نیلی مٹی (Neeli Mitti)
Pakistan's blue pottery tradition — called neeli mitti (نیلی مٹی — 'blue clay') — is distinct from the better-known Jaipur Indian blue pottery in using a higher proportion of quartz in the clay body and a more opaque tin-white glaze that produces a cooler, more porcelain-like ground for the cobalt blue decoration. Both traditions share Mughal origin, but the Pakistani variant is more closely aligned with the Persian faience tradition from which Mughal tilework descended. The defining technical knowledge is the quartz body mixing: the clay-quartz ratio determines both the workability and the fired whiteness — too much quartz: body cracks during forming; too little: body yellows on firing. The ratio is assessed by the body fold test: 'correct body folds in half without cracking.'
Risk level: Endangered · Pakistan national ICH list
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