Uyghur Mould-Made Earthenware Firing Technique

The Uyghur mould-made earthenware technique has more than two thousand years of history, rising with the opening of the Silk Road and developing unbroken to this day. It entered the first national ICH list in 2006 (item Ⅷ-6), declared by Yingjisha County, Kashgar City and the Turpan region, of which Turpan is a key bearer.

Using local red clay, the craft proceeds through kneading, mould-forming, fettling, carved and pressed decoration, glazing and kiln-firing, yielding both unglazed and glazed wares; Turpan pieces excel in ewer forms, their carved and pressed decoration fine, their glazed plates and jars vividly coloured, with the ablution pot used for ritual washing before prayer as the signature form.

The craft carries the Uyghur tradition of everyday vessels and their aesthetics, a living fossil of Silk Road craft exchange and oasis material culture, valuable for the study of Western Regions handicraft and folk art.