PLATE 22
Painting designs on small vessels. The decorator’s right hand does not come in contact with the pot, and the tip of the brush is trailed rather than stroked across the surface. a. Maria Martinez. b. Maximiliana Martinez.
The brushes are usually kept in the paint, or occasionally beside it, and sometimes a pencil is also near at hand ([pl. 23], a).
In decorating the exterior of a constricted-mouthed bowl, the vessel is held upright and inclined very slightly towards the body; it rests on the left knee and is steadied by the pressure of the left hand against the interior of the rim ([pl. 22], a). The potter sits in a position which allows the light to come over her right shoulder directly upon the section of the bowl being painted. As the work proceeds the vessel is turned counterclockwise. When the design extends slightly below the shoulder, the bowl is inclined to the left and away from the body. If a considerable portion of the design is below the shoulder, the vessel is inverted and is supported by the fingers of the left hand against the interior base of the bowl.
If the interior of an open-mouthed bowl is being painted, the enclosing lines near the rim are made first. During this process the bowl is held with the mouth vertical and to the right, while the lines are drawn on the lower part of the interior rim. The vessel moves counterclockwise. The bottom of the interior is painted with the bowl standing in its normal position on the left knee, the mouth inclined to the right and toward the body.
When a large vessel, such as an olla, is to be painted, it is placed upon a box or table of the proper height, which has previously been covered with a rug or mat to protect the base ([pl. 23]). The painter chooses her position so that the light will fall over her shoulder upon the vessel. During the painting of the upper part of the vessel it is touched with the left hand only when it needs to be turned. In working below the shoulder the vessel is tilted slightly to the left, and away from the painter.
The paint-brushes are made of slivers of yucca ([fig. 5]). They may be roughly grouped into three weights—fine, medium, and heavy.[47] The fine ones are used in making outlines on the smaller vessels; the medium ones either for line work or for the filling of small areas; and the heavy ones for filling only. During the painting there are from three to six brushes in the paint vessel. These brushes are of such durability that the potters have no definite idea of the length of their usefulness. Since the fibres are brittle when dry, brushes are occasionally broken by accident; to prevent such breakage they are soaked in water for a few minutes to soften them before they are used.
The brush is held in the right hand, with the fingers in the position used in holding a pencil or pen. The ends of the fingers are two or three inches from the tip of the brush ([pl. 22], a, b.; pl. 23, a). The fingers of the right hand do not rest upon the surface of the vessel and the entire right arm is unsupported ([pl. 23]), although at times the elbow may be unconsciously steadied against the body. The straightness and evenness of the lines drawn under these conditions are remarkable.
There is a slight personal variation in the method of contact of the brush with the vessel. One potter uses only the tip of the brush; another first places the tip upon the surface, and then makes the line with the body of the brush; a third places the body of the brush upon the vessel at the first contact. In making a line a trailing stroke is invariably used; its direction is usually toward the body, but occasionally away from it. The brush is always moved slowly, and the angle at which it is held varies according to the part of the surface over which the line is being drawn, and upon the part of the stroke which is being made. At the beginning of a stroke the angle is an acute one, varying from forty-five to seventy degrees ([fig. 8], a); about the middle it approximates ninety degrees ([fig. 8], b); while at the end it is often an obtuse angle of as much as one hundred and twenty degrees ([fig. 8], c). On small vessels the strokes seldom exceed four inches in length; on larger pots they are sometimes as much as six inches long. After each stroke the brush is dipped into the paint vessel; it is then always drawn across the stirring stick, which is kept