placed in it, so that the vessel being moulded will not stick to it.[18]
_Gourd Moulding Spoons or “Kajepes”_
These spoon-like implements (pl. 11) are made from pieces of gourd-rind,
usually from broken rattles or dippers. They vary greatly in size,
ranging in diameter from a little over one inch to as much as four, or
four and a half, inches. There are also many different shapes: round,
several forms of ovals, and a few which have one concave edge. The
various shapes are used for the different parts of the vessels. As a
general rule the larger kajepes are used on the larger vessels. Each
woman has from four to a dozen of these implements, which are distinctly
individual, for one potter shows awkwardness in handling the spoons of
another. It is said that potsherds were formerly used for the same
purpose as these gourd spoons.[19]
_Scrapers_
Two kinds of scrapers are used at the present time. One is the top of a
baking-powder can, which is popular because its shape makes it possible
to apply it to any part of a vessel. The other scraper is an ordinary
kitchen case-knife. The scraping of the vessels is done after they have
been dried in the sun. It is said that potsherds, with edges sharpened
on a piece of sandstone, were formerly used.
_Polishing Stones_
Very smooth, fine-grained pebbles of various colors are used to put the
final finish on certain kinds of pottery. They vary considerably in
size, from three-quarters of an inch long to three, or even three and a
half, inches. It is impossible to classify them by shape, except that
the larger ones are usually more flat than spherical. Most of the stones
appear to be waterworn pebbles, without any acute angles or sharp edges.
Usually two surfaces of the stone are highly polished, most frequently
at the ends, where they come in contact with the vessel. Some specimens
show signs of great wear.
Each potter has several polishing stones, the number varying from seven
to sixteen; they are distinctly the personal property of the potter, and
apparently have a semi-sacred significance. For the most part they are
heirlooms, handed down from mother to daughter, but additional stones
are picked up from ruins which the potters have visited. One informant
has four stones which her mother gave her, and three which she found at
the ruined pueblo of Puyé. Another informant uses a stone that belonged
to her great-grandmother, although her favorite is a small one which she
found herself at a nearby ruin. Stones are sometimes lent by one potter
to another, but they very seldom find their way outside the family
group.[20]
_Paint Brushes_
These brushes are narrow slivers of the leaves of yucca or soapweed,
from five to six inches long, and from an eighth to a quarter of an inch
wide. For a distance
[Illustration: FIG. 5. Slivers of yucca leaf with shredded ends, used as
paint brushes for decorating pottery.]
of about an inch from one end, the fibres are chewed and thus separated.
Most of the chewed fibres are then cut off, and the number remaining
determines the fineness of the point (fig. 5). For very thin lines a
brush of only one fibre is used. When out of service, the brushes are
kept in some receptacle which will protect the shredded ends. When the
implement is dry the chewed fibres become stiff and rather brittle, and
must be handled with care; before using they are soaked in water for two
or three minutes in order to soften them.[21]
SECONDARY PARAPHERNALIA
_Carrying and Storing Receptacles_
The receptacles used for bringing clays and other ingredients from the
pits to the village vary somewhat according to the distance that the
material must be carried. If the beds are close at hand, the material is
placed in a shawl spread flat on the ground. The shawl is then picked
up, the corners are tied, and the bundle is carried on the back.
Sometimes gunny-sacks and cement-sacks are used instead. If the beds are
at some distance from the pueblo, the material is placed in sacks and
brought home in the body of a wagon. As a rule the ingredients brought
home in shawls are transferred to sacks or boxes for storage. Paints are
kept in ollas, with the exception of the guaco paint, which is allowed
to remain in the bowl in which it is dried.
_Mixing Surfaces_
Whenever ingredients are to be mixed or crushed, the work is done upon
some sort of extra surface laid upon the floor. This surface is about a
yard square, and may be, apparently, of any suitable material--a bit of
old canvas, an opened-out cement-sack, or a small skin such as that of a
goat or dog. Similar surfaces also serve for mixing clay and temper, for
cleaning temper, for mixing the paste with water and kneading it, and
finally for holding the kneaded clay during moulding. Partly finished
vessels are placed upon such a surface at various stages of
construction. For winnowing clay, the women’s shawls are used.
