PAPERS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN EXPEDITION
NUMBER TWO
PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING

PLATE 1

Courtesy Wesley Bradfield

MARIA MARTINEZ

The most skillful potter of San Ildefonso.

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY
PHILLIPS ACADEMY · ANDOVER · MASSACHUSETTS

PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING

A STUDY AT THE VILLAGE OF SAN ILDEFONSO
BY
CARL E. GUTHE

NEW HAVEN
PUBLISHED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY
PHILLIPS ACADEMY · ANDOVER · MASSACHUSETTS
BY THE YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1925

COPYRIGHTED 1925 BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY THE ANDOVER PRESS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

The present paper is a careful study by Dr. Guthe of pottery making at San Ildefonso, a typical Pueblo Indian town on the Rio Grande, north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The field-work was undertaken in 1921 as part of an archaeological survey of the Southwest, that has been carried on for a number of years by the Department of Archaeology of Phillips Academy. From prehistoric archaeology to modern pottery making may seem a far cry, but in the Southwest the past merges almost imperceptibly into the present, and the Pueblos of today live in almost exactly the same way, and practise almost exactly the same arts, as did their ancestors of a thousand years ago. In the Southwest, therefore, the archaeologist has the invaluable opportunity of observing, and of studying at first hand, the life whose earlier remains he unearths from the ancient ruins. When one considers what such a privilege would mean to the excavator in, for example, the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, or the Neolithic village-sites of Europe, it becomes obvious that the Southwestern archaeologist should devote a not inconsiderable part of his time to the study of that industrious, kindly, hospitable, and thoroughly charming folk, the Pueblo Indians.

Living a sedentary, agricultural life in an arid country it was inevitable that the Pueblos should early have developed into expert and prolific potters; and so pottery, in the form of sherds scattered about their former dwellings, and of vessels piously interred with their dead, is the most striking, the most abundant, and the most readily accessible form of evidence to be dealt with by the Southwestern archaeologist. The value of pottery to the student of the past cannot be more happily expressed than in the words of the historian Myres: “When with the soft clay which has, so to say, no natural shape or utility at all, the human hand, guided by imagination, but otherwise unaided, creates a new form, gourd-like, or flask-like, or stone-bowl-like, but not itself either gourd, or skin, or stone, then invention has begun, and an art is born which demands on each occasion of its exercise a fresh effort of imagination to devise, and of intellect to give effect to, a literally new thing. It is a fortunate accident that the material in question, once fixed in the given form by exposure to fire, is by that very process made so brittle that its prospect of utility is short; consequently the demand for replacement is persistent. The only group of industries which can compare with potmaking in intellectual importance is that of the textile fabrics; basketry and weaving. But whereas basket-work and all forms of matting and cloth are perishable and will burn, broken pottery is almost indestructible, just because, once broken, it is so useless. It follows that evidence so permanent, so copious, and so plastic, that is to say so infinitely sensitive a register of the changes of the artist’s mood, as the potsherds on an ancient site, is among the most valuable that we can ever have, for tracing the dawn of culture.”

Myres wrote of arid Egypt, and in many ways conditions in the likewise arid Southwest, where a primitive people were also building up for themselves through agriculture a new type of civilization, closely parallel those of the Nile Valley in predynastic times. And the analogy, naturally enough, holds good in the matter of archaeological methods. The rise and spread of the predynastic cultures of Egypt are being traced out in large part by studies of ceramic types and of their stratigraphic relation one to another. The same methods are applicable, and indeed are now beginning to be applied, to the problems of the Southwest.

To understand the trend of recent archaeological work in the Pueblo field it is necessary to take a bird’s-eye view, so to speak, of the region. Over a vast area in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and the state of Chihuahua in Old Mexico, are found the remains of the prehistoric Pueblos. Their villages, now in ruins, were built in all sorts of places, on the tops of mesas, in open plains, in narrow canyons, on the ledges of great cliffs, and in the shelter of caves. They range in size from one-or two-room houses of the roughest construction, to great communal buildings of five hundred or even a thousand rooms, compactly built of excellent masonry and terraced to a height of three, four, or five stories. The artifacts, too, found in them vary bewilderingly, both in degree of perfection, and in type. All Southwestern houses, however, and all Southwestern artifacts, have a certain family resemblance that allies them to each other and makes it evident that they are all the product of a single culture, a culture distinct, for example, from that of Central Mexico or that of the Mississippi Valley. To reconstruct the history of that culture, to trace its origin, to follow its growth, and to explain how and why it developed in the peculiar way it did, are the tasks which confront the Southwestern archaeologist.

As in any scientific problem, the first step must be to collect and classify the data; and although Pueblo sites are numbered in thousands, and an overwhelming amount of merely descriptive work must still be done, the outlines of a classification have been achieved. We know, for example, what sort of ruins are found in the San Juan drainage of northern New Mexico; what kinds of pottery occur along the Gila river in southern Arizona. But what relationship, genetically and in time, there existed between, say, Pueblo Bonito and Casa Grande, we do not know. The time element, or in other words the historical sequence of our material, remains in large part to be determined.

To set up an historical outline we must first determine the relative ages of the different ruins, and then estimate the size and distribution of the Pueblo tribes from the earliest times to the present. At the top, so to speak, of our series the problem is simple enough—we are acquainted with the present location of the tribes, and the various Spanish accounts tell us where they have been living during the past three hundred and fifty years. But for the prehistoric period (and everything in the Southwest prior to 1540 is prehistoric) we must rely almost wholly on such evidence as may be turned up by the archaeologist’s shovel, for of native written records there are none, nor can native legendary testimony be safely depended upon. This, of course, throws a heavy burden upon the archaeologist, a burden which is made heavier by the fact that stratigraphy of remains is so rarely found in the Pueblo country.

Stratigraphy, in other words the superposition of the more recent upon the more ancient, has been the Open Sesame to all the reconstructive sciences. The very framework of geology, for example, has been built up from stratigraphic observations. In archaeology, too, stratigraphy has revealed the sequence of the Stone Ages; made clear the development of the early Mediterranean cultures, and the rise of predynastic civilization in Egypt. Therefore, as has just been said, the general lack of stratigraphic conditions in the Southwest renders the task of the student a particularly hard one. For some reason, not yet clearly understood, the Pueblos ancient and modern were very prone to shift from one dwelling place to another, and a site once abandoned was seldom reoccupied. Although their houses were of the most permanent construction, and their agricultural life should have tended to render them solidly sedentary, they moved about to a surprising extent. The result of this is that one seldom finds a ruin which was lived in for more than a few decades or, at most, centuries; and few have so far been discovered to contain superimposed remains illustrating any long period of development. Where such evidence is so rare, what can be found naturally becomes of the greatest importance; hence the recent diligent search for, and excavation of, such sites as show signs of long occupancy.

