EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



95 



("little palms"), ramitos ("little branches"), 

 and cruzaditos ("little crosses"). New designs 

 are the culebrilla con hojitas ("little serpent 

 with little leaves"), and caracolito ("little 

 snail"). Patricio picked up the latter from a 

 design card in the Patzcuaro market. Floreado, 

 he thinks, is the prettiest, and also the most dif- 

 ficult to make. Simplasuche, the flower of the 

 dead, is a design used in the stonework of some 



<i^# 





Figure 15. — Tinaja design elements: a, simplasuche; 

 b, floreado; c, caracolito; d, e, ramitos; f, cru- 

 zaditos; g, culebra con hojitas; h, i, palmitas; 

 j, unnamed, k, I, Order of application of strokes 

 is indicated by numbers. 



Franciscan churches. Patricio picked the idea 

 up from an example in the parish church. Some 

 designs lend themselves particularly well to 

 certain spaces and certain pots. Culebrilla con 

 hojitas and palmitas can be used only on pots 

 of de a cuatro and smaller, since they do not 

 satisfactorily fill larger spaces. The floreado 

 and caracolita designs are best used in wider 

 areas. Cruzaditos are usually limited to the 

 neck area. Palmitas and ramitos are especially 



adapted to the painted decoration between han- 

 dles. In some of the illustrated designs (fig. 15) 

 the order of application of the strokes is indicat- 

 ed by number. 



Patricio Estrada owns two molds for bote- 

 Hones, the characteristic pottery water jar of 

 Mexico. Since the neck is too small to permit 

 passage of the hand when molding in the usual 

 fashion, the bottom is left open when the two 

 halves are joined so that the inside can be 

 smoothed. Then, inside the base, a narrow rim 

 of clay is fastened about 2 cm. from the bot- 

 tom. A round clay pancake is made, and press- 

 ed against this rim, closing the jar. A second 

 narrow ring is added to seal the weld, the bot- 

 tom is smoothed, and the new botellon is left 

 to dry. 



The small tinaja bird-shaped water jar (fig. 

 16, b) is especially interesting because it is the 

 only pottery form now made in Tzintzuntzan 

 that is distinctly pre-Conquest in flavor. The 

 painted designs are, of course, modem addi- 

 tions. Patricio has one mold which he inherited 

 from his father; when it is broken, in all prob- 

 ability no more birds will be made. 



Prices of tinaja ware are about the same as 

 for glazed ware of the same sizes. The extra 

 time spent in burnishing is compensated for by 

 the omission of glazing and the second firing. 

 Eight families make pottery of this type. 



Loza blanca, as made by Natividad and her 

 mother Doria Andrea, is from an esthetic stand- 

 point the most satisfying ware made in Tzin- 

 tzuntzan. Complete table sets consisting of din- 

 ner and dessert plates, consomme cups and lids, 

 cups and saucers, soup bowls, soup tureens, plat- 

 ters, vases, fruit bowls, and candlesticks are 

 made. Plates, platters, cups and bowls are form- 

 ed over a mold of the same type as that used for 

 a comal. Soup tureens and vases are made with 

 a two-piece mold. Fruit bowls are ingeniously 

 made by joining the base of a large bowl to 

 that of a smaller one, the smaller inverted bowl 

 serving as stand. The same clay mixtures used 

 for other pottery are necessary, but because the 

 ware is thinner, breakage is more common. The 

 dried dishes are bathed in a slip of white earth, 

 and this wetting of the plates also causes addi- 

 tional breakage. After firing, designs are paint- 

 ed on with a dog's-hair brush, using the stand- 

 ard black glaze mixture as paint. Nati is a 