_Boards_
No boards are placed beneath the pukis, or moulding trays, while they
are being used on the hard floor of the house, but in the courtyard
boards are used under them in order that holes may not be worn in the
ground during the constant turning necessary in moulding vessels. When
small vessels are completed they are placed in rows on a board, where
they remain during the early stages of the drying process. Rectangular,
flat-bottomed vessels are built directly on boards, or on low footstools
made of short boards with legs at each end.
_Water Containers_
While the potter is at work, she always has beside her a small lard-pail
partly filled with water, which serves to keep the kajepes damp, to
moisten parts of the vessel, and from time to time to clean her hands.
When the kajepes are not in use, they are usually placed in the pail. At
San Ildefonso such a pail is now the only form of water-container;
formerly pottery bowls were probably used.
_Mops for Slips_
These mops are the same for all slips. Each consists of a rag, folded
and refolded until it is about an inch or an inch and a half wide and
from two to two and a half inches long. One end of the rag or mop is
held between the thumb and the first two fingers of either hand; the
other end serves as a wide paint brush. The potters state that in former
times a piece of leather or skin served the same purpose as the cloth
mop.[22]
_Paint Receptacles_
Various receptacles hold the slips and paints that are ready for use.
The white slips are usually mixed and kept in enamelled basins and pans,
because a large quantity is prepared at one time. The red and orange-red
slips may be in small pottery bowls, or in china sauce-dishes. The guaco
is invariably in an Indian bowl. Undoubtedly at one time native bowls
were used exclusively, and there may even have been bowls of special
shapes or designs for this purpose; at present, however, no trace of
such a custom remains.
_Wiping Rags_
Wiping rags or, more simply, the aprons of the potters are used at
various stages of the work--after scraping, after polishing, after the
slip has dried, and after burning. Apparently any convenient piece of
cloth is satisfactory.
_Accessories in Firing_
When the vessels are to be fired, various accessories must be at hand.
Four or more half-bricks or stones are needed upon which to set the
grate. The latter may be either a discarded stove-grate, or a collection
of strips of iron, metal barrel-hoops, and odds and ends, placed
together to form a grill.[23] Small stones and tin cans--such as small
condensed milk cans and meat cans--are needed as props to keep the fuel
from touching the vessels during the burning. Flat pieces of tin and the
covers of large lard-pails serve at times to close spaces between the
fuel cakes, and to cover the oven-top, to support which metal rods are
often used. Lastly, pokers are needed to handle the fuel and to remove
the hot vessels. These may be wooden or iron rods, broomsticks, old
shovels, or even pitchforks. Each potter has her own collection of the
above materials and implements, stored away ready for use. These
collections of apparent refuse vary to a surprising extent.
MOULDING
For the purpose of this report the vessels may be divided into four
large groups: bowls, ollas, cooking vessels, and unusual shapes. With
respect to size there are two classes of bowls: those less than four
inches in diameter, and those larger than that size. In shape bowls may
be either wide-mouthed (pl. 6, b, g) or constricted-mouthed (pl. 6, a,
c). The ollas all have full, globular bodies and relatively small
orifices with or without flaring lips (pls. 7, 15, a). As a rule, the
cooking vessels are shaped like small ollas. Under unusual shapes fall
all the types and forms which are not of the first three classes, such
as terraced (prayer-meal) bowls, double-mouthed vessels, double bowls or
“baskets”, and vessels with handles.