The choice of Pecos for investigation by Phillips Academy was due to the above considerations. The ruin was a large one, was occupied at the time of the Discovery and was not abandoned until 1838. A surface examination also showed that it must have been tenanted for a long time prior to the Conquest because its mounds were scattered over with potsherds not only of recent date, but also of several distinct prehistoric types, each one well enough known to students, but whose relative ages were entirely a matter of conjecture. It was hoped, therefore, that excavation might disclose some definite cases of superposition, and that several prehistoric periods might thereby be arranged in their proper chronological order.[1]

The results have been more than satisfactory. Pecos proved to have been built on the edge of a sharp-sided mesa, a fact not suspected before digging began, because the rubbish from the town had heaped up to such an extent against the original cliff as completely to mask its steepness. The first inhabitants naturally threw their refuse over the edge of the mesa, their descendants added to the accumulation, and the process continued down the centuries until there grew up a midden of enormous extent and, for the Southwest, of unusually great depth. It is stratified as neatly as a layer-cake.

When the exploratory trenches revealed the size and probable importance of the Pecos rubbish heap, all other projects were postponed, and two full field-seasons were devoted to the meticulous dissection of large areas of the deepest deposit. At frequent intervals stratigraphic tests were made, in which all the specimens from each successive stratum were kept separate and shipped to the Museum for study. It was found that many changes in culture had taken place during the long occupancy of Pecos; in the stone and bone implements, in the pipes, and in burial customs. But the most abundant, the most easily gathered, and the most readily interpreted evidence of cultural change was offered by the thousands of pottery fragments that filled the mound from subsoil to surface.

We have been able to recognize about twenty distinct wares, to arrange them into eight chronological groups, and to determine the exact sequence of these groups. This information, derived from the stratigraphic study of the pottery in the mounds, has been of the greatest value. Its application has been both local and non-local. In the excavations that we have since carried on at Pecos it has enabled us to date relatively to each other the various kivas, cemeteries, and small refuse mounds that occurred on the mesa top, and also to unravel much more confidently than we would otherwise have been able to do, the extraordinarily complex jumble of ruined, torn-down, stone-robbed, rebuilt, abandoned, and reoccupied rooms that we encountered when we attacked the pueblo itself. As helpful as has been the knowledge of the sequence of the pottery types in working out the details of local archaeology, its usefulness in that regard is small as compared with the flood of light which has been thrown on much larger and more vital problems. It has just been stated that some twenty types of pottery were identified; the majority of these are not peculiar to Pecos; many of them occur throughout large areas in the Rio Grande drainage; and so we are now able, in most cases by a hasty examination of the surface sherds, to assign to its proper place in the chronological series any ruin at which our types are present. Thus mere reconnaissance (a cheap and rapid undertaking) now serves to make clear the major outlines of Rio Grande archaeology. But the usefulness of the stratigraphic studies at Pecos does not end with the territory in which the Pecos types of pottery are found, for Pecos, because of its size and because of its situation on the main route between the Pueblo country to the West and the buffalo ranges to the East, was an important trade centre.

From its mounds we have taken potsherds from almost all parts of the Southwest, shells from the Pacific, spindle-whorls from Central Mexico, as well as pottery and stone objects from the Mississippi drainage. The importance of such finds is evident; every sherd from an outside culture found in a datable stratum at Pecos helps to fit into our general chronological scheme the culture from which it came; as conversely, does every Pecos or even Rio Grande sherd that turns up beyond the limits of the Rio Grande. Only a start has been made, but enough has already come to light at Pecos and at such stratified sites as have been excavated by other institutions, to provide us with a surprisingly full knowledge of the rise and growth of the Pueblo civilization. Ten years ago it would have been hard to believe how much could be accomplished by the stratigraphic work carried on by Nelson in the Galisteo Basin, Hodge at Hawikuh, Judd at Pueblo Bonito, Morris at Aztec, Guernsey in the Kayenta country, and the writer and his associates at Pecos.

The work, as I have said, has just begun, but the prospects are bright. Success will depend, as in any such endeavor, upon intelligent excavation, careful collection of data, and accurate observation of specimens, but the investigator cannot hope to derive the best results from his labors if he does not hold to a very broad view of his field. He must familiarize himself not only with the material of the locality he is working in but must also know as much as possible about that of other regions, for it is of the last importance that trade-objects be recognized wherever they occur. Of all trade-objects, vessels and potsherds are likely to be the commonest and most easily recognizable.

When the members of the Pecos expedition realized how vitally important was to be a close knowledge of the pottery, not only of that particular site, but also of the Rio Grande in general, and, indeed, of the entire Southwest, they devoted a large part of their time, both in the field and at the Museum, to the study of ceramics. A difficulty was at once encountered in our ignorance of the technique of Pueblo pottery making. We were constantly obliged to compare the paints and slips of different wares, to decide whether observed variations were technically fundamental, or were merely accidents of clay-mixing or firing. No full published accounts existed, nor had any of us had the opportunity for more than casual observation of potters at work. Dr. Guthe, accordingly, spent the month of August, 1921, at San Ildefonso in making detailed studies. His results are published in the hope that they may be of use to Southwestern archaeologists and ethnologists, and also to students of the primitive pottery of other areas who may be in need of material for comparative purposes.

In order that the reader may envisage the long history that lies behind the work of the modern potters, I give a summary of our present knowledge of the origin and development of pottery in the Southwest.

To go back to the very beginning, it is not yet certain whether pottery making was introduced into the region from Mexico, or whether it was a local invention. There is evidence in favor of each theory. As will presently be shown, there can be traced in the Southwest an almost unbroken development from the earliest and crudest forms, through intermediate stages, to the perfected styles of later times; nor can Mexican influence be seen in the wares themselves at any period from beginning to end. Hence it might appear that the art was of purely local origin and growth. On the other hand, Mexico was the breeding ground for all the higher elements of native American culture; corn-growing, the cultivation of cotton, the use of stone masonry, the true loom, etc., and it is practically certain that all these traits worked into the Southwest from Mexico. It would thus seem reasonable to suppose that the concept of pottery came from the same source, particularly as pottery does not appear in our area until some time after the introduction of corn, and the mere presence of corn proves contact of one sort or another with Mexico, where presumably pottery had been in use for a considerable period. My present feeling is, however, that the importation consisted of no more than the bare idea that vessels could be made of clay, and that the subsequent development of the art was entirely unaffected by outside influences. This question, so important for its bearing on general problems of dissemination versus independent origin of culture traits, can only be settled by work in the archaeologically still unknown field of northern Mexico.

The earliest inhabitants of the Southwest of whom we have certain knowledge were the Basket Makers, so called by their discoverer because basketry rather than pottery was buried with their dead. They lived in southeastern Utah and northern Arizona, were an agricultural or semi-agricultural people who built no permanent houses, and who had no true pottery. In some of the caves that they occupied, however, there have been found a few fragments of crude, unfired clay dishes whose thick, bungling sides bear the imprints of the fingers of their makers. Save for occasional hesitating lines of incised marks, or straggling daubs of black paint, these vessels are undecorated. They bear no slip, nor, as was said above, were any of them subjected to the burning which would have converted them into true pottery. In the course of time, though whether that time should be counted in tens, or hundreds, or even thousands of years, we have at present no way of telling, the Basket Makers began to build houses of stone slabs, to group their hitherto scattered dwellings together into small communities, and, most important of all from the point of view of our present inquiry, to make hard, thin-walled, thoroughly fired vessels, in other words real pottery. The culture stage characterized by these

Fig. 1. Outlines of Post-Basket Maker vessels. (Courtesy S. J. Guernsey.)

remains and further distinguishable from the classic Basket Maker on the basis of house structure, sandal form, and other traits, was first identified by S. J. Guernsey, and named by him “post-Basket Maker”.

