The fire box of the dragon kiln resembles a tombMeasuring 43 metres long, 2.2 metres high and 2.5 metres wide, the longest dragon kiln in Singapore was built in 1944. Dragon kilns can be as long as 100 metres.
The firing ovenThow Kwang Dragon Kiln (龙窑) has a brick-built kiln constructed on a hill side with the fire box in front and side-stoking holes at the sides. During firing, the kiln resembles a recumbent dragon with fire spewing from its nostrils (fire box). The dragon kiln technology was brought to Singapore by immigrant Chinese artisans in the early 1900s.
Inside the dragon kilnIn the old days, Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln was fired every fortnightly to meet the demand for latex cups needed by the rubber plantations in the Jalan Bahar area. Pipes and household items like water containers, flower pots and crockery were also fired in the kiln.
One needs to stoop when entering and leaving the dragon kiln
When demand for rubber declined, the pottery industry in Singapore suffered a set back. The pottery industry was revived briefly when flower pots became very saleable in the early 1970s. But competition with the lower priced Malaysian industry resulted in the closure of Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln and other kilns in different parts of Singapore.
Pottery-making classes are available
There are classes in pottery and other ceramic techniques conducted by resident artists at Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln, which also provide facilities for both hobby and professional potters and ceramicists. Various types of clay, glazes and other ceramic materials, and pottery equipment are available for purchase.
Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln
85 Lorong Tawas (off Jalan Bahar)
Singapore 639823
Tel : 6265 5808 / 6268 6121
http://thowkwangclayartists.
Wordless Wednesday
79 comments:
What an amazing kiln. I have never seen one so large. The science behind these things fascinates me.
That is so cool. I have never seen one before. Happy WW
Very cool. It look amazing. Have you been there?
I have never even heard about dragon kilns before! Fascinating!
What a very interesting looking place. Have a great week!
What a great history lesson on the dragon kiln. Awesome. Have a wonderful WW. :)
You always have interest post :D
Mine in here Thanks
Thanks for sharing in here....
Will you visit my WW : My son on costume? Thanks.
Very cool, I'd never heard of a Dragon Kiln before. Thanks for sharing! :-)
Wow, a walk-in kiln. Who knew?! Very cool.
This an amazing WW!! it's truly fascinating.
I need your help!! pls come on over :)
Wah.
wow it is huge have you made or bought things from their how fun to make it
Wow what an enormous kiln. Thanks for sharing
Oh how beautiful! What an amazing place to visit.
i've never heard of a dragon kiln before!! now i know. i think sarawak has one at the sarawak cultural village.
I have to say I always leave your WW's in a more enlightened state than when I arrived. Very funky!
Wow that's pretty interesting. I've never seen one.
Happy WW!
that's great that Singapore has decided to rescue such a site!
I used to be a potter before I messed up my wrists. I would love to go there and see that.
Oh wow! That looks like a great place of exploration.
That is so cool. Great pics. Happy WW and thanks for stopping by:)
Great post. Happy WW!
My post: "Dressed to kill" (It'll be up in about 2 hours)
WOW! That is fascinating!!!
Wow~ I didn't even know it exist in Singapore :|
Learned something new today :)
Huge! And very cool!
it looks creepy but very interesting :)
pretty interesting ancient piece.
is it cool there?
c",) Morning Sniffles
Interesting. I have never heard about it before. Learned something again. Thanks.
VERB
Makimeji
Fascinating place. :-) Happy WW.
that's one very large kiln. they could bake a - well a very large dragon in there. ;)
happy ww. ☺
I love Singapore. I thought this post was also interesting and it is indeed an amazing kiln.
Hi ECL, that would be a nice place to visit. Happy WW!
How about on horseback? At a trot might not even need a ...
..
Back to thank you for your valuable help!!!
::wink::
This is amazing! I had no idea something like that existed! Thx for sharing this!
How interesting! I've never seen a dragon kiln.
Happy WW!
Join me here if you can!
Just Some Thoughts
Very interesting.
Happy WW.
What an interesting photo!
My WW entry is up too!
Why is there so many hidden places I don't know about? .....call myself Singaporean somemore...hiiiya!!!!
I thin I am very suah-ku... Never know there's a place like this in S'pore. Thanks for sharing :)
your entries are always so informative. you sure are doing a good job in promoting singapore! :)
Interesting, ECL! Singapore has this kind of place?
This is so cool and great info at that.
Wow! Never knew such thing existed! Thanks for sharing the info ECL. Always learn a lot from your post. (^_^)
That is amazing. And the fact that it is in Singapore.
I love pottery and took pottery class once. Love the feel of wet clay. And the ugly mug I made from scratch feels very special!
I'll say it looks like a tomb! You'd never get me in it, that's for sure.
See Please Here
when i first saw the shots, i thought its a wine cellar
This was so neat to see! Thank you for sharing and explaining the Dragon Kiln! Happy WW!
Wow! That's really interesting! Great pictures, too! Thanks so much for sharing! Enjoy your day!
OOPS! I had another bloggers link on my clipboard and pasted it in my comment! Check them out and then come visit me! lol
This is very strange place but indeed beautiful! Happy WW!
He's thinking ahead
Missing this house
Thank you for sharing these pictures. I never knew this kind of stuff existed. It is amazing!
Neat! Thanks for sharing! Happy WW!
Very interesting, both in form and function.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
No kidding?! We have a "kiln" in Singapore? It is not ... artificially made for tourism?
Fascinating.
Never heard of a dragon kiln before. Fascinating. Wonder how you fire up something that big... wow... nice photos... and thanks for the interesting information.
My goodness. I envy you that you get to travel about so many interesting places in Singapore.
Hmmm, do you need someone to accompany you around to help you write about the lovely sights of Singapore?
Cool and very interesting Kiln!
That is such a nice history of the kiln. Very interesting
wow, that is huge! great pic!
have such interesting posts! This is amazing! "Dragon Kiln" even sounds so romantic!
Very cool!
Looks like a very interesting place to visit! I would really enjoy the pottery classes, especially in such an inspiring environment.
Very interesting and so informative too!!
a safe place to hv "ahem"? kakaka..
very historical looking place! very terracotta! ;)
I've never seen one of those before. Thanks for the info and the awesome photos!
What a lovely place to be and thanks for taking us with. I remember I played with clay when I was you - before Porsgund Porcelain took over you know :lol:
Impressing in all senses
Really cool. This is all new to me:)
fascinating!!! i tot it was one of the war-escape route hehehe
this looks very amazing!!
I had no idea kilns could be so large! The dragon kilns have a very interesting history.
Hope you can stop by my WW post for tea. :)
thats cool!
Happy WW!
Very interesting post about this huge kiln. Pottery is a great craft that's very admirable.
I wasn't able to join regular memes last week but if you have time, I'd like to share photos of our visit to Ocean Adventure. Take care.
Nice write up on this. My family and I were there about 3 months ago too, en route to visiting Hay's Diaries (you will realise by now how frequent we go to the goat farm, courtesy of Ethan!) The place was rather quiet but a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. Unfortunately, we don't have much space in our flat for the nice pots and ceramic pieces we saw!
hi... but ur pics shows the kiln from Thow Kwang Pottery... not the Guan Huat Dragon Kiln... u sure you went to the right place?
Your pictures are taken from Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln not the one from Guan Huat. Check this link
http://thowkwangclayartists.wordpress.com
Guys,
My mistake. Sorry.
I have rectified the mistakes.
Thanks for the feedback. :P
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