In polishing larger ollas one half of the vessel is coated with the dark-red slip and polished before the other half is slipped. Either the half above the shoulder or the half below the shoulder may be polished first. Rather quick strokes, three or four inches long, are made with the stone. Sufficient pressure is exerted to cause motion in the entire body of the worker. The strokes, as before, are usually parallel to the rim. Because of the larger surface to be covered in these vessels, the position of the olla on the lap of the potter is changed frequently. It is supported with the left hand, which is placed palm down upon the exterior surface. While the lip is being polished, the mouth is turned toward the body and to the right, making an angle of about sixty degrees from the horizontal. In polishing the upper part of the shoulder the potter turns the mouth to the left and away from the body ([pl. 21], c). Usually the mouth is more nearly horizontal in this position than in the former.
Before applying the slip to the lower half of the olla, a faint line is drawn with the polishing-stone around the lower part of the body to define the lower edge of the body-slip. During the slipping and polishing of this portion of the surface, the olla is held with the mouth nearly vertical and to the left, directed away from the body. When the polishing proper is completed, the finishing touches are given to the entire exterior by rubbing small areas here and there which do not entirely satisfy the potter.
As in the case of the red slip, the polishing must be completed before the slip becomes too dry. When there is a large surface to be polished, as in the case of these ollas, it is of course necessary that the work upon any given section of the surface be completed as quickly as possible. Therefore when two potters are working together, the swifter of the two does the polishing on the larger vessel, regardless of which of the two applies the slip. After the polishing proper has been completed, the olla may be turned over to the slower worker for the finishing touches. This necessity for speed in polishing is probably the reason for slipping only a part of the surface at one time.
Now and then, as the polishing proceeds, the potter changes stones. An important factor in this change is the desire to rest the fingers through the slight alteration in grip afforded by the different shapes of the stones. Occasionally the change is due to a wish to obtain a stone with just the proper shaped surface for the section of the olla being worked upon. There is also a tendency to use a larger, rougher stone at the beginning of the work, for which is substituted later for the final finish a smaller, finer-grained, and therefore smoother, stone.
Because of the practice of slipping and polishing only half the surface at a time, there develops around the shoulder a narrow line of dried slip, which is naturally lighter in color than the worked areas. (This line may be seen encircling the olla in pl. 21, c). After the polishing of the upper and lower areas has been completed, the potter’s attention turns to this line, and since dry slip cannot be polished, the rubbing stone is either wet with the tongue or dipped into the liquid in the slip-container before being used on the line. The latter method appears to give the best results, but in either case, the moistening of the stone is done very frequently, and the process of eliminating the lighter line is a painfully slow one. Even when the best results have been obtained, the line is not entirely obliterated. Occasionally the stone is moistened with the tongue while giving final touches to other parts of the surface.
When the polishing with the stone has been entirely completed, a little lard is rubbed on the surface either with the forefinger or with a greasy cloth; the surface is then vigorously rubbed with a chamois.[44] This distributes the lard evenly and very noticeably improves the lustre. Then the vessel, after being covered with a cloth, is put in the sun to dry thoroughly.
The great difference in the time required for polishing large and small ollas requires two tables to present the details. Table VIII gives the time during which a large olla, about fourteen inches in diameter at the shoulder, was under the hands of the potters. The time devoted to obliterating the light junction-line, about fifteen to twenty minutes, was considerably longer than usual. Table IX gives the time required for three small globular ollas, about six inches in diameter at the shoulder. The surface of each of these was approximately the same as that of the polished black constricted-mouthed bowl recorded in Table VII.
TABLE VIII
| Hrs. Min. Sec. | |
| 00.00 | — Drawing of line about lower part of body begun |
| 01.00 | — Slipping of lower half of olla begun |
| 08.30 | — Slipping finished, polishing begun |
| 23.30 | — Vessel transferred to a slower worker |
| 40.00 | — Set aside |
| 04.45 | — Time out |
| 40.00 | — Polishing by slower worker continued |
| 47.45 | — First application of lard begun |
| 48.45 | — Polishing with chamois begun |
| 50.45 | — Lower part finished |
| ? | — Time out |
| 50.45 | — Slipping of upper half begun |
| 55.15 | — Slipping of body done, slipping of rim begun |
| 56.45 | — Polishing begun |
| 1.00.45 | — Vessel transferred to the swifter worker |
| 1.20.45 | — Vessel transferred to the slower worker, obliteration of junction-line |
| 1.53.45 | — First application of lard begun |
| 1.55.45 | — Polishing with chamois begun |
| 1.59.45 | — Polishing of vessel completed |