Post-Basket Maker pottery is simple in form and in decoration. It is normally light gray in color. The vessel forms most commonly found are bowls ([fig. 1], d, e), globular vessels with restricted orifices ([fig. 1], a), and water jars, the latter often having a swollen neck ([fig. 1], b). The body of the ware in cross-section has a markedly granular appearance, due to the large size of the bits of tempering material included in it. A small percentage of the bowls bear a thin white slip on the interior

PLATE 2

ANCIENT CORRUGATED WARES

a. Pre-Pueblo. b. Early Pueblo. c. Classic Pueblo period.

and are ornamented with irregularly drawn designs in black paint ([fig. 1], e). Many of the patterns suggest basketry prototypes.

All in all, post-Basket Maker pottery, judging from the few specimens so far recovered, is surprisingly well made; so well as to raise the suspicion that an earlier stage still awaits discovery. Hints of such a stage have, indeed, been found in the form of heavy clay dishes, tempered with shredded juniper bark, unbaked but distinctly superior in size and workmanship to the Basket Maker product. These specimens have turned up in post-Basket Maker sites, but in caves stratigraphically so confused that it is still uncertain whether they antedated, or were contemporaneous with, the more highly-perfected post-Basket Maker wares. They are too crude, however, to be considered the direct forerunners of post-Basket Maker pottery. If the development took place in the San Juan, one step at least is still lacking. These questions will be answered by further work of the sort now being carried on by Guernsey in the Kayenta country and by Morris in the Canyon del Muerto.

Fig. 2. Pre-Pueblo vessels.

From post-Basket Maker times down to the present day, however, the development of Southwestern pottery can already be outlined with considerable confidence. The next stage is usually called the pre-Pueblo. It is marked by further improvements in house-building, by the introduction of cranial deformation, and by certain innovations in ceramics. It had been the custom with the post-Basket Makers (as among many primitive people) to build up their vessels by adding to the growing walls successive rings of clay. When the process was complete and the sides had reached the requisite height, all trace of the rings was obliterated by rubbing down the surface. In the interiors of some post-Basket Maker pieces, however, with orifices so small that a smoothing tool could not be introduced, there were left the telltale junction-lines between the structural rings. In pre-Pueblo times it became the fashion purposely to leave unsmoothed the last few rings at the necks of certain small cooking vessels ([fig. 2], a; pl. 2, a). This was the beginning of the elaborate coiled or corrugated technique, later so widely used.

Pre-Pueblo black-on-white ware takes the form of bowls, pitchers, ladles, small jars, and ollas. Its paste is hard, is less heavily tempered than post-Basket Maker paste, and the surfaces of the pieces are better smoothed. The decoration is characterized by boldness and dash, the brushwork being correspondingly hasty. The lines are of irregular width, nor was care exercised that the junctions of strokes should be accurate. As is shown by the accompanying drawings ([fig. 2], b, c), the commonest elements are the stepped figure and the triangle, both often emphasized by sets of widely spaced thin lines which follow the outer edges of the basic patterns.

The transition between the pre-Pueblo and the Pueblo was evidently a gradual one. There was no violent break, either in culture or in physical type; and so it is hard to say just where the dividing line should be drawn. The introduction of indented corrugated pottery, however, forms a convenient milepost on the road of ceramic progress. The change was brought about as follows: the plain, broad rings of pre-Pueblo ware were replaced by a continuous thin fillet of clay applied spirally; the junctions between the successive laps of the fillet were left unobliterated, not only at the neck, but over the entire vessel; and the fillet itself was also notched or pinched or otherwise indented to produce various ornamental effects ([pl. 2], b, c). Thus was made the well-known coiled or corrugated cooking-ware so characteristic of all the archaic true Pueblo ruins, a style introduced at about the same time as the development of the above-ground rectangular living-room, the clustered method of building, and the use of horizontally coursed masonry, all elements that are commonly recognized as typical of true Pueblo culture. The earliest varieties of Pueblo pottery are imperfectly known, for little work has so far been done in the small and often nearly obliterated mounds that mark the house-sites of the first pueblo-dwellers. It is certain, however, that in the San Juan and Little Colorado drainages there was a strong growth in corrugated ware. This technique was experimented on and played with. The variety and even virtuosity of the results are extraordinary: waved coiling, pinched coiling, incised coiling, and all manner of indenting were practised ([pl. 2], b). The black-on-white ware evidently did not advance so rapidly, the vessels, to judge from the sherds, were not particularly symmetrical as to shape or notable as to finish. The decoration ran to hachure in wavy lines and to poorly drawn spiral figures.

As I have just said, little is known of the early Pueblo sites. The period which they represent, however, was undoubtedly a long one. The date of its beginning is entirely problematical, nor can we even say with any assurance when it ended, but the probabilities are that as early as the opening of the Christian era the Pueblos had begun to gather together into larger settlements, to develop the closely-knit community life, and the many-storied terraced style of architecture which typify the golden age of their existence. Between that time and 1000 or 1100 A.D. the more or less uniform early culture split up into distinct and often highly specialized local sub-cultures, each of which followed its own line of growth in house-building, pottery-making, and the minor arts. It was during this general phase of Southwestern history that there came into being the great pueblos and cliff-dwellings that housed entire villages: Pueblo Bonito and the other Chaco Canyon towns; the cliffhouses of the Mesa Verde and of the Kayenta country; the enormous adobe constructions such as Casa Grande on the Gila and Casas Grandes in Chihuahua.

PLATE 3

OLD MODERN DECORATED WARE

a. Acoma. b. Zuñi. c. Sia. d. Hopi. e. San Ildefonso. f. Tesuque. g. Santo Domingo. h. Cochiti.

PLATE 4

OLD PIECES FROM SAN ILDEFONSO

a, b. Black-on-buff. c, d. Polished black.

To describe the many different wares of the classic Pueblo period would entail far more space than is available in this introduction. Brief accounts of the more important styles are included in the first paper of the present series,[2] and a handbook of Southwestern pottery will, it is hoped, appear as a subsequent number. A single

Fig. 3. Black-on-white bowls of classic Pueblo period. a. Chaco Canyon. b. Mimbres Valley. c. Upper Gila River. d. Mesa Verde.

illustration ([fig. 3]) must suffice to show the bewildering variety and the high artistic perfection which were reached at this time.

