Page 63 - buvkeramika

63
kiln worker’s wages was registered in household books of Oxenstierna estates as well as income from
the sold products. Already in 1641, 4000 bricks were traded off, in 1643 – more than 7000 bricks and
5300 roof tiles for some church, but in 1646 – also “floor stones” (Dunsdorfs 1935, 46, 99, 377, 379, 381,
396). Probably, the “stones” for floor covering produced in the brick-kiln were baked-clay tiles.
Brick-kilns were established in places that were near to high-quality clay deposits, where sufficient
amounts of wood and water were available, and there was an intention to build brick buildings in the
locality. When the construction of the planned building was completed the brick-kiln could cease its
operation. However, other brick-kilns existed for several decades not only supplying with their products
people in the closest environment but also producing bricks for sale. Thus, in the 16th century, the brick-
kiln of Jelgava/Mitau Castle supplied even Riga with bricks (Zeida 1962, 149). If the work organisation
was successful, brick production could bring considerable income to brick-kiln owners. Local bricks
and roof tiles were not cheap, but those imported from abroad were still more expensive. In the Riga
City Archive information has been preserved about the prices of bricks that were brought by ships from
Holstein in 1686 and from Lübeck in 1698 (Zeida 1962, 153).
The most ancient image of a brick-kiln in Latvia is known from the drawings of Johann Christoph
Brotze – this is a year 1796 drawing picturing the yard established for brick baking in the territory of
previous Cobron fortification. On its left side an enclosed area is seen – a pit where clay was kneaded
by bulls. There is an indication in the description that previously the upper part of the brick-kiln was
open but the holder vaulted it and built chimneys. Presumably, the baking oven is situated in one of the
buildings on the edge of the yard. Probably bricks were made or dried in other barns that were possibly
used also as storehouses, since there are stacks of bricks, orderly piled, near the buildings (Broce 1996,
Nr. 102, 227–229).
Brick-kiln workers, work organisation and production
Due to scarcity of medieval written documents it is impossible to describe brick production at the
time of construction of Livonian brick castles. Separate facts from the 13th–15th centuries are known
only about brick-kiln workers of Riga. Much more written sources have been preserved from the
17th–18th centuries when brick-kilns were operating not only in towns but also in estates. Since work
in brick-kilns was not mechanised until the 19th century, it can be presumed that brick-kilns of the
Early Modern Times operated in a similar way to those in the Middle Ages. The historian Ā. Zeida has
concluded: 17th and 18th century sources contain evidence that changes in the production process and
work organisation were very small and slow throughout many decades (Zeida 1962, 129).
Brick production in Riga was never subjected to guilds. However, brick-kiln workers in the Middle
Ages belonged to town craftsmen and therefore sometimes they are briefly mentioned in town’s registry
books. In the second half of the 14th century, only brick burners (Thegeller, Tegeler, Ziegelbrenner –
Stieda, Mettig 1896, 36) were mentioned in documents, whereas in the 15th century, in Riga, various
craftsmen practised making of building ceramics – clay digger (Lehmgräber), brick master (Ziegelmeister ),
journeyman (thegelknecht), brick shaper (tegelstriker) and brick burner (Ziegelbrenner – Stieda, Mettig 1896,
67). Riga town brick-kiln was managed by two town councillors (Ziegelherren – LUB IV, Nr. 1954, S. 867).
Ieva Ose. Building ceramics of Turaida Castle in the 13th–17th centuries