Decorated glass and pottery in Damascus

Some pieces of decorated glass and potteriy attract you with curiosity. And if you examine them closely, you will realize the time they took and effort that was exerted by craftsmen to make each amazing piece, which is being displayed in local and world exhibitions.

An example of these attractive and beautiful glass pieces exist in a shop in the “Baghdad” street in Damascus.

The owner of the shop, who is a member of the Board of Directors of the Craft Association for Oriental Products,  Mr. Mohammad Bassam Rihan said in an interview with Syria Times that the craft of drawing, decorating and applying enamel on glass and ceramics dates back to the Phoenician era.

“The Phoenicians discovered glass on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and they discovered purple glass which was used to produce  the colors of glasses to form cups, pots, and antiques…The glass was decorated with the glass after coloring it,” said Mr. Rihan, who is an expert craftsman in the Ministry of Tourism.

He clarified that among the traditional tools used in this craft are painting brushes and coloring powder from plant derivatives.

“The decoration of 2 pieces takes one day, and the cost of decorating one small piece (for example: a cup of tea) is 10.000 Syrian Pounds due to the high prices of raw materials,” the master of this craft added.

He trained many people during a 40-day-long course held three years ago by UNESCO. And he is due  to train more people in a 60-day-long course to be held by the Syria Trust for Development.

Such courses are not enough to keep the craft alive because the period of each course is 40 days, according to Mr. Rihan, who  started practicing the craft since 1970.

“Heritage is important in society; therefore, we still adhere to it despite the development of technology in our craft,” he stressed, indicating that he passed the craft to his 4 children although two of them are not interested in practicing it.

The 68-year-old craftsman went on to say: “ The Damascene lamp, which was previously used for lighting due to non-existence of electricity, has become a heritage piece famous for its Arabic calligraphy drawings, some Quran verses and sayings.”

Among other models that are being decorated, there are some cups of the “meta” type that are roasted in the oven at a temperature of 550-620 so that the meta is fixed on the glass and covered with 12Karat gold so that it will not be affected by external factors.

Concerning the different colors used in the decoration, Mr. Rihan clarified that he uses crushed glass with colorants after melting them in the oven, so the color will never be changed.

He took part in many exhibitions and festivals held in the country and abroad and he still has a lot of decorated pieces in his shop.

The products of this craft are not exported directly from his workshop to other countries as he sells them to shops in nearby Arab countries, such as Lebanon and then they are sold to other Arab or foreign countries.

Once, a person brought to Mr. Rihan a set of decorated drinking glasses from Germany to show him how they were done, but he was surprised that that set was made in Damascus and reached to Germany from another country.

Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour