PARAPHERNALIA

PLATE 11Gourd spoons, or kajepes, used to shape and smooth the walls of vessels.

PLATE 11

Gourd spoons, or kajepes, used to shape and smooth the walls of vessels.

These moulds are usually the bases of broken bowls or ollas. Occasionally pieces of pottery are made especially for moulds; in such cases, although they are fired, they are neither finished carefully nor decorated.

When a mould is to be used, a small amount of temper or wood ashes is placed in it, so that the vessel being moulded will not stick to it.[18]

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]

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.

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 impossibleto 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]

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

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]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

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 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.

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.

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 theknee 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

PLATE 12a. 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.

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.

PLATE 13aApplying 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.bA 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.

PLATE 13

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.

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 (seepl. 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 samepotter 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 (seefig. 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

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.

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 (seefig. 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 (seepl. 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 thevessel, 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 (seepl. 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” (seepl. 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]

The following quotation is of interest as showing how closely modern studio-practice, undoubtedly evolved experimentally, resembles Pueblo Indian methods: “The clay for building should be rather soft as it is apt to dry quickly on handling. A plaster bat (mould) should be made. It is first necessary to roll out the clay intocords which should be a little thicker than the proposed walls are to be. These cords should be as uniform as possible and should be rolled quickly to avoid undue hardening. It is best to roll them as required. A roll of clay is taken, one end laid in the center of the bat and the rest is coiled around it in a spiral line. When the disc so formed has reached the proper size, the coils are gently rubbed over with the fingers until they have thoroughly united and the lines of the spiral have disappeared. The clay disc may now be turned over and the rubbing continued on the other side. The circle is cut true and a new coil is laid on the outer edge, thus making a shallow circular tray. In raising the walls it is best to pinch off the roll of clay when one circle has been completed, and the new roll should be begun at another point so that all the joints will not be at the same place. This plan is better than coiling a long roll in a spiral, for in this case one side of the piece will be higher than the other.

“After three rolls have been laid in position, the wall, both inside and out, should be worked like the bottom so that the rolls will disappear and the clay be welded uniformly together. This should be done without water or with as little as possible. The use of water is very tempting. It makes the clay so smooth and seems to help, but it will inevitably make the work sloppy and will tend to soften the walls.

“After three or four rolls have been worked in, the piece should be laid aside for some hours to stiffen. If this be not done the weight of the second building will cause the work to sag and fall out of shape. For this reason it is well to have two or three pieces in hand at once so that there need be no waiting. When the cylinder is of sufficient height it should be allowed to become quite stiff and then the irregularities should be corrected with a little soft clay which is worked into the joints. The whole surface may now be gone over with tools and brought to the required finish.”[31]

Before describing in detail the moulding of the various sorts of vessels, the accidents which are associated with this process should be discussed. These may result from one of two causes, the presence of foreign matter in the paste or imperfect moulding.

If the clay has been carefully sifted, as it usually is, there should be very little foreign matter in the paste. It is, however, impossible to remove entirely all gravel or stones fragment. If gravel is allowed to remain, it will cause the vessel-walls to scale during firing because of the difference in the rates of expansion under heat of stone and paste. In order to prevent this, the potter while moulding is constantly on the lookout for these small particles, which may be discovered at any stage of the work. They are at once picked out of the vessel, even if it is all but finished. The irregular hollow formed is then filled with a small pellet of fresh paste and smoothed over. The women say that a bit of hard clay does not cause flaking as does a piece of gravel or a stone splinter. Another kind of foreign matter is an air-bubble, which if left in the vessel will cause the same form of accident, because of the difference in the rates of expansion of air and clay. In order to eliminate these small air-bubbles, the pat is pressed down hard upon the puki

PLATE 14aLevelling and smoothing the rim of a bowl after it has been scraped with the kajepe, or gourd spoon. The left hand serves to keep the piece turning and to support the plastic wall.bUse of the kajepe in shaping a vessel; the left hand supports the wall within, while the kajepe, held in the right hand, thins the top of the wall and gently presses it inward.

PLATE 14

Levelling and smoothing the rim of a bowl after it has been scraped with the kajepe, or gourd spoon. The left hand serves to keep the piece turning and to support the plastic wall.

Use of the kajepe in shaping a vessel; the left hand supports the wall within, while the kajepe, held in the right hand, thins the top of the wall and gently presses it inward.

and the rolls are carefully pinched at every point about the vessel. A skillful potter is able to feel an air-bubble even if it is covered with a layer of clay: such a bubble is pricked and the resulting hollow is filled as before.

If the moulding is imperfect, that is, if the rolls are not carefully welded, a weak spot occurs at the junction, which probably contains a thin layer of air. When the vessel is fired, it cracks along this line and is ruined. Such accidents seem to occur most commonly at the bases of large vessels, either because the first roll was not sufficiently welded to the base, or because the pat itself was not pressed into the puki with sufficient force. Since flaws between the rolls cannot be discovered until the firing, they cannot be corrected as in the case of foreign bodies in the clay.

From two to eight rolls may be used to form a bowl, according to its destined size and shape. When the building has been completed, the piece is in the form of a cylinder, with sides either vertical or very slightly flaring (pl. 12, b, 2, and pl. 13, b). As a rule the fingerprints and the irregular horizontal junction-lines may be seen both on the interior and exterior. The next step is the finishing of the temporary rim. This is done with the right hand, the fingers of which assume much the same position that they would for holding a pencil (pl. 14, a). The thumb is on the interior of the rim, the forefinger on the top, and the middle finger on the outer edge. The thumb and middle finger are used as guides to help keep the rim uniform in thickness. The forefinger removes the paste from the higher parts of the rim and transfers it to the hollows. The fingers do not move with respect to each other except to exert slight pressure. The play of the right hand during this process is a gliding backward-forward motion repeated many times, while at the same time the puki is usually kept revolving counterclockwise by the left hand, which also is generally but not always, used to steady the side of the vessel. Occasionally the same potter will turn the puki clockwise. In the former case the right hand is kept in the twelve-to-two-o’clock sector; in the latter in the six-to-eight-o’clock sector. If the rim is smoothed hastily, as it sometimes is at this stage, the puki may not be turned at all. This completes the building of the bowl, which is then set aside for a few minutes, while another is begun.

The next step is the shaping. This is done with a kajepe, or gourd spoon. The kajepe should always be damp when used, and for that reason is often kept in the water-pail. It is somewhat difficult to describe in detail the use of the kajepe, for no two potters work with it in exactly the same way. Often the same potter will show variations in her method of handling the tool.

Each woman has from four to a dozen kajepes beside her while she is moulding. These implements vary much both in size and shape (pl. 11). Most of them are circular or elliptical with all edges convex, although every potter has at least one with a concave edge. Generally the smaller, circular kajepes are used on the interior of bowls, the oval ones on the exterior, and the one with a concave edge on the exterior at the shoulder, where it would be difficult to use the other types. As a rule the larger kajepes serve for the larger vessels. A potter occasionally changeskajepes in the midst of her work, usually because of the edge, which may be rougher on one than on another. The kajepes are held at an angle of from thirty to sixty degrees to the tangent of the bowl at the point of contact, according to the curvature of the part of the vessel being worked upon.

The kajepe is always used first on the inside. This is done in order to press out the sides and to give the bowl something of its final shape before the paste becomes too dry. The work begins at the bottom of the vessel and slowly advances toward the top; the bowl gradually assumes a spherical shape, the sides being forced farthest out about half way between the base and the rim. During this process the outside surface, since it is being expanded, begins to show innumerable small cracks. The strokes of the kajepe on the interior are short and always nearly horizontal, the implement being pulled towards the body. During this first use of the kajepe all traces of the junction-lines between the rolls are removed from the inside of the vessel. The tool is always held in the right hand, and the left hand, which is constantly used on the exterior as a brace and stop, is placed directly opposite the spot on the inside which is being worked. One woman scrapes in the seven-to-ten-o’clock sector, turning the bowl clockwise; that is, working from the scraped to the unscraped surface. The vessel is turned through about sixty degrees at each change of position, and about a third of the surface just scraped is gone over again by the strokes on the new sector. Another works in the nine-to-twelve-o’clock sector, turning the bowl counterclockwise, that is, working from unscraped to scraped surface; in doing this she turns the puki five or six times through an angle of between sixty and eighty degrees for each turn, before the entire interior has been gone over.

The kajepe is then applied to the exterior of the bowl (pl. 14, b). The concave surface of the kajepe is preferred for the first of the exterior scraping, although the convex surface is not infrequently used. The strokes begin again at the base. At first, when the kajepe comes in contact with the puki, the strokes are very nearly vertical. A little higher on the bowl they become diagonal. Near the rim the strokes are almost horizontal, but still have a perceptible downward slant. The kajepe is always pulled toward the body. The stroke on the exterior is from four to five inches, generally a little longer than that on the interior. During this step one woman turns the puki counterclockwise, working in the two-to-four-o’clock sector; another turns it in the same direction, but works in the four-to-six-o’clock sector. In both cases the strokes are from the scraped to the unscraped surface. Although the larger portion of the actual shaping of the bowl is done from the interior, the drawing in of the upper part to form a constricted mouth is done with the kajepe on the exterior, when the step last described is nearing completion. As when working on the interior, the left hand again acts as a brace and a stop, but this time on the inside of the bowl.[32]Usually only the ends of the fingers rest against the side. Upon the completion of the use of the kajepe on the outside for the first time, all traces of the coil-marks and of the fine cracks developed during the interior scraping are removed, but the surface is still rather rough (pl. 14, b; also 12, b, 3). After both surfaces have been gone over for the first time with the kajepe, the rim is once moretrued up in the manner already described. Then, depending upon the stiffness of the paste, the piece may be set aside to harden a little or the work may continue without interruption.

The women hold the kajepe with fingers either slightly bent, or nearly fully flexed; in the latter position the tool is grasped between the thumb and bent forefinger. Just before using, the kajepe is dipped in water; and the edge is then drawn across the palm of the left hand to remove excess water before it is applied to the bowl. After perhaps a dozen strokes, the paste which has collected on the tool is removed by a dexterous motion: the inner side of the thumb of the left hand is run along the edge of the kajepe to collect the paste; then the inner side of the forefinger of the same hand is run from the base to the tip of the thumb. This brings the paste to the ends of the two fingers in the form of a pellet, which is thrown upon the mass on the canvas. Since the paste has a tendency to stick to the fingers, the potter must throw it with a jerk or snap.

When the kajepe has been used once over the entire surface, it is usually reversed so as to present its convex side to the bowl, made a little damper than for the previous scraping, and the whole process repeated in detail for both the interior and exterior. This results in better symmetry and a smoother surface. The rim is again finished in the manner already described. The walls of the bowl have by this time been thinned to about one-half or two-thirds of their original thickness, all major irregularities and rough spots have been removed, the vessel is fully shaped, and only the finishing touches are needed before it is ready to be sun-dried. The paste now has the consistency of soft thick leather.

The first step in the finishing sometimes consists in again going over both surfaces with a wet kajepe, to smooth them still more. Occasionally only the exterior is so treated. Then the bowl is turned repeatedly, while the potter touches small areas with the convex surface of the kajepe. At this point particular attention is given to the bottom of the interior; it may be retouched with the kajepe, or simply smoothed over with the ball of the thumb or forefinger. If the surface seems slightly uneven, small pellets of paste are rubbed into the bottom and then levelled down with the kajepe. The bowl on the puki is then placed upon the palm of the left hand, held at eye level, and revolved slowly, while the potter examines it for rough spots and slight irregularities of contour, which when found are smoothed over with the forefinger of the right hand. After being replaced upon the floor, the bowl may be gently pressed between the hands in order slightly to improve its symmetry. Finally the rim is smoothed for the last time, little pellets of paste being added, if necessary, to fill in shallow depressions, and great care is taken to make it as regular and smooth as possible. It is obviously impossible to describe in detail the exact procedure followed in this finishing process, for the method adopted is chosen according to the needs of the individual vessel. After all this is done, the piece is ready to be sun-dried. Its present appearance is very different from that which it had when the building was completed (compare pl. 12, b, 2, and b, 3).

