It all begins with the clay hewn from the hillsides in mountainous Crete, sieving of the clay takes place over several different stages until a fine granular almost dust - like size is reached, this clay is mixed with other clays found locally around the pottery, the exact ratios are a guarded secret.

Adding only water the clay is turned until a workable consistency is achieved then the mixture is formed into rolls for the craftsmen to throw the pot.

This takes place on wooden discs attached to a wheel mechanism, for pots finished to a height of no more than 50cm the craftsman “kicks” the wheel around himself while at the same time throwing the pot, for the much larger pots he has an assistant turning the wheel by hand.

On the rotating disc, the pot is formed from the rolls of clay by gradually laying the base then building the walls, a height of 15-20cms can be built each day, it is then left to dry at air temperature until firm, the process starts again, each day forming more of the pot on top of the previous days work until it reaches the required height and shape. Finally the decoration, handles etc are attached.

Throwing pots in this way can only be achieved by craftsmen using the skills and experience passed down from generation to generation.

After the finished pot is completely air dried and firm it is carefully removed from the wooden disc and placed into the kiln for firing, this takes place over a few days, a slow build up, an intense fire, then a slow cooling down period

After firing is complete the pot is removed from the kiln and is completely submerged in water, this gently draws out residual surface minerals.

All these processes can take several days, but we are now left with a Cretan pot that displays unique colours and textures and is COMPLETELY FROSTPROOF.