Ceramics of Lesvos

Η ceramic tradition at Lesvos has a history of five thousand years, as shown by the vessels brought to light by the archaeological dig in the prehistoric settlement of Loutropolis Thermi. In the times of classical antiquity, the lesbian amphorae transported the oil and wine of Lesvos throughout the Aegean. During the Byzantine and post-Byzantine period, the glazed bowls and jugs are first-class utilitarian objects, elements of which we find in the modern production of Agiasos and Mantamados. In the 19th and 20th centuries, with the movements and returns of the population from Central Asia, in various parts of the island the craftsmen established workshops according to their needs and the clay soil that existed nearby.

The number of workshops, which can be found today abandoned in the coastal areas, in Brake, In White river, the Koulostasi, Saint Stephen and of course in Mandamado, are still the indisputable witnesses of the activity. In Mantamados there must have been at least 20 workshops that mainly produced arbutus, aquifers, for table use mainly. From about 1950 onwards, the rhythm and way of life change mainly with the use of plastic, as a new useful material, cheap glass objects, but also with the use of refrigerators and water supply networks.

Nevertheless ceramics as a genuine art does not submit. The skillful hands of the craftsmen continue the tradition using new bright colors and shiny glazing to decorate their works.

The ceramics of Lesvos until the middle of the 20th century, belong to two categories: 1) The classic functional Lesbian (pitchers, arborvitae, jugs, oil pans, beehives). 2) The Tsanakaliotika (influenced by the Çanak-Kale region of Turkey, where luxury ceramics produced with exceptional colors and shapes were produced).

The most important workshops in Lesvos were Kourtzidon and Hatzigiannidon.

The workshop of Kourtzidon for about two hundred years he has given more than forty craftsmen and craftsmen in the art of ceramics, pottery, construction and decoration of vases. Many of them made their own workshop.

Ο Dimitris Hatzigiannis is the son of John and the last continuation of a long ceramic tradition of the workshops of the Hatzigiannis. In 2003, it was awarded as the best new company in the Prefecture of Lesvos. Maintains since 1995, traditional workshop at the entrance of Agiasos, where the visitor can admire ceramics with incomparable animal and anthropomorphic compositions, as well as everyday objects of general use, such as glasses, refractory utensils, dishes, etc.