ORBISCERAMICISTS & GLASSMAKERS IN JERUSALEM 10 shops in the atlas.Illustration
Ceramicists & Glassmakers in Jerusalem
10 stores · curated ORBIS register
Balian Armenian Ceramics of Jerusalem makes hand-painted tiles and tableware on Nablus Road, continuing the Balian family's work at its longstanding pottery site. The studio also undertakes architectural commissions, extending painted ceramics from vessels into larger murals and tiled surfaces. Cadim Ceramic Art Co-op Gallery brings a cooperative model to ceramic retail, with the artists themselves staffing the shop on Yoel Solomon Street.
Balian has painted ceramic tiles in Jerusalem since 1922, when Neshan Balian Sr. and Megerditch Karakashian were brought from Kütahya to restore the tilework on the Dome of the Rock. Marie Balian's pieces have since hung in the Smithsonian and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Nablus Road workshop is now run by her son, Neshan Balian Jr., the family's fourth generation.
Best for Museum-quality hand-painted tile murals and custom commissions
A family ceramic studio and showroom making hand-painted tiles, tableware, vessels, murals, and architectural commissions using inherited Jerusalem Armenian techniques. The Balian and Karakashian families established their joint pottery on Nablus Road in 1922; the Balian family continues at the site.
Best for Family ceramic studio and showroom making hand-painted tiles, tableware, vessels, murals
Balian Armenian Ceramics traces to 1919, when master potter Neshan Balian Sr. arrived in Jerusalem from Kütahya, in Ottoman Turkey, recruited by David Ohannessian to help restore the ceramic tiles on the Dome of the Rock under the British Mandate. In 1922, Balian and fellow craftsman Mgerdich Karakashian struck out on their own, opening a joint pottery on Nablus Road in East Jerusalem. The two families worked side by side, the Balians handling clay, glazes and firing, the Karakashians the drawing and painting, until they parted ways in the 1960s; the Karakashians founded a separate workshop on the Via Dolorosa, while the Balians remained on Nablus Road, moving to their present address after 1948.
The workshop's design language shifted decisively with Marie Balian, a French-Armenian painter trained at the Beaux-Arts of Lyon, who joined the family after marrying Setrag Balian Sr. in the 1960s. Where earlier Kütahya-derived patterns were largely static, Marie introduced dynamic figures, animals, birds, trees rendered mid-motion, that became the studio's signature and drew international attention, including a 1992 tribute exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution. Setrag Balian Sr., who trained under English potter Raymond Finch in Gloucestershire, brought Western forms like teapots and handled cups into the workshop's repertoire. Today the studio is run by Neshan Balian Jr., a fourth-generation family member, continuing hand-thrown pottery and tile production using inherited glaze recipes.
4 Yoel Salomon Street, Nahalat Shiv'a, Jerusalem, Israel / Jerusalem / Israel
Founded December 1987 as a ceramicists’ cooperative; iTravelJerusalem and Inbal Hotel report 15 artists who staff the shop themselves after Cadim merged with Altogether 8 on Yoel Solomon Street (iTravelJerusalem; Inbal Hotel).
Best for Founded December 1987 as a ceramicists’ cooperative.
Garo Sandrouni's workshop in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter produces hand-painted ceramics. Garo and Sonia Sandrouni make pottery and tiles, using painted decoration across both household objects and larger ceramic work. Visiting the workshop puts the finished pieces alongside the practice of making and decorating them.
