Gourd of Glazed terracotta

This wheel turned gourd, with its six clay loops, closes with a small, round cork painted black. It was made in the early 20th century in Meynes, one of the largest centres for pottery in the Nîmes region. The geological wealth of the Gard has encouraged the creation of a number of workshops that use the clay they find on-site.

To become glazed, the pottery is sprayed with or soaked in a lead or alquifoux (lead sulphide or galena) based glaze. Once fired at 900°, the glaze is transformed into a thin layer of glass, in some cases tinted using metal oxides. There are two preferred colours. Because homes in Provence are often kept closed up to retain their heat, yellow glazing is said to bring in the sun whilst green glazing supposedly brings in plant life.

Since its creation in 1936, one of the main lines of the policy for enriching the collections of the National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions was to collect ceramics made in the different regions of France, as seen in this object, acquired just two years later. These pottery pieces are purchased on the art market or collected on the ground during campaigns focusing on crafts in Provence or pottery production in major centres like La Borne in the Cher, to name but a few examples.