Horezu ceramic plate · Naïf floral · Living Human Treasure

Romanian Horezu ceramic plate by master artisan - Living Human Treasure, UNESCO heritage bearer. The naïf floral composition centres on a hand-painted medallion surrounded by concentric colourful bands - a graphic style that distinguishes this design from the more intricate traditional Horezu pottery. Wheel-thrown from local hill clay, painted in the jirăvire technique with mineral pigments, clear glazed interior, unglazed terracotta exterior - it may be used for food or as decoration. 

The Craft. Made on a potter's wheel from clay taken from the nearby hills, these plates are painted with dyes made from local minerals and clays, using a technique called jirăvire, through which the artisan connects, with the help of a traditional tool made of cow horn and goose feather, the edges of a spiral with its centre while the painting is still wet. The motifs used in the decoration are symbols of the ancestral world vision of the Romanian people, rendered in a more graphic style. Around twenty-five artisans living in the village of Horezu today continue this traditional style of ceramic using the same methods and techniques passed down by their ancestors for hundreds of years.

The Heritage. Horezu pottery is recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The development of the Horezu village is intimately linked to the building of the Horezu Monastery in the 18th century, a masterpiece of the style known as brâncovenesc. According to legend, the builders hired for its construction were forced, for fear of the Ottomans, to work only at night, when the owls (huhurezii) were singing. The school of arts established at the monastery may have contributed to the development of artistic pottery in the village.

The Maker. With a long family history of potters, Sorin Giubega has been awarded the honorary title of Living Human Treasure by the Romanian Ministry of Culture. Sorin, together with his wife Marieta, has been carrying forward the traditions and working methods as inherited from his ancestors, without deviating from traditional techniques and dyes. He insists the 'blue of Horezu' has been used in the local pottery since time immemorial, several pieces decorated with blue inherited from his grandparents proving his point.