It seems ordained that periods of high achievement shall be followed by periods of slackening and even atrophy. So it was with the Pueblos. The years between about 1000 A.D. and the Spanish invasion of 1540 were evidently a time of tribulation. The formerly prosperous communities of the North and the South were abandoned, the population shrank, the arts degenerated, and when Coranado entered the Southwest he found the Pueblos occupying a mere fraction of their former range. What brought about this decline is not surely known, droughts, intertribal wars, pestilences, inbreeding, may all have been in part responsible; but its principal cause was probably the ever-increasing attacks of nomadic enemies. At all events Pueblo culture of the sixteenth century was not what it had been in the past, and pottery making suffered with the other arts. By that time the beautiful and elaborate, but difficult, corrugated technique had been given up, and cooking vessels had become mere unornamented pots; black-on-white ware with its handsome, intricate geometric decoration had long been extinct, replaced by various local styles, few of which equalled it in technical excellence or artistic perfection. As a matter of fact the ceramic products of the historic period are very little known. In old times pottery formed an essential accompaniment of the dead, hence at nearly every prehistoric ruin may be found a burial place richly stocked with mortuary vessels. With the arrival of the priests, however, missions and Catholic cemeteries were established, all interments took place under the supervision of the Padres, and no more bowls or ollas went into the graves.

Pottery, of course, is short-lived, few vessels, other than reverently guarded ceremonial jars, can be expected to escape breakage for more than a generation or two, and so we have practically no material to illustrate the changes which took place between the Conquest and the present day. Much will eventually be learned in regard to seventeenth and eighteenth century Pueblo pottery, but the work will have to be done largely on the basis of sherds from the rubbish heaps of the older towns, and such broken pieces as may be found under the fallen walls of abandoned dwellings. We can, however, supplement this research by working backwards, so to speak, from the modern wares. If we can acquire a thorough knowledge of them it will be much easier to understand the fragmentary material we shall have to deal with in studying the early historic period. We should accordingly collect all possible data as to the wares turned out in recent years at the various pottery-making Pueblos.

The term pottery-making Pueblos is used advisedly, for, queerly enough, no pottery is manufactured at a number of the towns. If this condition had come about within the last decade it would be easy to account for, as tin oil cans for holding water, enamelled pots for cooking, and china dishes for serving food have lately been pushing native pottery out of use. But no pottery, other than rough cooking ware, has been made for a long time at Taos, Picuris, San Felipe, Jemez, and Sandia; while the art is practically or wholly extinct at Laguna, Isleta, and Santa Ana. Potters occasionally marry into these towns and continue to exercise their craft, but they seem to have no disciples among their daughters or among the local tribeswomen. At all the other Pueblos, however, potting is still carried on, but in most cases with a decreasing output and a lamentable degeneration in technique. The vessels, being mostly made to sell to tourists or curio dealers, are carelessly fashioned, crudely decorated, and insufficiently fired. Good contemporary pieces

PLATE 5

OLD MODERN SAN ILDEFONSO WARES

a, c, d. Polychrome. b, e. Black-on-red.

PLATE 6

Courtesy K. M. Chapman

PRESENT-DAY POLYCHROME WARE BY MARIA MARTINEZ

are becoming rare, and the older vessels, which are naturally the best material for study, are now almost gone from the villages. Some pieces, however, are still left, and many more are in the hands of Mexicans and Americans living in the Southwest. These should be got into the custody of museums as rapidly as possible, for pottery is fragile stuff and every year sees the breakage of many unreplacable old vessels.

Excellent work in collecting and preserving the older pieces is being done by certain residents of Santa Fe, who have organized the “Southwestern Pottery Fund”. In spite of limited resources they have got together a most remarkable collection from the Eastern pueblos, and are constantly adding to it as specimens come into the market.

A plate showing a typical example of old modern decorated ware from each of the pottery-making pueblos is here given, in order that the reader may appreciate the striking differences which obtain ([pl. 3]); San Ildefonso vessels of this period are illustrated elsewhere (pls. 4, 5).

In closing this introduction something should be said of the older San Ildefonso wares, and of the remarkable renaissance which has led to the high artistic achievements of the present-day potters.

Of the pottery made at San Ildefonso during the early historic period we have as yet no definite knowledge, but from the fact that the sherds at the ruined pueblo of Cuyamongé, a Tewa village only a few miles from San Ildefonso which was abandoned in 1698, are closely similar to the seventeenth century wares of Pecos, we may conclude that the San Ildefonso product of that time also bore resemblance to that of Pecos. The Pecos wares in question have as yet been but briefly described.[3] The following are the leading varieties: rough black cooking ware; polished red; polished black; and decorated ware of two varieties, black-on-buff, and black-and-red-on-buff. The ornamentation is in heavy black lines, for the most part sloppily drawn, but the designs are bold, free, and effective. Although these styles all differ to some extent from the ceramics of late nineteenth century San Ildefonso, the artistic and technical relationship of the two groups is evident at a glance. The principal differences lie in the much greater amount of polished red found at Pecos, and in the absence from Pecos of a black-on-red decorated ware made at San Ildefonso.

What we know of nineteenth century San Ildefonso pottery is derived from pieces found in the pueblo when collecting began about 1870; and from vessels secured between that date and 1900. The oldest examples we have were thus probably not made much before 1850, and the great bulk of the specimens now in museums and in private hands were presumably turned out during the last third of the century. This material (aside from cooking pots, of which the older collections contain practically no examples) is divisible into five types, two plain and three decorated. The plain wares are polished black and polished red; the decorated are black-on-buff, black-and-red-on-buff (usually called polychrome), and black-on-red.

The polished black and polished red are, as Dr. Guthe brings out in greater detail below (p. 74), merely variants of the same ware—the red being produced by a preliminary burning in a more or less open fire—the black by smothering the fire with pulverized manure at a late stage in the burning. Vessels of both sorts were evidently made at San Ildefonso during the period under discussion, the red rarely, the black fairly commonly. It is usually supposed that the making of these wares, particularly the polished black, was confined to the nearby town of Santa Clara, and vessels of the latter type are ordinarily referred to as “Santa Clara black”. This is a natural enough error as the Santa Clara turn out nothing but the polished wares, and until the last ten years they led all the other pueblos in the excellence of their manufacture. The Indians of San Ildefonso, however, say that they have always made polished black pottery, and while its production may have partly or wholly lapsed during the 90’s and early 1900’s, there is little doubt that many of the older specimens, such as the ones here illustrated ([pl. 4]), are actually from San Ildefonso. The majority of the examples of old black are large storage jars with full, round bodies and relatively small orifices; there are also capacious bowl-like vessels (called by the Mexicans cajetes), which were used for the mixing of dough. The old pieces are less meticulously finished than are those of today, but their deep, velvety black lustre is of even greater beauty than the extremely high polish of the modern pieces.

The black-on-buff decorated ware was evidently the commonest variety of nineteenth century pottery. It took the form of prayer-meal bowls (small open vessels with terraced sides); medium-sized pots ([pl. 3], e); and large storage jars ([pl. 4]). The ware, like all San Ildefonso work, is thick and heavy, giving a “woodeny” sound when tapped. The surface color is a creamy buff and the decoration is in deep black pigment. The bottoms of all the pieces, and the interiors of the necks of the jars, are painted red. The general nature of the elaborate designs is best brought out by the illustrations.[4]

Black-and-red-on-buff or polychrome was apparently not an abundant style in old times. Its occurrence at Cuyamongé and at Pecos, however, seem to indicate that it was always made at San Ildefonso. There are also in museums and private collections pieces which appear to be as old as any of the examples of non-polychrome. The style was seemingly limited to bowls and small jars ([pl. 5]). The ware itself is the same as the foregoing, but various areas in the decorations (which themselves seem to differ from those of the black-on-buff) are filled in with a purplish red paint of very characteristic shade.

