Abstract. This article is devoted to the problem of studying the development of pottery production in the Chkalovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region (formerly Katun and Pavelkov volosts of the Balakhninsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province), including attempts to trace the traditions of the craft and their transformation using the example of the stock collection of ceramics of the Nizhny Novgorod State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve and materials of the ethnographic expedition of the museum in 2018. The constant study of the museum's collection in combination with the expedition data provided a large amount of new information about the craft, allowed attributing clay dishes items and clarifying some aspects of its manufacture and existence.

Key words: pottery, clay dishes, pottery traditions, regional culture, folk art, ethnographic expedition, Chkalovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod Museum-Reserve.