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