Fabrication des pipes en terre

The workshop of the pipe maker

The making of clay pipes:

The lumps of clay must be mashed with a hammer to get modelling clay at the end. This paste has to be kneaded to get away all the crumbles. Then the necessary quantity of clay is rolled out until the general form of a pipe appears. These rolls are carefully piled up.

A worker makes a hole in the stem with a long iron needle that has been oiled before and then he puts the pipe in the mould. As soon as this has been closed he hollows out the bowl with a tool called “chtoup”. Then the mould is opened again and the exceeding clay is removed. The material is still soft but because of the pressure it has undergone, the pipe can be taken out easily and put away to dry.

When the pipes come out of the mould all the rough edges are carefully smoothed, first on the stem, then on the bowl. The traces of moulding are taken away with a curbed knife. Then the upper edges of the bowl are bevelled. Finally, after the drying process comes the polishing with a tool looking like a pair of compasses foreseen with agate stones at both ends.

Now the pipes are ready for firing. One after the other the pipes are carefully placed in fire proof tubs which are piled up in the oven. When it is full, it is closed with bricks and clay.

The firing lasts for 30 hours. Inside the small space of the oven they obtain a temperature of 1100 degrees.

After the firing the pipes must cool down before being taken away for decoration and enamelling. The colourless enamel is put regularly by means of a brush to get a uniform result. Then the pipes are put to dry again on wooden racks.

After that they are put on spits on metal plates which are put in a round and simpler oven where the enamel is once more fired for 2 hours.

Now the pipe is ready for its final destination.

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