Pagburnayan Pottery & the Vigan Market

Another highlight of our Vigan trip was going to a “Pagburnayan”, a place where craftsmen still use methods passed down the generations in making pots and jars from clay. It was my first time to see an actual pottery wheel so it was very interesting. Everything is handmade, without the use of any machines or electricity. Just human skill and fire.

The jars are known locally as burnay. Hence, these places are called pagburnayan.

One of the craftsmen gave us a small demonstration of how a small jar is made. Everything starts with this small slab of dirt, which we were told came from high up the mountains.

Which will then be turned into this

Even the pottery wheel is powered entirely by human kinetics 🙂

Then the craftsman slowly forms the base and forms the vase…

And the best part was that we could actually try it out ourselves! 🙂 But mine eventually “crashed” though!

After forming the vases and jars, they will be left to dry and baked in large ovens. The pagburnayan that we visited, the Ruby Pottery Shop, is open everyday. There are also jars and pots available for sale right outside the factory. There is no admission fee but donations to the workers are welcome 🙂

Next, we went to the Vigan Market where we bought cotton blankets (P200 to P250), placemats (P380/dozen), native bags, and table runners 🙂