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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



The actual processes and motor patterns in- 

 volved in making pottery can best be visualized 

 if we imagine that we are watching potters at 

 work. So, with a con permiso, we step into the 

 kitchen-workshop of Dona Andrea where she 

 is about to begin work on large pots of the size 

 known as tacha. She kneels on the earth floor, 

 and before her is a flat limestone slab of irreg- 

 ular shape, averaging about 75 cm. in each 

 direction. On one side of her is a pile of molds, 

 and on the other side several round balls of 

 freshly kneaded paste. On the far side of the 

 stone we see a few handfuls of a white earth 

 known as atdshakua, which comes from near 

 Quiroga. 



Before beginning work Dona Andrea makes 

 the sign of the cross over her materials, as she 

 does before initiating each stage of the work, 

 so that the Virgin will smile on her and that 

 breakage will be slight. Then, with a practiced 

 eye she breaks off enough paste from the large 

 ball to roll a cylinder 35 cm. long and 10 cm. 

 in diameter. As she works she sprinkles a lit- 

 tle of the powdered atdshakua on the stone to 

 keep the paste from sticking, just as a good 

 housewife sprinkles flour on her kneading board. 

 Next, with a flat, oval stone about 15 by 7 by 

 5 cm. — actually a piece of broken metate ma- 

 no — she flattens the roll into an oblong form 

 about 2 cm. thick. With a sharp stone this pan- 

 cake is divided, and one half is laid aside. The 

 other half is patted and pounded, revolved and 

 turned over, until it assumes the form of a shield 

 about 1 cm. thick. Then the other half is simi- 

 larly treated. 



Next Dona Andrea takes a mold, with the 

 opening facing her and the mouth up. The 

 shield or tortilla of paste is laid inside, with 

 the flat side fitting into the mouth. With a small 

 piece of rag, continually dipped into a bowl 

 of water at one side, she smooths the clay until 

 it adheres firmly and takes the exact form of 

 the inside of the mold. Then with a piece of 

 maguey fiber, one end held in the mouth and 

 the other between thumb and index finger of 

 the right hand, she quickly trims off^ any surplus 

 that extends beyond the edges. After the other 

 half of the mold has been similarly prepared 

 the two pieces are fitted together, with the mouth 

 facing the potter. She takes small bits of paste 

 to fill any spaces at the joints, and then with 



the wet cloth smooths the inside until it is almost 

 impossible to tell where the contact has been 

 made. The mouth is carefully worked and 

 smoothed, and with the same maguey fiber — or 

 perhaps a horsehair, if there is no maguey at 

 hand — the surplus is trimmed off. This mold 

 is laid aside, and the process is repeated with 

 others, each pot taking about 20 minutes to 

 form. Six pots exhaust the supply of this size 

 of mold. Dona Andrea lifts off" half of the first 

 mold, and taps the emerging pot inside and out- 

 side. The dead sound indicates that it has dried 

 sufficiently, so she carefully carries it, still rest- 

 ing in the other half, to a bed of zacate grass 

 in the sun, where it is lifted out and left to dry. 

 For these large pots the fresh paste must be left 

 in the mold for up to 2 hours to prevent sagging 

 when it is removed. 



Beside Dona Andrea, sits her young daughter- 

 in-law, Pachita, wife of Faustino, who, although 

 he helps with the earth and firing, finds the 

 open road more attractive, and hence is a res- 

 caton who carries the finished work on his mules 

 to sell in the tierra caliente. Pachita is making 

 small cups of the size known as media bolero. 

 She makes a stack of tortillas, 20 or more, cut 

 and shaped, before she begins to mold. With 

 these tiny molds the process is identical to that 

 of the large ones. Each tiny pot requires but a 

 minute, and Pachita works with 18 molds. Thus, 

 each new pot dries but 20 minutes before it is 

 removed. Because of the light weight of the 

 paste there is no need for the longer hardening 

 period. 



Cdntaros, which may be made tomorrow, are 

 made in the identical manner. The small pots. 

 Dona Andrea tells us, can be fired the same day 

 they are made. The larger ones must dry a day 

 or two, depending on the heat of the sun, and 

 are then polished and the handles added before 

 firing. There is no real maximum time limit 

 for firing — they can be stored in a corner of 

 the room for 2 weeks, or a month, and are still 

 perfectly good. Still, given the usual work cycle 

 they will be fired within a period of from 2 or 

 3 days up to perhaps 2 weeks, if fiestas inter- 

 rupt the work. 



"iGiista un taquito?" asks Dona Andrea. 

 "Would you eat a bite?" Dona Andrea is one 

 of tlie most hospitable of all Tzintzuntzeiios, 

 and feels that no guest, however constant, should 