The red-on-black, like the polychrome, was not common. As was said above, it is absent from Pecos and Cuyamongé, therefore it is apparently of fairly recent origin in the Rio Grande. Its introduction or invention may, indeed, date from as recent a time as 1850. It differs from the buff wares in having a dark red slip, much more highly polished than are the buff slips. The decoration is in deep black. No large pieces, as far as I know, were made, most specimens being small globular jars without necks. One of these and a vase-like vessel are illustrated ([pl. 5]).

Such was the pottery of San Ildefonso during the second half of the nineteenth century. Toward the end of that period, however, a marked degeneration set in.

PLATE 7

Courtesy K. M. Chapman

PRESENT-DAY SAN ILDEFONSO POTTERY

a, b. Black-on-red by Antonita Roybal. c. Polychrome, by Maria Martinez—one black-on-red piece by Maximiliana Martinez.

This was due to the substitution for native pottery of American utensils for cooking, food-serving, and containing water; and to the growing tendency to produce pottery for sale to curio stores and tourists rather than for home use. The black-on-buff ware and the polished black were given up entirely, the potters concentrating on the more showy black-on-red and particularly on the polychrome. In the case of the black-on-red the high gloss of the older pieces was no longer produced, and the paint, being neither carefully mixed nor sufficiently aged (see p. 26) developed on firing a dull, bluish cast. The polychrome also fell off in technical perfection and in artistic excellence. The old, dull, purplish reds were replaced by brighter colors, the designs became flamboyant, and many ugly non-Indian vessel shapes were introduced ([fig. 4]). This state of affairs went from bad to worse until, in 1907, the potter’s art at San Ildefonso was in a thoroughly bad way. A few women, however,

Fig. 4. Bad examples of modern pottery—un-Indian shapes and slipshod decoration.

retained something of the old craftsmanship and were ready to profit by the opportunity which was about to present itself.

In 1907 Dr. E. L. Hewett of the School of American Research began a series of excavations in the ancient ruins of the Pajarito Plateau. The diggers were all Tewa Indians from San Ildefonso. They proved to be excellent shovelmen, who took a keen interest in everything they found. They helped us identify many specimens which would otherwise have been puzzling, and their comments on the pottery, and especially on the designs, were most illuminating. The women of the Pueblo, when visiting camp, often held animated discussions as to the vessels from the ruins, and it was suggested to some who were known to be good potters, that they attempt to revive their art, and try to emulate the excellence of the ancient wares. While the response was not immediate, there was observable, during the next few years, a distinct improvement in the pottery of San Ildefonso. Realizing the importance of this, the authorities of the Museum of New Mexico and the School of American Research threw themselves heartily into the task of stimulating the industry. They urged the women to do better and better work, and in particular induced them to return to the sound canons of native art. Some old pieces remained in the pueblo, many others were in the Museum, of still others photographs were obtained. These were all brought to the attention of the potters.

The undertaking was not an easy one, however, for it was difficult to get most of the women to go to the trouble of making good pieces when the tourists, who were still the principal purchasers, were equally or even better pleased with imitations of china water-pitchers, ill-made raingods, and candlesticks. The problem thus resolved itself into one of supplying a market. The Museum bought many good pieces, and Mr. Chapman, who from the beginning had been a leading spirit in the attempt at rehabilitating the art, himself purchased large amounts of pottery, never refusing a creditable piece, never accepting a bad one.

Progress was slow, but eventually certain women, becoming interested in their work, made real progress both technically and artistically. Their products began to sell more freely and at better prices than did those of others. Antonita Roybal, Ramona Gonzales, Maximiliana Martinez, and Maria Martinez all turned out fine vessels, the two latter being greatly aided by their husbands, who developed into skillful decorators. Maria especially shone. By 1915 she had far surpassed all the others, her pots were in great demand, and at the present time she has a ready market, at prices which ten years ago would have seemed fantastic, for everything she can find time to make. Her income is probably not less than $2,000.00 a year, and following her example, many other women are now doing fine work and are earning substantial amounts. The beneficial effect of this on the pueblo has naturally been great. New houses have been built, new farm machinery, better food, and warmer clothing have been bought, and, best of all, there has been acquired a wholesome feeling of independence and of accomplishment, the value of which cannot be gauged in dollars and cents.

From the point of view of ceramics the development has been most interesting. Maria began with the manufacture of polychrome ware, as that was the style most commonly being made at the time. The shapes were improved, the finish of the surfaces was given greater attention, and the decorations were applied with a surer, more delicate touch ([pl. 6]; pl. 7, c). Black-on-red ware was taken in hand, the oldtime polish was restored, the vegetable paint properly prepared and aged ([pl. 7], a, b). Polished black was also reintroduced; pieces of this sort, with their simple, graceful shapes and high black gloss sold so well that they soon became an important product ([pl. 8], b). In 1921, as Dr. Guthe records (p. 24), Maria discovered how to apply to polished vessels dull designs which give the appearance of being etched ([pl. 8], a). This method was in its infancy when Dr. Guthe made his study, but it has since proved so remarkably successful that it bids fair to drive out completely the making of plain polished ware. Late in the past autumn there appeared at the Indian Fair in Santa Fe, some pieces of a warm pinkish color, an entirely new departure in San Ildefonso pottery making, and one which promises much of interest. Developments and changes in design have kept pace with the improvements in

PLATE 8

Courtesy K. M. Chapman

PRESENT-DAY POLISHED BLACK WARES

technique, yet the development has been purely Indian, and the basic processes of today are essentially the same as they were a hundred or a thousand years ago.

A somewhat similar revival has taken place at the Hopi towns in Arizona. In 1897 Dr. J. W. Fewkes of the Bureau of Ethnology was excavating the ruin of Sikyatki near First Mesa. Nampeo, a woman of Hano, the wife of one of the workmen, observed the beautiful old bowls that came from the graves, skillfully copied their designs and then searched out beds of clay that could be burned to the exact shades of the ancient pieces. Her work was a direct imitation of a lost style rather than a development, such as Maria’s, of a current one; but the effect has been no less extraordinary. Nampeo’s bowls and ollas were so attractive that they sold well; they were copied by other women for sale and for their own use, and thus the potter’s art of the Hopi was not only greatly stimulated but also radically changed.

In addition to their economic importance, the cases of San Ildefonso and Hopi are of great interest as anthropological phenomena. The stimulus at both places was of course partly commercial, but it could scarcely have acted without an inherent capacity for rapid artistic and technical progress among the Indians themselves, nor could it possibly have brought about such great results without the inspiring example of exceptionally gifted leaders. It is, therefore, quite conceivable that other stimuli, as the discovery of new clays of surpassing excellence, or of fine new pigments, may have proved equally potent in ancient times, and that some of the striking mutations in pottery making, which have so puzzled archaeologists, may have been originally started by such discoveries, and been brought to fruition by the genius of prehistoric Marias and Nampeos.

