Pueblo pottery making: a study at the village of San Ildefonso

by Carl E. Guthe

Red Slip

The red slip, as was said above, serves to cover the surfaces of undecorated red-ware. It is always polished with the rubbing-stone after application. When given a certain special firing (see p. 74) it turns a lustrous black and so produces polished black ware ([pl. 8], b). This slip is a saturated solution in water of the red clay just as it was obtained from the claypits (see p. 24). Although undissolved lumps remain at the bottom of the solution, the latter is no thicker than water. The containers are either open-mouthed pottery bowls or china dishes. The slip is applied as usual with a small folded rag. While it is being put on, the vessel may be hung from the fingers of the left hand with the mouth vertical, or held in the usual way upon the palm of the left hand, its position depending upon whether or not the base is to be slipped. The surface is covered two or three times with the cloth mop, in a rather haphazard manner, so that certain portions where the strokes overlap receive as many as four coats. The potter herself is uncertain regarding the number of coats the surface has received, as they are applied one immediately after the other, with no wait between. The mopping is stopped when the surface seems uniformly covered with just the right shade—a rather bright red. San Ildefonso potters usually cover with this slip the entire exterior of small ollas and bowls, including the base.[41] In some cases shallow open-mouthed bowls are slipped only on the interior.

Before the slip dries, the rubbing with the polishing-stone is begun. The stone is held between the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The entire surface is gone over several times with a backward-forward motion in strokes about three or four inches long.[42] Each stroke is made with the entire forearm, there being no noticeable play in either the wrist or the fingers. This is a rather fatiguing and exacting process, for to obtain the best results all parts of the surface must receive equal attention: a definite system, however, has been developed by means of which the entire surface is gone over.

In polishing the exterior of a small olla or of a bowl, the vessel is first placed upon the lap in an inverted position, tilted slightly to the right. It is held at the rim by the left hand, which rests upon the left thigh. The polishing is begun on the right-hand side of the base near the body, and proceeds diagonally across the base to the far left-hand side. The vessel is then tipped up with the mouth to the left and the rim nearly vertical. The polishing is begun at the shoulder and continued down to within a very short distance of the centre of the base ([pl. 21], b). At this stage some potters polish from the base to the shoulder. As the work continues, the upper part of the bowl is turned counterclockwise away from the body. Usually the stroke is parallel to the rim, but occasionally a diagonal motion develops. The strokes across the bottom are then made at right angles to the previous series. A constricted-mouthed bowl is then turned so that the mouth, still vertical, is to the right, and the section from the lip to the shoulder is polished; the bowl is now turned clockwise, that is, the top still turns away from the body. Small ollas may be held either in this position or with the mouth tilted at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the left and away from the body, in which case the polishing is done from the shoulder to the lip (see [pl. 30], b, which shows a Zuñi potter using the polishing stone).

After the surface has been completely covered in this manner once, and none too carefully, the rim is coated with the slip, applied by the forefinger of the right hand, and gone over with the stone. The vessel is then wiped with a cloth upon

PLATE 21

a. Applying orange-red slip with a cloth mop; the beginning of the stroke may be seen just above the lap of the potter. b. Polishing a bowl with a small stone after red slip has been applied. The marks of the stone are visible at first, but quickly disappear as the slip dries. c. Women working with the polishing stone. Note the light line about the shoulder of the large olla, where a space is always temporarily left unpolished.

which a little lard has been rubbed. The lard may be kept near the potter in any convenient receptacle, like a sauce-dish or the bowl of a spoon. A clean cloth is then immediately used to distribute the lard evenly upon the surface, and to remove any surplus. Some potters do not use this second cloth at all; others apply the lard to the vessels with their fingers, wiping it immediately afterwards with a cloth. In some cases, the application of the lard is withheld until the polishing is entirely completed.