Halla Pottery

The pearl of Sindh

Halla is a city of Sindh Province that is famous for its rich cultural heritage. The Halla pottery is
famous for its peculiar characteristics that is having earthen colour scheme. The potters of
Pakistan are one of the most neglected groups in the country.
One problem that all impoverished potters in Pakistan face is the inability to fire their pots at
temperatures above 900 degrees centigrade. There are two reasons for the low firing
temperatures: first, lack of fuel; second, inefficient kiln design. The result is that Pakistani pots
are fragile, and, when glazed, particularly prone to chipping. Anyone in Karachi who has tried to
buy an unchipped piece of Hala pottery will know what it means. These defects make it difficult
to sell local pots to indulgent Pakistanis, and impossible to sell abroad, so our gallery could not
showcase this art form. The problems in kiln design are easily solved, and it would be
worthwhile to invest a little to make Pakistani pottery more durable.
In Pakistan, poor potters cannot fire above 900 degrees centigrade and the only substance they
know of that will lower the melting temperature of their glazes enough to glaze at that
temperature is lead oxide. So Hala potters make and use their own lead-based frits. They melt
glass and lead together and then pound the hardened result by hand into the fine powder needed
to mix with the other glaze ingredients. The result is that they breathe in lead oxide and lead-
laced ground glass. Take this away from them for their own good, and they will starve to death.
This dilemma typifies the lives of most Pakistanis.

What is needed is a supply of safe, non-lead-based frits and the ability to fire at higher
temperatures (say, 1120 degrees centigrade) while using the same amount of fuel, or less. Joe
Finch, a British potter, is an expert at building simple kilns that use less fuel and fire at much
higher temperatures. He has built many such kilns across India, and could be invited to Pakistan
to help solve the problems of local potters as well. With Finchs input, it would take only about a
year for Pakistani potters to see a difference in their lives and livelihoods: an initial team of
people taught to build such kilns could tour the country training potters everywhere so that fuel-
efficient kilns become standard.
The Author is