The moulding of each of the above forms may be said to consist of four
principal steps: the making of the base, the building of the walls, the
shaping, and the finishing. Very briefly, the process is as follows: The
potter first forms a pancake-shaped pat of paste from six to eight
inches in diameter; this she presses into the mould, or puki, to form a
base. Then the walls of the vessel are built up by the addition of
successive ropes, or rolls, of paste laid one upon another. The small
bowls are the only exception, for they are formed in the hands of the
potter from a single lump. In some cases the building is done all at one
time; in others, and always with the larger vessels, a few rolls are
added, then the piece is set aside to dry a little before the addition
of a few more rolls. The potter usually builds two or more vessels at
once in order to permit work upon one while the other is undergoing a
brief period of drying. The preliminary shaping of the vessel is done
either in the course of the building or after the building has been
completed. The obliteration of the junctions between the rolls and of
finger-marks is accomplished with the kajepe, or gourd-spoon, and
further use of this implement aids in giving the vessel its shape. The
final step, the finishing, consists of going over the entire vessel
carefully, first with the kajepe, then with the fingers, to remove
slight irregularities to even the lip and rim. The finishing is a slow,
exacting process, and the difference between the artist and the mere
pot-maker comes out at this stage of the work.
The moulding, although usually done in the house, may also take place in
some shady spot outdoors. If a woman begins her moulding in the morning,
she will commonly devote the entire day to it. By evening she will have
completed from five to thirty vessels, the number depending partly upon
the size of the pieces and partly upon the rapidity with which she
works.
The potter sits upon her heels on some kind of mat; it may be a
sheepskin with the wool side up, a piece of canvas, or a small woven
rug. Her attitude is changed only when stiffness requires it. Thereupon
she sits with her feet out in front of her; or with one leg bent, the
foot flat on the ground, the knee beside her shoulder, and with the
other leg under her or fully flexed in front with both the knee and
foot upon the floor. Toward the end of the day the potter usually sits
against a wall to rest her back, for any one of the postures assumed is
tiring. At the end of the day the women frequently complain of stiff
backs and sore abdominal muscles, caused by the almost constant stooping
posture. Some potters cover their laps with shawls, others wear aprons,
and still others use no protection whatever for their clothing.
When the potter is sitting upon her heels, the mould, or puki, is laid
directly in front of her upon the floor. If she is sitting with her legs
extended, it is either held in the lap or placed close to her right
side. In the house the puki rests directly upon the hard earthen floor;
outdoors, a short board is placed under it to prevent its constant
turning from wearing a hole in the relatively softer ground. In the puki
is sprinkled a thin layer of temper or wood-ashes to prevent the vessel
from sticking to it. At the right of the potter, within arm’s reach, on
a canvas or a piece of cloth, is a mass of prepared clay. Rarely this
reserve paste is on the left. If the paste is in constant use, it is not
covered unless exposed to the sun; when, however, the moulding is
abandoned for even a few minutes, a corner of the canvas or cloth is
thrown over it. A small lard-pail partly filled with water is an
indispensable accessory during moulding. This is usually kept between
the potter and the paste; occasionally it is on the left, sometimes near
the puki beside the potter’s right knee. The gourd moulding spoons, or
kajepes, are also placed within easy reach, on the floor near the puki,
beside the waterpail, or in the pail itself. The potter is then ready to
begin moulding.
The first step is to ascertain by a little handling whether the paste is
of the proper consistency. If it was kneaded the day before, it may
prove to be too dry; in such a case the hands are well moistened and
perhaps a little water is sprinkled on the paste; it is then rekneaded
for a few minutes. Then a handful is scooped out of the mass with the
right hand. If the first handful is not sufficient, a second scoop gives
the required amount. It is next worked with the hands for half a minute
to five minutes; if it is of just the right consistency, it is hardly
worked at all; if it is too dry, the hands are occasionally dipped in
water while it is being worked; if it is too wet, kneading continues
until it is sufficiently dry. There are three distinct movements in this
final working of the paste. First, the handful is pinched and squeezed
by opening and closing the hands; if any gritty particle is encountered,
it is picked out with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and
snapped upon the floor. The second movement consists in rolling the
paste between the two flattened hands. When the roll is about six inches
long, it is doubled and rerolled. This may be repeated from two to
half-a-dozen times. Occasionally this step is entirely omitted,
especially when a pat is being made. In the third movement the paste,
now a spherical lump, is slapped back and forth between the cupped
hands, which are held from six to eight inches apart. Sometimes this
third movement precedes the second. The handful of paste is now ready to
be made into a pat.
