CultureColumnsThe Empty Barrel
Armenian Ceramics of Jerusalem: Ode to Diasporan Mettle
Film Tidenk
It’s midnight. It’s over. My father and I are sitting in the living room waiting for the slightest sight of familiarity, and it finally appears — the suffix ian — prompting a prideful smile with an “eehhh, hay-eh”; a comforting feeling, to know that within the grand picture of a movie, there is an Armenian’s touch, no matter the influence, contributing to its production.
“Gam ovkideh barsig eh?”
Already a subscriber?Log in here
This story is FREE for you...
Create a free account to access this and four more articles, and get more sent to you with our e-newsletter.By submitting your email address you agree for Hairenik Association, Inc. to send you communication by email.
i was gifted with a piece of their pottery only to have it break during a move. Is there a way to purchase more??
thanks,
Adrienne
Apologies for delayed reply.
Please go to our website at https://armenianceramics.com to see some of our products which you can purchase
Dear Adrienne, We had 2 beautiful frog mugs since 1950’s, very cherished. While on vacation, my 20 years old son, who stayed at home, broke one of them. He knew we would be sad finding out what happened and tried to replace it right away. He found a mug on eBay, paid almost $200.00 with shipping from the UK. Sadly, the mug was fake. So, please be very careful when buying from unknown sources. Good luck! Rouzanna
I’m so glad I stumbled on this article. You are a great writer and I learned more than I was looking for. “he often surprised us both with his ability to fully convey the importance of the legacy we carry, our own attachment to it and the dangers that it entails” — the importance of the legacy and your attachment to it comes through beautifully. But what is the danger that it entails?
Lovely article!
David Ohannessian’s correct dates are 1884-1953, and his complete life, with emphasis on the migration of this art from Kutahya to Jerusalem, by means of Ohannessian’s arrest and deportation to Syria, along with his arrival in Jerusalem at the end of 1918, is detailed in my biography of him Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian (Redwood, CA: Stanford University Press, 2019). With the exception of Mark Sykes, the British, including Ashbee, were unaware that the tradition had been thriving in Kutahya in the early years of the twentieth century. There is also quite a bit about Ohannessian’s ceramic production in his Kutahya studio (called the Société Ottomane de Faïence) and the context of that art in the late Ottoman empire, as well as the expertise and arrival of the Balians and Karakashians in Jerusalem in late 1919.