“It seems that guests will be able to enter an area featuring stories about culture, specifically wet rice civilization in the Northern Delta region. I anticipate that the Nếp House project will be pretty interesting once done.”
Artisan Pham Tuan Dat
Traditional pottery in Vietnam appeared thousands of years ago and has seen countless ups and downs throughout history. Nowadays, many traditional artisan villages continue to preserve and develop them. Among these, it is severe not to highlight the famous Bat Trang pottery village, which has a history of more than 500 years and has been the homeland of many families interested in pottery for centuries.
Mr. Pham Tuan Dat was born into a pottery-working family and was one of the families who assisted in building Bat Trang pottery village. He was exposed to pottery at a young age and worked with clay blocks of all shapes and sizes by helping his parents shape pottery, pour molds, and glaze. Therefore, since his childhood, he has had a renewed interest in pottery.
During his youth, Mr. Dat chose to pursue dynamic occupations in finance and banking, where he earned significant achievements but also faced disappointment. However, based on those teenage experiences, it inspired him to restart his childhood dream of reviving his family’s pottery studio and contributing to the preservation of Vietnam’s traditional artisan villages as well as his hometown.
Ceramics faces numerous potential problems as technology advances and market competition heats up. Thanks to his efforts to learn and keep up with advanced technology, Mr. Dat’s ceramic workshop is not only successful with its constructed ceramic and decorative ceramic product lines but Mr. Dat is also known as the father of the invention of the antibacterial ceramic pot in Vietnam. The name Pham Tuan Dat is mentioned in Vietnamese media as the man who brought technical technology into Bat Trang ceramics.
Mr. Dat has successfully applied modern techniques to household ceramics, but when it came to architectural ceramics, he shared with Nếp House: “It’s not just that the bricks and tiles are made too simply and industrially, but also that products from hand-burnt bricks and tiles, traditional glazed bricks and tiles, decoration items serving the restoration of monuments, cultural works, or European style works are all handmade with enthusiasm. Thanks to that, buyers continue to love using fine-art ceramics.”
The success of modern technology has certainly enabled artisans to produce ceramics more quickly and efficiently, but the traditional cultural values and unique artistic beauty of handcrafted items will not be replaced. Artisans are still hardworking and dedicated at every stage of production, and buyers continue to appreciate and prefer items crafted by human hands, which has helped handmade ceramics maintain and thrive in the present industrialized market.
Mr. Dat told the story about Nếp House’s ceramic tiles
Embracing a shared appreciation for the unique beauty of handmade products and a deep respect for Vietnam’s traditional craft villages, Nếp House’s founder had the opportunity to meet and cooperate with Mr. Dat on the Nếp House homestay project.
Reflecting on the collaboration, Mr. Dat expressed admiration for the founder’s dedication to the project and attention to the livelihoods of local farmers, as well as the core values of Ninh Binh’s traditional culture:
“The founder of Nếp House was very dedicated to the project and careful of the life of farmers, as well as with the core values of Ninh Binh local traditional culture. I felt like this customer has a very different way of thinking than other customers, so I was quite interested in accepting this project.” Mr. Dat shared.
The young proprietor of the ceramic workshop was surprised and excited from the moment he heard about the idea until he began creating Nếp House’s ceramic tiles. Ceramic tiles must be shaped and thoroughly glazed by hand. There are ceramic tiles that were requested to be patterned with hand-painted paintings by the artist, such as paintings of rice seedlings, rice grains, farmers carrying rice, and Vietnamese village scenes in vibrant hues.
Though the appearance is not particularly sophisticated, the process of making each brick in Nếp is extremely meticulous. Mr. Dat disclosed that the clay blocks used to produce each brick are mined in Chi Linh (Hai Duong), the kaolin is sourced from the ancestral land of King Hung, Phu Tho, and the ceramic glaze is made from Red River alluvial blended with ash from rare woods.
Initially, the clay undergoes a refining process and is then shaped using handmade molds. Next, the bricks are left to dry naturally under the sun for 2 days. Following this, they are meticulously glazed by artisans before being placed into the kiln. The ceramic bricks are burnt at a temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius in Mr. Dat’s workshop kiln, which uses gas to reduce environmental emissions and improve brick quality after firing. All materials used are obtained from nature and expertly transformed by enthusiastic artisans dedicated to the craft of pottery. The ceramic tiles at Nếp House provide a color palette of ancient moss green and earthy yellow. While the tiles have uniform dimensions, each has a distinct hue, making them unique with no duplicates.
During the production of ceramic tiles at Nếp House, Mr. Dat unintentionally discovered a glazing procedure that perfectly fits the Nếp House concept:
“There was a surprise while making bathroom tiles. At first, I did not intend to make a glaze like that. However, when making the first batch of tiles, in the stage of glazing, I accidentally adjusted the glaze to create an effect that is similar to the shape of bamboo leaves and rice leaves. It coincides with the theme of the project, so I applied it to the remaining batches of bricks.” He said.
A young proprietor of a pottery workshop describes every step of the pottery-making process with enthusiasm and sincere eyes. Perhaps only those who manufacture ceramics understand the thrill of attempting a new glaze, the anxiety of waiting for the kiln to kiln a new batch of items, and the ineffable emotions of sadness and delight when the product is finished.
The ceramic bricks you see in Nep are the final products created by soil, water, temperature, natural light, and skilled human hands. Born with enthusiasm and love of both nature and humans, we hope that every detail of the homestay makes you feel the warmth and sincerity of the way they were created.