The moulding of bowls less than four inches in diameter is a very simple matter compared with that of the larger ones, for there is no use of puki, rolls, or kajepe. After working the paste in the hands the resulting lump is formed into a flat spheroid.The forefinger of the right hand is inserted in the centre of this, the clay held horizontally and slowly revolved by a slight tossing rotary motion of the left hand. The forefinger of the right hand enlarges the hole and gradually shapes the mass into the desired form, thinning the sides at the same time. If the resulting bowl is too high, the rim is pinched off with the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand. When the proper shape and thickness have been attained, the little bowl is held upright in the left hand, while the fingers of the right smooth the sides and the rim. When completed it is set on a board to dry. Sometimes one of the larger of these bowls is placed in a small puki and reshaped with the kajepe. One woman used the kajepe on the interior of the vessel while it rested upon her left hand. The bowl, when treated in this way, and finished in the same manner as the larger bowls, was noticeably a better piece of moulding than the average small piece.

The time consumed in moulding bowls is variable, depending on the dexterity and speed of the potter and to a somewhat lesser degree upon the sort of vessel being moulded. Comparisons between potters are apt to be misleading, for no two make bowls of exactly the same size or exercise the same amount of care in finishing, which, from the point of view of time consumed, is the most variable phase of the moulding. One potter moulded a wide-mouthed bowl of four rolls in twenty minutes; another finished two spherical bowls of six rolls each in forty-eight minutes; a third potter, the swiftest of the three, finished a wide-mouthed bowl of two rolls after it had been under her hands just fourteen and one-half minutes. The first potter moulded six of the small bowls (less than four inches in diameter) in fifty-five minutes, averaging nine minutes to each, but to refinish one of them with a kajepe she took thirteen minutes. The third potter moulded one of the small type of bowls in four minutes.

In considering in detail the time consumed in moulding, the work of Maria Martinez was studied. She is the swiftest and most dexterous potter of San Ildefonso, and moulds in a quarter to a third less time than the slowest of the others. In three hours she turned out ten bowls, averaging about seven inches in diameter, of the constricted-mouthed and similar types; this is an average of one in eighteen minutes. She was working constantly, first on one, then on another. Subsequently she moulded six two-roll constricted-mouthed bowls in one hour and twenty-six minutes, an average of fourteen and a third minutes each. The various steps in the moulding of two bowls are recorded in Table I, which gives the actual time consumed in minutes and seconds from the beginning of the first of the pair until the two were finished and set aside. In Table II the growth and treatment of a single bowl are given in more detail, with the time in minutes and seconds that it was under the hands of the potter. This piece was one of five constricted-mouthed bowls of three rolls each which were moulded in sixty-four minutes, an average of twelve minutes, forty-eight seconds for each vessel.

Bowl A, constricted-mouthed bowl, diam. 8 in.; Bowl B, wide-mouthed bowl, diam. 7 in.

Small, constricted-mouthed bowl

In the moulding of ollas the first step is the building of the lower part of the body to a height of four or five rings in the same manner as in bowl-construction. Since ollas have a larger diameter than bowls, more than one roll is needed to form a complete ring about the growing edge. The number of rolls per ring varies from one and a half to four, depending upon the size of the olla and the part worked upon. When this first building has been completed (pl. 15, a), the rim is smoothed somewhat and the scraping and shaping are at once begun.

The use of the kajepe in the shaping of ollas is identical in all details with that described above in discussing the moulding of bowls. The roll-junctions and the fingerprints are entirely removed and the sides of the vessel are flared a little. Great care is taken not to flare the sides too much, for the paste at this stage is still rather soft, and if the sides are flared unduly they collapse outward of their own weight. When the preliminary shaping has been finished the rim is smoothed a

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