A. V. Kidder
Director Pecos Expedition

PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING

By CARL E. GUTHE

The Pueblo of San Ildefonso is a Tewa village of about one hundred people, situated on the east bank of the Rio Grande some twenty miles northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. San Ildefonso was chosen for the present study because its women have always been skillful potters, and under the wise and friendly encouragement of the authorities of the School of American Research at Santa Fe have of recent years been steadily improving in their work without, however, sacrificing any of their native methods. Furthermore, they make more varieties of pottery than are turned out at any other one village. Last, and in some ways most important, the men of San Ildefonso have for a long time been accustomed to work in the various excavations carried on by the School, cordial relations have been established, the confidence of the Indians has been thoroughly won, and I did not encounter that reticence toward strangers, so characteristic of the Rio Grande Pueblos, because I was known to be a friend of their friends.

To the Pueblo woman pottery making is simply one of the mechanical household tasks, just as dishwashing is among us. Nearly every woman at San Ildefonso is a potter, good, bad, or indifferent. In two cases, at least, women have developed into real artists, and are relieved of other household duties in order to devote their time to pottery making. Each potter of today watched her mother make innumerable pots while she was growing up, and now with a family of her own, she makes pottery just as did her mother. Many steps and small details are carried out for no other reason than that the mother used to do likewise. Obviously every potter has her own technique, which differs slightly from that of others. The daughters in one family work in more nearly the same manner than outsiders, because they all have had the same teacher. In this report the attempt has been made not only to record the essential steps in the making of pottery, but also to note individual variations as an index of the amount of latitude a given process may permit.

Because religion and ceremony play so important a role in the everyday life of the Pueblo Indians, it is certain that there must be involved in the making of pottery and particularly in its decoration, a mass of esoteric beliefs and practises. The Pueblos, however, are so loath to refer in any way to the mystical side of their existence, and, if it is even mentioned, at once become so suspicious, that it seemed best to steer clear of all allusion to such matters. The present report, therefore, confines itself to a description and discussion of the purely technical side of the potter’s art.

The writer is indebted to the staff of the School of American Research, especially to Mr. Kenneth M. Chapman, for the facilities given for and the interest shown in the work; also to the Governor of San Ildefonso, Juan Gonzales, for his cordial coöperation. Of the eight informants used, Maria, wife of Julian Martinez, and Antonita, wife of Juan Cruz Roybal, should specially be mentioned because of their constant patience, and their willingness to answer the many questions which to them must often have seemed absurd. Thanks are also due to the American Museum of Natural History, New York, for the photographs of pottery making at Zuñi (pls. 28-31) which are introduced in this paper for comparative purposes.

PLATE 9

WINNOWING CLAY

a. Hand method. As the material is sifted through the uplifted hands, the wind blows the fine, pure clay upon the shawl at the left, while the heavier impurities drop back on the pile.

b. Basket method. The clay is repeatedly tossed upward from the basket, until all the fine particles have been blown out and have fallen upon the shawl.

RAW MATERIALS; COLLECTION, AND PREPARATION

Ingredients

Red Clay[5]

The region most often visited for obtaining this clay is directly south of San Ildefonso, about a quarter of a mile from the village itself, in the arroyos of the low hills.[6] The deposit lies directly under a sandstone ledge and spreads over a considerable area. The clay is in the form of soft earth, easily scooped up with the hand. In gathering it the Indians first scrape off the top half-inch or so, which contains impurities such as small pebbles and twigs. When an area from two to three feet in diameter has been cleared in this way, the clay itself is scooped into a loose pile in the centre of the space, and transferred by the cupped hands into a woman’s shawl or a gunny-sack, and so transported to the house on the back.[7]

One method of cleaning the clay may be used either at the beds or at home. The material is winnowed like wheat to remove small pebbles and fine gravel, either of which will ruin a vessel. The larger impurities are of course picked out by hand. The cloth containing the clay is placed in front of the woman and a second cloth or shawl is spread on the ground to leeward of her. A gusty wind requires several shiftings of the shawl, to the woman’s evident annoyance. A double handful is lifted and allowed to sift through the fingers; the fine particles and dust are blown upon the shawl by the wind, while the heavier pieces fall again upon the pile of uncleaned clay ([pl. 9], a). The height to which the hands are lifted, varying from three to five feet, the speed of the movements, and the rapidity with which the material is allowed to sift through the fingers, all depend upon the force of the wind. Sometimes, instead of lifting the clay in the hands, it is allowed to flow over the side of a shallow basket tilted toward the woman at the level of her shoulder; the coarser particles fall straight down in front of her on the pile of uncleaned clay. Another variation is to toss the clay into the air from a shallow basket ([pl. 9], b). The movement is repeated quickly and rhythmically; the wind as before blowing the fine stuff on the shawl, while the coarse particles fall back into the basket. After this tossing has been repeated a dozen or more times, the residue, which consists mostly of coarse impurities, is thrown away. The process occupies approximately half an hour, depending somewhat upon the amount of clay handled. The cleaned clay, which is now ready for mixing, is by no means entirely dust; it contains no lumps, but flaky particles fully three-sixteenths of an inch across are often found in it.

If at the time of gathering the wind is not strong enough for winnowing, the uncleaned clay is brought to the house. Here it may be kept for a windy day, or may at once be sifted through an ordinary kitchen sieve of medium large mesh.

The clay, when cleaned, may be stored in a variety of receptacles (pottery vessels, sacks, or boxes), or, if it is the intention of the woman to use it within a few days, it is simply left in the shawl. During the fall the Indians gather great quantities of clay, and pile it on the floor in the corner of a room for use during the winter when the clay beds are frozen.

The preparation of the clay for use consists of two processes, mixing and kneading. The mixing, which as a rule immediately precedes the kneading, consists of the addition of temper (see page 21). This is done while both ingredients are dry. Different varieties of clay are not mixed together. The work is done on a piece of canvas, an opened cement-sack, or the inner side of a skin (usually that of a goat or dog).[8] Either the clay or the temper may be put on the mixing surface first; the other ingredient is then added, and the whole is sifted through the fingers until the mass is uniform in color. The Indians have no definite idea of the necessary proportions. They judge simply by the color of the resulting mixture. The proportions used by three different informants seemed to be about one-third temper and two-thirds clay. Before mixing, the clay is reddish brown; the addition of temper lightens the color several shades.

The scrapings from partly finished vessels (see page 54) and the ground-up fragments of pots which have cracked badly in the course of sun-drying are used a second time. This re-used clay, since it already has temper in it, does not need to be mixed over again. It is mingled with newly mixed clay just before kneading, or is kneaded by itself, as occasion demands.

