July, 191 2. Chinese Pottery. 15 



contain the food offered to the spirits. Porcelain plates are used by 

 the mediums when summoning the spirits, and having served in such a 

 capacity are highly prized; so much so that they are never sold during 

 the lifetime of the medium, and after her death only to an aspirant for 

 mediumship honors (PI. XVII). When about to call a spirit into 

 her body, the medium sets herself in front of the spirit mat, and 

 covering her face with her hands, she trembles violently, meanwhile 

 chanting or wailing songs in which she bids the spirits to come and 

 possess her (PI. XVIII). From time to time she pauses, and holding 

 a plate on the finger tips of her left hand, she strikes it with a string of 

 sea shells or a bit of lead, in order that the bell-like sound may attract 

 the attention of the spirits. Suddenly a spirit takes possession of her 

 body and then as a human the superior being talks with mortals (PI. 

 XIX). 



In districts where head-hunting is still in vogue, a. Chinese jar is 

 readily accepted as payment in full for a head, and many feuds are 

 settled on this basis. In 1907 the writer accompanied a war party from 

 Apayao to a hostile village several days' march distant. The two 

 villages agreed to make peace on the terms of one jar for each head the 

 one town held in excess of the other, and on this basis the Apayao 

 paid eleven jars to their erstwhile enemies. 



Most tribes of the interior have pottery of their own manufacture. 

 These generally bear distinctive names according to the uses to which 

 they are put. Thus among the Tinguian a jar used for greens or 

 vegetables has a definite name, while another in which meat is cooked 

 has its own designation. 



In Northern Luzon the women of certain towns have acquired such 

 fame as potters that their wares have a wide distribution, and the 

 industry has almost vanished from neighboring villages. 



The general method employed by the potters (PI. XX-XXI) is 

 as follows: The clay after being dampened is carefully kneaded with 

 the hands, in order to remove stones and bits of gravel. A handful of 

 the mass is taken up and the bottom of the bowl roughly shaped with 

 the fingers. This is placed on a wooden dish, which in turn rests on a 

 bamboo rice winnower — forming a crude potter's wheel. The dish is 

 turned with the right hand while the woman shapes the clay with the 

 fingers of the left or with a piece of dampened bark cloth. From time 

 to time a coil of fresh clay is laid along the top of the vessels and is 

 worked in as the wheel turns. Further shaping is done with a wooden 

 paddle, after which the jar is allowed to dry. In a day or two it is hard 

 enough to be handled, and the operator then rubs it, inside and out, with 

 stone or seed disks, in order to make it perfectly smooth. The jars 



