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]