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Bat Trang pottery village is becoming increasingly busy as Tet approaches, with craftsmen introducing a wide range of ceramic horse figurines in various styles and colours to mark the Lunar Year of the Horse.

Craftsman Pham Minh Quang who has followed the craft for nearly 40 years shares that he takes 3-4 months to prepare designs, styles, and moulds of horse-shaped figurines.

The process involves multiple meticulous stages, each requiring a high level of skill and patience. Raw materials are mixed and carefully filtered before being poured into moulds for shaping. Each product takes about 100 hours to complete, equivalent to nearly four days.

Bat Trang’s horse figurines are prized for their fully handcrafted production, with each piece individually shaped by hand.

Formed through the craftsmen’s experience and emotion, each figurine is unique.

Each horse-shaped figurine has its own form and spirit.

The products are then fired in a kiln at around 500°C for five to six hours to harden.

The products are then returned to the kiln for another 22 hours at temperatures of up to 1,200°C to achieve optimal colour and shape, a crucial step in determining the figurine’s final appearance.

Craftsman Quang plans to produce around 5,000 mascots, including horse-themed mascots to welcome the Lunar New Year festival. In particular, gold-plated lucky horses are often chosen by businesses as year-end gifts.

During the peak days which fall from the 22nd to the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, pottery workshops have to operate until midnight to meet increasing demand of customers as Tet comes near.

The craftsman then draws patterns onto the surface, a highly meticulous and precise process that represents the final step in defining the product’s aesthetic value before it reaches the market.