Preforming on leather hard clay of a large basin (chàu) in Phù Mỹ village, step 1-3 : shaping the body of the pot and adding handles

The basins have been made on the previous day. They have been left to dry for a day and a night. Nguyễn Thị Phương has placed one back on her wheel. She starts by scraping the inside of the pots with the circular bamboo tool. The aim is to thin the walls. A lot of clay is removed in the process. Then, she uses her fingers to push the walls outwards. She also adds a bit of clay at the junction between the bottom and the body to strenghten the join. When she is satisfied with the shape of the pot, she creates two holes in the walls to insert the handles. She shapes the handles and make sure that the internal wall is smoothed.