There are two ways of forming a pat. In the first one, the spherical
lump is held on the open left hand and pounded flat with the right fist;
from time to time it is turned a few degrees by a slight tossing motion.
It is then finished by patting
[Illustration: PLATE 12
a. Kneading clay preparatory to modeling a vessel.
b. Bowl-moulding, primary stages. 1, Base formed in mould, edge crimped
to receive first roll (cf. pl. 13, a); 2, Walls built to full height; 3,
The same piece after shaping and smoothing.]
[Illustration: PLATE 13
a
Applying the first roll of clay to the base. The roll is held in the
left hand, and is flattened and pinched into place in the inside of the
rim by the fingers of the right hand.
b
A bowl-base to which four rolls of clay have been added; the potter is
making a new roll. Note the junctions of the roll on the interior of the
vessel.]
it with the flat right hand until it is fairly smooth and of uniform
thickness; in doing this the pat is turned by slapping it from the left
hand to the right and back again. During this interchange, through the
natural placing of the hands, the pat is turned through an angle of
ninety to one hundred and twenty degrees. When the pat has been
completely formed by this method, it is like a large pancake, six to
eight inches in diameter and from three-eighths to half an inch thick.
It is then pressed firmly into the puki, and the edge is turned up and
crimped with the thumb and first two fingers of each hand to form a
slight rim (pl. 12, b, 1).
In the second method, the spherical lump of paste is first pounded with
the heel and then with the upper knuckles of the right hand; it is
turned meanwhile by the tossing motion of the left hand. The next
movement is the same as in the corresponding stage of the first method,
namely, patting the paste with the flat right hand while turning it by
transferring it to the right hand and back. Finally, before the pat is
put into the puki, the edge is bent up and smoothed off a little, so
that a shallow flat circular tray is formed instead of the slab obtained
by the first method. This tray is then placed in the puki, where it is
pressed down very firmly with either the heel of the hand or the balls
of the fingers, in order to insure a solid uniform base and to expel any
air-bubbles in the paste.
Another handful of clay is now scooped out of the mass on the canvas to
the right and worked to the proper consistency as before. From the
resulting spherical lump the potter very skillfully forms a roll of
uniform diameter by a backward and forward motion of her two hands
placed palms together (pl. 13, b).[24] There seems to be a tendency for
the first part of the roll to be of slightly smaller diameter than the
last part; if this occurs, the roll is reversed and partially rerolled.
One end is then taken in the right hand, while the left hand holds it
near the other at a point chosen to prevent too much sagging at the
middle. The potter then places the end which is in her right hand
against the inside of that part of the edge of the pat nearest her.[25]
The roll is pressed against the edge just enough to hold it in place
(see pl. 13, a). The thumb is on the exterior, the fingers on the
interior of the edge. Usually only the first two fingers are used,
although the third finger is occasionally brought into contact with the
paste. Then, as the puki is revolved counterclockwise,[26] the rest of
the roll is pressed against the edge of the pat. If the roll is not long
enough completely to encircle the pat, another is made and placed on it
in a similar manner. When the edge has thus been completely encircled,
the unused remainder of the roll is pinched off and tossed back on the
mass of paste on the canvas. The potter then pinches the roll more
firmly to the edge of the pat. This is done with both hands. The thumbs,
almost touching, are on the exterior, the fingers on the interior of the
vessel. The puki is usually moved counterclockwise, although the same
potter will sometimes revolve it clockwise. During this process of
pinching, the roll is flattened until it assumes in cross-section the
shape of a very much elongated ellipse (fig. 6, b). An attempt is made
to keep the thickness of the side as nearly uniform as possible, and in
order to accomplish this it is often necessary for the hands to be moved
back over a part already flattened.
