Labu Sayong Pottery

Labu sayong is a water jar in the shape of a gourd with a narrow neck and no handle, made in the villages along the Perak river around Sayong opposite Kuala Kangsar, and it is the best known traditional pottery form in the peninsula. The clay is local, the pots are built and thrown by hand without glaze, and the black finish comes from the firing: the jars are burnished, fired in an open pit or a simple kiln, and then smoked with rice husk or rubber leaves, which carbonises the surface. The point of the form is practical - unglazed earthenware sweats slightly and the evaporation cools the water inside, so the jar keeps drinking water cool without refrigeration, and many Malaysians will tell you water from a labu tastes different. Workshops in Sayong sell direct and some run sessions.

What you actually see

• Gourd-shaped unglazed jars - the labu form, thrown and built by hand.
• Smoke blackening - the rice-husk firing that gives the surface its colour.
• Evaporative cooling - the practical reason the unglazed body is kept.
• Working village workshops - potters selling direct across from Kuala Kangsar.

When to go

All year; weekdays when the workshops are working. Half a day.

Honest expectations

These are small family workshops, not a visitor centre - call ahead or accept that some may be shut. Hands-on sessions usually need booking. Jars are fragile to carry home.

Nearby

Kuala Kangsar, the Ubudiah Mosque and Victoria Bridge are across the river.