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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



a mixture of turpentine and red pottery earth. 

 The burnishing must be done at precisely the 

 right instant, i. e., as soon as none of the slip 

 flakes. If worked too soon, the pot becomes dull 

 in color. If one delays too long, streaks appear 

 after burnishing. In this case the pot is lost, 

 since it is too heavy to be subsequently glazed 

 for general sale. 



The distribution and form of the design is 

 standard in most cases, and allows little op- 

 portunity for individual variation. There is a 

 narrow polished rim at the lip of the olla, 

 beneath which there is a series of crossed lines 

 circling the pot. A solid area several centime- 

 ters high, which passes through the handles, 

 themselves entirely burnished on the outside, 

 goes around the pot. A narrow space beneath 

 this is partially burnished with various designs, 

 and slightly below the middle of the pot another 

 solid band is placed. Some pots have the upper 

 solid band decorated with designs painted in 

 white and black. This, and the design in the 

 open central band, furnish the only real oppor- 

 tunities for the artist to display his imagination. 



The brunidor, or burnisher, is gripped like a 

 golf club, with the point at the bases of the 

 palm, away from the thumb. With few excep- 

 tions the instrument is drawn toward the body, 

 and not away. This method of holding and 

 working the pot permits maximum stability and 

 control of the design. Two burnishers are need- 

 ed, one with a rather sharp point, for fine lines, 

 and another with a transverse central ridge with 

 two flat sides, much like a gabled roof in form, 

 for the solid areas. The order of work, illus- 

 trated by figure 14, is as follows. 



1. Cruzaditos, the neck crosses, are placed with 

 alternate slanting lines. When working behind the 

 handles it is necessary to push the instrument away 

 from the body; otherwise it is drawn inward. 



2. The lip of the neck is burnished. 



3. At approximately the base of the handles, or 

 a little below, a complete circular line is made. The 

 burnisher is held firmly and the pot rolled away 

 from the artist. Two similar lines, 4 and 5, are made 

 lower down, equidistant, to mark out the space for 

 the main design and the lower solid area. 



6. The main design is burnished, using one or 

 a combination of standard patterns such as caracoli- 

 los ("snails") or flores ("flowers") and so forth, 

 entirely circling the pot. 



7 and 8. If painting is to be done between the 

 handles, this follows. Black paint goes first, often in 



the form of a narrow solid horizontal line joining 

 the handles. Black paint may also, though not neces- 

 sarily, serve as the contrasting base for white. The 

 white paint, in ramitos ("little branches") and pal- 

 mitas ("little palms") is then added. Placing of 

 these designs is entirely by eye. 



9 and 10. The bottom solid area is filled in, then 

 the top, burnishing over the painted designs. 



11. Finally, the handles are burnished, 

 the handles. Black paint may also, though not neces- 



The lid, if any, may 

 ished solidly, or filled 

 design only. 



be painted and burn- 

 in with a burnished 



Figure 14. — Tinaja design techniques. Numbers in- 

 dicate the order of application of the 

 motives. 



design 



False lines may be erased by the use of sa- 

 liva. When fired, the pot loses some of the rich, 

 dark-brown color which it has, and turns more 

 reddish. Patricio Estrada, the master of tinaja 

 ware, says that pure burnishing is the older 

 technique, and that white and black painting 

 was introduced at the time of the industrial 

 school during the 1930's. The white paint is a 

 commercial product which comes from Gua- 

 dalajara and sells for $7 a kilo. The black 

 is ground-up hormiguera mixed with water. 

 Brushes are home-made from the fur of pup- 

 pies, squirrels, burros, or foxes. Tinaja work- 

 ing is said to be hard on the eyes, and the 

 strain of gripping the burnisher often leads to 

 rheumatism. One never wets the hands while 

 doing this work. 



Each worker has his favorite designs, though 

 there are no copyrights and any one is free to 

 work as he pleases. Patricio says that the older 

 designs are floreado ("flowered"), palmitas 