The diameter of the rolls, except for cooking-pots, varies from half an
inch to slightly over an inch, according to the size of the vessel being
built, and the individual doing the building. When a roll is pressed
against the interior of the rim of the growing vessel,[27] from a half
to three-quarters of it lies below the level of the rim (see fig. 6, a).
Then, when the roll is flattened, the junction-plane between it and the
preceding roll will not be horizontal, but will slope downward sharply
[Illustration: FIG. 6. Diagramatic sections of a bowl on the mould.
a. Base made and first roll applied to inner side of rim. b. First roll
flattened and welded on. c. Second roll applied. d. Second roll
flattened and welded on.]
from the exterior (see fig. 6, b, d), thus producing a broad holding
surface and minimizing the risk of the vessel’s cracking along the
junction-plane. In other words, the junction-line between any two rolls
on the outside wall of the vessel is considerably higher than the
corresponding line on the inside. The flattened rolls, in all but
cooking-pots, are from an inch and a half to two inches wide, but
because of the overlapping just described the distance between the
junction-lines is considerably less (see pl. 13, b, and pl. 15, a).
During the process of flattening the roll, some potters obliterate the
junction-line on the exterior by rubbing it with the first and second
finger of the right hand, and by the addition of small pellets of paste
in the more conspicuous indentations. Others consider it unnecessary to
obliterate this line during the building of the vessel, in spite of the
fact that the roll may break away because of not being firmly welded.
Certain women smooth the temporary rim after flattening each roll,
others do not. When the flattening has been finished, the puki has made
a second complete revolution, and the junction of the two ends of the
roll is again directly in front of the potter; but if a few additional
touches are required she may again shift the puki in one direction or
another. No potter pays any attention whatever to the location of the
junction points of the ends of the rolls; in successive rolls,
therefore, they may lie directly above one another, or they may be
distributed about the circumference of the vessel (pl. 13, b). When one
roll has been completely welded on, flattened out, and incorporated into
the vessel, another roll is formed, and is applied in exactly the same
manner. Thus the building proceeds to the height at which the shaping is
begun. The steps so far enumerated are the same for both bowls and
ollas. The further treatment of the vessel varies slightly, according to
the shape desired.
Stevenson, describing the moulding of vessels at Zuñi, in 1879, wrote:
“When the clayey dough is ready to be used, a sufficient quantity is
rolled into a ball. The dough, if worked by a careful artist, is first
tested as to its fitness for molding by putting a piece of the paste to
the tongue, the sensitiveness of which is such as to detect any gritty
substance or particles, when the fingers fail to do so. The ball is
hollowed out with the fingers into the shape of a bowl (see pl. 29, a),
this form constituting the foundation for all varieties of earthenware,
and assumes the desired form by the addition of strips of clay; all
traces of the addition of each strip are removed before another is
added,[28] by the use of a small trowel fashioned from a piece of gourd
or fragment of pottery, the only tool employed in the manufacture of
pottery. The bottoms of old water jars and bowls form stands for the
articles while being worked by the potter” (see pl. 29).[29]
Mrs. Stevenson, writing later, also of the Zuñis, said: “In beginning
the work a sufficient quantity is first made into a ball and then
hollowed out with the fingers until is assumes a conventional bowl
shape, which serves as the foundation to be afterward built up and
elaborated into any desired shape. The vessel is then formed by the
successive additions of strips of the paste long enough to encircle the
bowl, each layer being pressed on the brim with the fingers and
accurately fitted, the trowel being then skillfully used to finish the
joining and to remove all traces of the original separation of the
strips. Most of the work of remodelling the vessel into its final shape
is done on the inside with a trowel, this implement being used on the
outside chiefly to smooth the surface. The clay, if it has been properly
worked, possesses sufficient tenacity and plasticity to admit of being
pressed and scraped without cracking.”[30]