Making coiled pottery
They used their baskets as moulds to hold the soft clay, and they fashioned the clay without moulds into shapes suggested by natural objects. The sea-shells furnished inspiration and many vessels were made in their beautiful forms.
The first potter was a woman, even as the first basket-maker was a woman, and, coming down to our own times, the important discovery of the production of exquisite colors and blending of colors in the Rookwood pottery was made by a woman.
Discovered, developed, and still, in many cases, carried on by women, surely pottery is a woman's art, and as a girl inheriting the old instincts, you may find it the simplest and most natural means of expressing your individuality and love of the beautiful. Beginning as these gentle savages began, using their primitive method, you may be inspired to study deeper into the art, and perhaps become the discoverer of some new process that will give to the world a still more beautiful pottery.
Even the smallest girls may do something in
Coiled Pottery,
for it is very simple and easy at first, growing more difficult only as one grows ambitious to attempt more intricate forms.
The Clay
ready for use you will find at any pottery. If it is dry break into small pieces, put it in a large stone jar, and cover with cold water; let it stand until thoroughly soaked through and then stir with a stick until well mixed, and work with your hands—squeezing and kneading until free from lumps and perfectly smooth. When it is dry enough not to be muddy, and is of the consistency of dough, it is in good working condition.