| Exclusive hand painted ceramic tiles and pottery from the original Balian-Armenian Ceramics of Jerusalem. |
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| CERAMICS MONTHLY - Feb 1994 UP FRONT Armenian Ceramics in Jerusalem by Norman Rubin In the Armenian Church of Saint Saviour on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, almost hidden among the tiles decorating the court-yard and altar, is a tile with a personal inscription: "David Ohannessian of Kutahya [Turkey], who in 1919 founded the art of [Armenian] pottery in Jerusalem, in order to embellish the altar, in memory of his parents and all the deceased of his family. In the year 1928, in the tenure of Patriarch Elisha Turin." This brief inscription testifies to the founding of the first workshop producing Armenian pottery in the Holy Land. By 1922, two other Armenian craftsmen (Balian, a potter, and Karakashian, a painter) who had come from Kutahya with Ohannessian had left his pottery to establish one of their own on the outskirts of the city. Their Palestine Pottery lasted as a productive partnership nearly 40 years. After their deaths, their sons split the business: Setrak Balian and his wife, Marie, stayed on at Palestine Pottery, while the Karakashian brothers, Stepan and Berge, established a new studio called Jerusalem Pottery. The arrival of Armenian ceramics, with its colorful designs and brilliant glazes, marked the beginning of revolutionary and refreshing innovation in the local pottery industry. Initially, the Armenian potters had been invited to Jerusalem at the beginning of the British Mandate by the Pro-Jerusalem Society and Sir Ronald Storrs, first governor of the city, to renovate the 16th-century Persian tiles of the Dome of the Rock. An ancient kiln, unearthed on Temple Mount, was made available to them. When the plan to restore the mosque tiles was canceled, the Armenian potters turned to producing tiles for other buildings (such as the Government House in 1921) in order to support themselves and their families. Today, the Balians' Palestine Pottery produces a wide variety of ceramic items, including tableware and vases of different sizes and shapes. These, as well as the tiles, are decorated with ancient Armenian motifs and manuscript illustrations blended with contemporary designs. Both the Balians and Karakashians take great pride in continuing the craft of Armenian pottery brought from their ancestral home in Kutahya. |