The kneading is usually done on the same canvas or skin that was used for the mixing. If a large amount of clay is to be treated at one time, a quantity of water is poured into a hollow formed in the centre of the pile. Later, as the worked clay or paste approaches the proper consistency, water is sprinkled over it with one hand, just as clothes are sprinkled, at first copiously, later more sparingly. At the beginning, the entire mass is kneaded until the water has been thoroughly absorbed. When the paste is wet, it becomes of course considerably darker. It is then divided into masses which can easily be handled, about the size of two large loaves of white bread. The woman works the paste to a uniform consistency in exactly the same way that dough is kneaded ([pl. 12], a), and piles the masses, now ready for use in moulding, on a board or canvas, covering then with a piece of cloth to keep them damp until they come under the potter’s hands. The consistency is that of putty, just dry enough to crack if pinched. The mixing and kneading can be completed in half an hour.[9]

PLATE 10

a. Indian digging material for tempering pottery from an outcrop near the village.

b. Guaco, or Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, from the juice of which is made black paint for decorating pottery.

White Clay

White clay is used interchangeably with red, but the two are never mixed. It is obtained in the bad-lands to the northeast of San Ildefonso, from the side of an arroyo at some distance from the village. The Indians dig it, bring it home, and prepare it in exactly the same manner as the red clay. The color, when dry, is greyish white; when wet, brownish grey.

Temper

The Indians of San Ildefonso obtain their tempering material from outcrops along the Santa Fe-Española road, in the vicinity of the landmark known as Camel Rock. Near the crest of the first high hill crossed by the road north of Camel Rock, just west of the road, in the eastern bank of the cut of the old abandoned road, is a small cave made by the digging of this temper ([pl. 10], a). There is another outcrop in the ridge of which Camel Rock is a part. This mineral is a very light grey in color. When freshly exposed to the air it is soft and crumbly—fragments as large as the fist can be crushed in the hand—but after being exposed for some time it hardens. When chopped out with an axe or hatchet it takes the form of small fragments and fine powder. There are veins and nodules of a hard yellow rock in the stratum, which are chopped out and thrown away. The source of the temper is at such a distance from the pueblo that trips to it are made only at long intervals when a large quantity is secured in cement-bags, and carried home in a wagon. Two cement-bags may be filled with from fifteen to twenty minutes’ work at the quarry.

Some of the Indians, while still at the quarry, pound the temper with an axe or hatchet, or a stone, to break the larger pieces and remove the coarser impurities. Others wait to clean it until reaching the house. In the latter case the temper is spread on a cloth or skin; the skin being preferred as offering a smoother, more resistant surface. It is then broken up by trampling it with moccasined feet. Formerly the Indians ground the temper on their metates. The final step in the preparation is to pass the material through a sieve to remove the smaller impurities such as sand and crushed rock. Before the sieve was known, the Indians spread the temper in a very thin layer on a board or skin, and went over it carefully and painstakingly with their fingers, feeling for any slight irregularities or rough places. The temper when cleaned is a fine powder, which looks and feels like dry cement. It is stored in old cement-bags ready to be mixed with the clay.

The purpose of the addition of tempering material is to counteract the tendency of the pure clay to crack during the shrinkage that takes place in sun-drying and in firing. If, however, there is too much temper, the clay becomes “short” and loses its adhesiveness. The Indians understand this fully, for if vessels crack badly during sun-drying, they are ground up, and more temper is added to the paste before it is used again; if, on the other hand, a pot will not retain its shape while being moulded, it is pulled down, more dry clay added to the paste, and the mass rekneaded.[10]

Cooking-Vessel, or Apache, Clay

This is very different from the two other kinds of clays used. It is light brown in color, with a large quantity of fine mica flakes in it[11]; it also has a distinctive odor. When wet it smells cleaner and fresher than the red or white clay, like a newly plowed field after a shower. Some of the San Ildefonso Indians obtain this clay from Las Truchas, a mountain district to the northeast of the village[12]; others get it from Santa Fe Canyon. It is dug either with the hand or with a small stick, and is brought to the pueblo in the form of small lumps. While still in this condition, it is stored in vessels or bags.

The preparation for use is very different from that of the other clays. The lumps are put in a receptacle, such as an enameled washbasin, and sufficient water is added to saturate them. If too much water has been mixed in, the mass is put in the sun to dry out for a while. After the clay has been thoroughly softened by the water, the next step is to remove the pebbles. A small handful is carefully and slowly squeezed and kneaded in the left hand, while the thumb and forefinger of the right are used to pick out the numerous small pebbles as they are encountered. After most of these have been removed, the clay is put on a canvas or skin, and a small part of it at a time is flattened out with the heel of the right hand, pressing away from the body, and against the cloth or skin so as to produce a very thin layer, in which the smaller pebbles are readily felt and from which they can easily be eliminated. Finally when this has been done with all the clay, the whole mass is kneaded together, just as the red and white clays are kneaded. When a uniform consistency has been attained—that of putty—the mass is ready for use. The removal of pebbles and the kneading consume from one-half to three-quarters of an hour. The pebbles which have been removed are placed in a small lard-pail containing water, and when the clay adhering to them has dissolved, they are thrown away and the clayey water is used in the process of moulding the paste.

The most important difference between this clay and the others is that no temper of any kind is mixed with it; the clay, after being cleaned, is used in the vessels just as it came out of the claypit. The fine mica flakes probably act as temper.

Slips and Paints

Native Slip[13]

This is a white, flaky, fairly soft mineral, which is used in solution to give a white outer coating to the bodies of vessels. It is found at some distance from the pueblo, beyond the bad-lands which are visible to the northeast. When the Indians reach the place they pick up small sticks to use as digging tools, but if the deposit happens to be soft enough, the material is merely scooped out with the hand. It is carried home in shawls or bags, and placed in the sun to dry thoroughly; then stored in pottery vessels, usually ollas. It receives no further treatment at this time. When preparing it for use, the Indians simply place it in water as it is, in small lumps. The container is either a small pottery vessel or an enamelled basin. A sufficient amount is mixed with the water to give it the color of milk, but not to thicken it. Occasionally the consistency of thin cream is obtained. Undissolved lumps remain in the solution.

Santo Domingo Slip

This substance, known to the Indians of San Ildefonso either as “Santo Domingo white” or “Cochiti white”, is usually obtained from the Santo Domingo people; it is dug, according to some informants, in the same manner as the native slip. In color and general appearance it is exactly like the latter, but its surface feels more soapy. Santo Domingo slip has largely replaced the native product, because when applied it does not need to be polished with a stone, as does the native slip. It is prepared for use in exactly the same manner as the native slip.

Red Slip

This is a rather loose red earth, which is dug either with the hands or, if conditions demand it, with a small stick. The San Ildefonso Indians obtain it near Santa Fe, but not all of the women know the exact location of the beds. One informant said it was found in Santa Fe Canyon, east of the town, a short distance below the Apache clay beds, at a spot where the convicts from the Penitentiary get material for their bricks. There are three different colors of clay at this place, red, yellow, and white. The red is the clay under discussion. The white is used to color the women’s moccasins.[14]

This slip is handled in much the same manner as the other clays. It is brought home in the usual receptacles—either shawls or bags—and placed in the sun to dry thoroughly. It is then stored, usually in ollas or other earthenware vessels, without further treatment.

