BINH DUONG – Near the Tan Suu New Year, the pottery factories in Tan Uyen town are busy producing more buffalo, besides the traditional product of the piggy bank.
Near Tet, the pottery kilns in Tan Vinh Hiep commune, Tan Uyen town are busy producing buffalo land. At the pottery workshop of Ms. Nguyen Hong Hop, the staff is pouring soil into the mold to shape the buffalo models, next to the piggy bank.
For nearly 20 years, Ms. Hop’s family rented a land area of about 2,500 m2 to live and build a pottery factory, specializing in pig production. Her brothers also left their hometown in Thai Nguyen to work here.
The pottery workshop operates all year round but is busiest at the time of the Lunar New Year. Every day, Mrs. Hop’s workshop produces about 1,500 products, only on Tet occasion doubled, about a dozen workers work their hands until evening.
“Every year is the same, every four months before Tet, I set the frame of that year.
After more than an hour of sun drying, the buffalo was formed and removed from the mold, then dried again for another two hours before being placed in the furnace. Every day, the workshop uses up nearly a ton of raw clay.
In the sunny midday, Mrs. Mien and the workers at the factory used wheelbarrows to push the buffaloes that had “eaten” the sun into the warehouse. “I will use a knife to remove the leftover soil so that it will smooth and then burn it,” said the 63-year-old woman.
A worker in the workshop is in charge of looking at the fire, and puts firewood in the furnace. On average, a kiln can heat 3,000 products per day. Workers in the pottery kilns in Tan Uyen town mainly come from northern provinces such as Thai Nguyen, Hanoi, Hai Duong … and work on the Tet holidays.
Mr. Ma Chien Quang brought out each basket of piggy bank and buffalo after more than 10 hours of burning in the oven. “A qualified product must be of high hardness, not burn black or chipped when heated. Every day, there are vehicles to pick up the goods as soon as they come out of the oven,” Quang said.
Most raw buffaloes and piglets will be brought to the processing factories in Thuan An city (Binh Duong) for decoration. Mr. Phuoc, the driver, said that each day he has to drive about 100 km to carry 4,000 piggy, divided into two shipments to the factory.
At the workshop of Mrs. Vo Thi Thanh Ha, Lai Thieu ward, every day about 2,000 pigs and buffalo imported. Staff are busy to paint and paint on each product to deliver.
In a corner of the workshop, every day Mrs. Ha, who has been in the profession for more than 10 years, draws each piggy bank, buffalo painted gold. “Every year I import one more earth zodiac but only sell it during Tet, and the main item is still pig because it is popular,” said the owner.
The paint commonly used is powder coating because it has a firm grip and dries quickly. The painter is finished painting, will coat the golden buffalo with glitter. According to Ms. Ha, the hardest part is still drawing the buffalo’s eyes, nose, and horns because it requires high skills to create soulful products.
This year there are two types of buffalo, large and small, are covered with iridescent yellow color. Small fish covered with glitter has a wholesale price of about 20,000 VND, is the best-selling item.
The owner of the workshop arranged the large golden buffaloes in a corner to dry paint. The large golden buffalo, which is decorated with exquisite sophistication, carries a coin bearing the word fortune and fortune at a wholesale price of 30,000 VND per animal.
At the close of Tet, every day, many small traders go to factories in Lai Thieu ward to collect pigs and buffaloes for sale in Ho Chi Minh City. According to the factory owners, the market this year is still mainly the southern and central provinces, in addition the products are also exported to Laos and Cambodia.