By Congressman Frank Pallone Jr.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003

[Editor’s note: Earlier this year, Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) visited Israel. During his visit, he met with the Armenian community and visited some of the Armenian pottery shops. The Congressman wrote the following column on his tour of six such stores.]

I visited the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem to meet with the Patriarch and community leaders, but I could not help spending some time touring the historic sites, and also looking for one of my favorite crafts—the Armenian pottery of Jerusalem.

While many Armenian-Americans possess some pieces of Jerusalem pottery, I find it less popular than Armenian rugs, woodwork, and needlework, primarily because it’s not produced in Armenia. In fact, most of the pieces I acquired before my trip to Jerusalem came from online purchases.

Even in Jerusalem, I had a difficult time getting information on the various Armenian potters. Fortunately, I finally discovered six shops, and they did not disappoint. Each had wonderful handmade pottery made exclusively by Armenian families. They produce some of the finest and most unique ceramics that I’ve ever seen, and I wanted to relate my experience.

First, I must point out that much of the pottery sold in Jerusalem, particularly the Old City, is made to resemble Armenian pottery. I was surprised to find hundreds of shops in Jerusalem that sell imitation items, known as Hebron pottery, which is often factory made. Unless the shop is owned and operated by Armenians, it is unlikely to be Armenian pottery.

The Armenian pottery of Jerusalem differs from ceramics made in the Republic of Armenia in that the former is generally executed in bright under glaze colors of cobalt blue, turquoise, yellow, green, black, and red on a white background. It is contrasted with the ceramics of Armenia that tend to be on rough brown earthenware, but also with lively colors painted on top.

It’s also important to know that the Armenian pottery of Jerusalem can remind the untrained eye of Turkish pottery because it originated with potters who fled the Ottoman Empire at the time of the Genocide. These potters lived in the town of Kutahya, where Turkish and Armenian influences often converged. However, to my knowledge, there are no longer any Armenian potters in Turkey. I did not see any Turkish pottery for sale in Jerusalem, and it is unlikely that a shopkeeper would try to pass off Turkish pottery as Armenian because both are high priced and equally prized.

The father of Armenian pottery in Jerusalem was David Ohannessian, who arrived in Jerusalem in 1919. By 1922, two craftsmen who had come with Ohannessian from Kutahya—the potter N. Balian and the painter M. Karakashian—left Ohannessian’s workshop and established their own shop on Nablus Road. The partnership between Balian and Karakashian lasted 40 years, but with their passing in the 1960s their sons established two separate workshops, still in operation today—the Karakashian Brothers, 15 Via Delorosa in the Old City, and Balian Armenian Ceramics, 14 Nablus Road, located opposite the American Consulate.

First, I visited Balian Ceramics where Neshan Balian, grandson of the founder, offered to open his workshop for me on a day when they are normally closed. The Balian workshop is the largest in Jerusalem. It has a central courtyard that bedazzles with murals of palm and Cyprus trees flowing with flowers, birds, and exotic animals created by Neshan’s mother, Marie Balian. Off the main courtyard on one side is the sales shop with hundreds of ceramic vases, plates, and tiles. On the other side are the kilns, the clay formations, and the stations for various painters.

Every type of Armenian pottery is available at the Balians. The tile murals inspired by Marie are the most unique, but I also purchased a plate picturing a Persian musician, and another with Mount Ararat in the background. Nishan made me three beautifully decorated cups with the names of each of my three children.

You must visit St. James Cathedral, including Etchmiadzin Chapel as well as the Armenian Museum. The chapel has ceramic tiles with religious scenes, copies of which exist in several of the shops. Hanging from the ceiling of the Cathedral’s main sanctuary are the colorful ceramic eggs with motifs of angels, crosses, and flowers. They were made in Katahya by Armenian potters and were brought to Jerusalem by pilgrims. The Armenian Museum has beautiful ceramic vases also brought from Katahya by Armenian benefactors of the Patriarchate. They have Armenian writing on the surface, which is rarely the case with modern ceramics made by Jerusalem potters.

In order to reach the three shops in the Armenian Quarter, it is best to enter the Old City by the Jaffa Gate and immediately turn right, pass the Tower of David to the Armenian Patriarchate Road.