There are two ways of preparing red slip for use, according to the kind of vessel for which it is intended. For polished black ware, it is simply mixed to a thin solution with water. For decorated red ware, the process is slightly complicated. At some previous time, equal parts of temper and native slip have been mixed in water and allowed to dry in cakes. When desired for use on a vessel, the cakes are broken and redissolved in water. A sufficient amount is put in to give the water an opaque, milky color, but not to thicken it. To this mixture is added a thin solution of the red slip. There is, apparently, no definite rule in regard to the amount of the red solution to be added. The woman simply puts in enough to give to the slip, when applied to a pot, the proper shade of red. In some cases this mixing of the red and white is done once for all at the beginning of the application of the red slip. In other cases the woman has a bowl of each solution beside her, and from time to time, as she works, adds some of the red to the white. In each bowl lumps of the undissolved substances still remain. Occasionally the slip is stirred to the consistency of cream, but nearly always it has that of water.

Orange-Red Slip

This substance is a yellow clayey earth, in texture somewhat like the two white slips. It occurs in the “Valle” to the west, beyond the first Jemez range, near Ojo Caliente. It is dug with a stick, in the same manner as the native white, and is carried home in shawls and bags. Before being stored it is put out in the sun to dry thoroughly, then placed in ollas and kept until needed. Like the other slips, it is prepared for use by being mixed with water. A saturated solution is made, but the consistency remains that of water.

This material, which in solution is a brilliant yellow, is used for two purposes—as a slip to color the bases of bowls and ollas, and as a paint to supply the red elements of polychrome designs. After being fired it assumes an orange-red or burnt-sienna color.[15]

Black Ware Paint

This is a paint used for making matte designs on polished black ware, a new departure in decorative technique first used by Maria and Julian Martinez of San Ildefonso, in June, 1921. The substance is a hard yellow stone, said to occur in the “Valle”, west of the Jemez range, near Ojo Caliente, in the same district as the orange-red paint.

The first step in preparing the paint for use is to scrape the stone with a knife. The resulting powder is mixed with water, and there is then added about one-fourth as much dissolved “guaco” (see below) as there is paint. It is said that the purpose of the guaco is to make the paint “stick” to the polished surface. This paint, when ready for use, is kept in a small earthenware or china dish. The consistency of the mixture, like the other paints, is that of water.

Black or Guaco Paint

This is the only vegetable paint used by the San Ildefonso Indians for the decoration of their pottery. It is obtained from a very common weed, known as the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, or Guaco,[16] which grows in the moister flats of this district in great profusion. It flowers late in July and early August, and the seedpods open toward the first of September. The Indians say it grows at a given place only in alternate years. In favorable spots the plants attain a height of five or six feet ([pl. 10], b).

The plant is gathered during April and May, when the shoots are only six to ten inches high, and therefore tender. Great quantities of it are carried home in shawls and bags. It is placed with water in Apache-clay cooking-pots, and is boiled over an open fire, never on a stove. As guaco has a bitter taste (“hot like pepper”, the women describe it) when not cooked sufficiently, it is necessary to boil it until this unpleasant flavor has disappeared. Over a hot fire half a day is long enough, but often a whole day is required. Then the liquid is drained into wide-mouthed earthen vessels and placed in the sun to harden into a solid, black, rather sticky, mass. Some women reboil the liquid until it thickens, before placing it in the sun. Metal containers are not used, because they are said to spoil the color. The informants stated that hardened guaco was not eaten. When it has become completely solidified it is set away for future use in painting. It will keep indefinitely.

The residue in the pot, after the liquid has been poured off consists of tender stems and leaves. This is eaten by the Indians, and is not unlike spinach.

The hardened guaco juice is stored at least a year before it is used in painting; the longer it is kept the better black it produces. If it is used during the first year, the resulting color on the vessel is a streaky blue-black.

Guaco is prepared for use in painting in the same manner as the other pigments. A chunk of the hardened mass is broken off and dissolved in water. One informant makes a solution which, although black, has the consistency of water. The others use a syrupy solution almost like thin molasses. The paint has a distinctive, not unpleasant, vegetable odor, and is rather sticky. Any small, wide-mouthed Indian bowl, not too shallow, is used as a paint-cup. In this bowl there is always a stirring-stick, usually a splinter from a board.

Fuel

Manure

Both cow-manure and horse-manure are used for fuel in burning pottery, but sheep-dung, when obtainable, is preferred, because it is thought to make a hotter fire.

The cow-manure is collected from the corrals, and while still soft is patted into large circular cakes, sixteen to twenty inches in diameter. These, after being hardened in the sun, are stored in a dry room until needed. Such circular cakes, with the hand-prints showing, are usually employed for making the top of the oven.

The horse-manure is obtained from the corrals in the early spring, where during the winter it has been trampled down by the horses into a compact layer a foot or more thick. When the corrals are cleaned during April this deposit is cut with an axe into chunks roughly two feet square. After being removed, the squares are split with an axe into slabs several inches thick, which are then stood up against the bases of house or barn walls to dry in the sun, and later stored indoors until needed. Disused bread-ovens sometimes serve as temporary storage places. Further splitting of the slabs may be done at the time of firing. When used in the ovens the slabs are from one to two inches thick.

Sometimes the slabs of manure are placed in the sun for a day or two before being burned, but often they are taken directly from the store-room to the fire, where they are supplemented by dried manure collected from the pastures.

During the burning of polished black ware (see p. 74) the oven is smothered with loose manure, which is brought in galvanized washtubs directly from the stables and corrals, either at the time of burning, or on the preceding day.[17]

Kindling

For starting the fire in the oven no wood but cedar is ever used. This is cut into pieces from six to eighteen inches long and is split into fine kindling at the time of burning.

PLATE 11

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

PARAPHERNALIA

Primary Paraphernalia

Earthenware Moulds or “Pukis”

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]

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

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

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 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

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]

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 into cords 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 14

a

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.

b

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.

Bowls

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 changes kajepes 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 more trued 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.

TABLE I

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

TABLE II

Small, constricted-mouthed bowl

Ollas

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

PLATE 15

SUCCESSIVE STAGES IN THE MOULDING OF AN OLLA

a. Lower wall built up of rings of clay. b. Sides smoothed and flared by use of the kajepe. c. Sides further flared and more carefully smoothed. d. Shoulder partly formed. e. Shoulder finished. f. Neck built. g, h. Neck flared and final smoothing completed; the vessels have been shifted in the moulds to allow work on lower sides.

little, and the olla is placed in the sun to stiffen. The moulding has now reached the second stage ([pl. 15], b).

The vessel remains in the sun from twenty to thirty minutes. This period may be extended to as much as an hour and a half, if the vessel is in the shade or if other things occupy the potter’s time. During all the drying periods, at intervals varying from five to fifteen minutes, the potter dips her right hand in the water of the lard-pail, and moistens the rim of the partly finished olla in order to keep it soft enough to permit perfect welding when additional rolls are added. While one vessel is drying, the potter is usually occupied with another. In case the work on the latter is finished before the former is dry enough, the potter simply waits, or finds some other work with which to occupy herself until it is ready.