Best for Hand-painted Armenian ceramics in Jerusalem
Garo Sandrouni's workshop continues a craft tradition that predates his own career by more than sixty years. Armenian ceramicists first arrived in Jerusalem in 1919, brought from Kutahya in Ottoman Turkey to restore the tilework on the Dome of the Rock; when that restoration project ended, several of the potters — David Ohanessian foremost among them — chose to stay, founding Jerusalem's first Armenian ceramics workshops and establishing the hand-painted, cobalt-and-turquoise style now closely associated with the city's Old City souks. Garo Sandrouni, working alongside his wife Sonia, an artist by training, opened his own workshop in 1983 on Armenian Patriarchate Road in the Armenian Quarter, building on that inherited technique while developing the couple's own decorative vocabulary. The gallery and workshop produce hand-painted tiles, plates, bowls, vases and decorative ornaments, along with commissioned pieces made to a customer's own design — a service that distinguishes it from souvenir-oriented pottery sellers nearby. Everything is designed and painted on site rather than mass-produced, keeping the Sandrounis' output within the same workshop tradition the Armenian community brought to Jerusalem a century ago, even as the surrounding Old City has changed considerably around it.
13 Sha'ar Zion Street, Old City, Jerusalem, Israel / Jerusalem / Israel
Self-taught Hagop Antreassian entered the ceramics business in 1980; his workshop-studio across Zion Gate displays hand-painted Armenian pottery and visitors can watch him paint.
Best for Hand-painted Armenian pottery from a workshop where visitors can watch the maker.
Hebron / Halhul, West Bank (traditional source for Jerusalem glassware)
The Natsheh family operates two of the three remaining glass factories near Hebron, blowing vessels by techniques traced to Phoenician and Roman-era glassmaking that early-19th-century travelers recorded some 150 local glassworkers practicing. Their cobalt and amber glass, sold through Jerusalem shops and fair-trade networks, is still shaped by mouth over an open flame rather than cast or pressed.
Best for Traditional hand-blown colored glass vases and ornaments
A Karakashian family workshop and shop making hand-painted Armenian pottery, tiles, plates, bowls, and custom ceramic work behind the retail room. The Karakashian family was among the founding families of Jerusalem Armenian ceramics and established this separate Old City workshop in 1964.
Best for Hand-painted Armenian pottery and tiles from the Karakashian family workshop
Jerusalem Pottery continues the Karakashian family's Armenian ceramic tradition in Jerusalem. Hagop Karakashian's hand-painted work includes tile murals and name plaques alongside plates and other pottery. The family's history also includes the Old City's multilingual street-name tiles, made by the preceding generation.
Best for Hand-painted Armenian ceramics and custom name or mural tiles
Jerusalem Pottery is the Karakashian family's Armenian ceramics workshop. Its history in Jerusalem began in 1919, when Megerditch Karakashian arrived as part of a group invited to work on tiles for the Dome of the Rock. The family subsequently developed a pottery tradition that included both decorative pieces and architectural tile work.
The second generation's work can be seen in the Old City's street-name tiles. Stepan and Berge Karakashian made Arabic and English signs in the 1960s, with Hebrew added later. Hagop Karakashian represents the third generation and continues the family's hand-painted ceramic work.
The current catalogue includes custom tile murals and name plaques. Plates and other household ceramics offer smaller purchases. A mural involves decisions about dimensions and layout that differ from choosing a single plate. For a custom order, discuss the surface and wording as well as the design. The family's historical Via Dolorosa workshop should not be used as an unchecked present-day address, since later reporting describes a relocation within the Old City.
Christian Quarter, near New Gate, Old City, Jerusalem
Sandrouni's studio sits just inside the New Gate, where George and Dorin Sandrouni paint ceramics using the Kütahya-derived technique brought to Jerusalem by the city's founding Armenian tile families. Customers can watch pieces being thrown and painted on-site before buying plates, tiles, and bowls from the adjoining showroom.
Best for Watching artisans paint while shopping for tiles and tableware
77 Armenian Patriarchate Road, Armenian Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem, Israel / Jerusalem / Israel
Vic Lepejian, with an M.A. in fine arts from Armenia, opened Vic's Armenian Art Studio in 1975 on Armenian Patriarchate Road; son Bedros and Irene Oerdegian work with him.
Best for Armenian art from a family studio on Armenian Patriarchate Road.
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