overseas. During this century there was a gradual process of specialisation (“pisaires” and “botxaires” who did the modelling and the “fogaters” who baked the pottery, the incorporation of women in the working process, etc.) aimed at speeding up the process. The 19^th century is the century for the decorative technique of trimming.

Throughout the 20^th century, the gradual abandonment of agricultural and traditional farming activities towards a much more urban and industrial society, as well as the arrival of new materials that replaced pottery, such as plastic or stainless steel, broke the coherence between the product and its recipient and condemned the production of traditional pottery.

From the 1940s, the production of traditional pottery experienced a significant decline caused by the great cultural, economic and social changes after the civil war: the appearance of new materials and new ways of life meant that pottery objects lost the function for which they had been created and, therefore, to adapt to the new needs they became basically decorative items. The creation process incorporated the technical advances that facilitated the work and reduced costs (steck and press for making plates) and jasper became relevant in the decoration.

This situation would have been terminal if not for the tourist boom in the 1950s. The arrival of mass tourism enabled La Bisbal workers to reorient their production. This situation also had important consequences for the type of production and from that time the objects lost all sense of balance between function and shape and began a new era based on more baroque shapes and decorative techniques.

Today, La Bisbal is differentiated from other pottery producers by the fact that production is well diversified; not only are pottery items produced, but there is also a very important sector applying pottery to construction and another that produces decorative pottery. Together this makes a town that lives from pottery, as there are also other industries that supply raw materials, tools and machinery to the majority of potters and pottery factories in La Bisbal. These days this covers the majority of manufacturing, research and marketing possibilities for pottery products.

As well as the intense industrial and economic activity that pottery provides to the population of La Bisbal, one must bear in mind the different actions that are being carried out by the institutions, both educational activities (School of Pottery) and strictly cultural and recovery of material evidence produced by this activity (Terracotta Museum). The Museum of industrial pottery and clay of La Bisbal is the one of a few organisations in Catalonia devoted to preserving, conserving and promoting the material and cultural heritage related to pottery.