From the early 20th century Kourtzis Elias, with his son Nick Kourtzi laid the foundations for the new era of the small time industry, transforming it into a craft that made mostly double furnaced decorative pottery, hand painted with mineral oxides powders, enamels and glaze.
In 1931 Nick Kourtzis received a patent certificate from the then Ministry of Commerce for "the clay color conversion method" in black, the market is then flooded by the vases called "black vase" that graced most Greek houses. After the war, the series of miniatures - terra cottas come on the market. They represent real people and scenes from rural life of Lesbos. Some years later, in the early 60'', the workshop of Nick Kourtzis creates a new series of animal-shaped earthenware pots, which are sold locally and overseas: Europe, Japan and America.
The ceramics Kourtzis have been exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Greece and abroad and are in many museums and private collections.