Pagburnayan Jar Making

Burnay are the unglazed earthenware jars of Ilocos, used for storing the sugarcane vinegar and fish sauce that the region produces, and Vigan has made them since Chinese potters introduced the technique centuries ago. The workshops - Pagburnayan is the district name - still do it the old way: local clay mixed with fine sand, trodden and worked by a carabao driven in circles over it, thrown on a heavy stone wheel turned by hand or foot, dried, and fired in a long brick dragon kiln built up a slope, which takes days to reach temperature and produces the dark, hard-fired finish that distinguishes burnay from ordinary pottery. Potters work with visitors watching and will usually let people try the wheel. It is one of the more genuine craft stops in Vigan, a city where a good deal is aimed at tour traffic, and it takes an hour.

What you actually see

• The carabao treading clay - the animal working the mix.
• The stone wheel - jars thrown by hand in the workshop.
• The dragon kiln - the long brick kiln up the slope.
• The finished jars - stacked burnay ready for vinegar and bagoong.

When to go

November to May. Weekday working hours to see throwing and firing; kiln firings happen periodically rather than daily, so ask about timing.

Honest expectations

It is a working pottery, not a museum - the wheel demonstration is short and buying a jar is the expected courtesy. Firings are not on a schedule. The workshop is dusty and hot.

Nearby

Calle Crisologo, the Syquia Mansion and Vigan's plaza are all within walking distance.