holmes] 



PROCESSES OF MANUFACTURE 



69 



Use of Baskkts in Moldix<; a.vd Modeling 



The extent to which baskets were used in modeling pottery in this 

 great province has been greatly overestimated. Instead of being the 

 rule, as we have been led to believe, their use constitutes the excep- 

 tion, and the rare exception. 



The functions of the fab- ^^^^KST 



rics and textile elements 

 used in connection with the 

 manufacture of pottery de- 

 serve cai'eful consideration. 

 There can be little doubt 

 that these functions are both 

 practical and esthetic, but 

 we shall not be a?jle to make 

 the distinction in all cases. 

 Practical uses ma}' be of 

 ^several kinds. In modeling 

 ■a clay vessel a basket may 

 -■-be used as a support and 

 ■pivot, thus becoming an in- 

 cipient form of the wheel 

 (see figure 31). It may 

 equally well assist in shap- 

 ing the bodies of the ves- 

 sels, thus assuming in a limited way the functions of a mold (.see fig- 

 ure 32). The mat on which a plastic vessel happens to rest leaves 

 impressions rendered indelible by subsequent firing. The same may 



be true of any fabric brought into 

 contact with the plastic surface, but 

 the impressions iu such cases are ac- 

 cidental and have no practical func- 

 tion. 



That baskets were used in the East 

 as molds is attested by historical evi- 

 dence, as may be seen by reference 

 to the citation from Hunter, previ- 

 ousl}- made. I can but regard it as 

 remarkable, however, that in hand- 

 ling thousands of specimens of this 

 pottery I have found no vase the im- 

 prints on which fully warrant the 

 statement that a basket was employed as a mold, or even as a support 

 for the incipient clay form. Many assertions to the contrary have 

 been made, probably through misapprehension of the nature of the 



Fig. 31— Use of a basket in modeling an earthen vewel 

 (Pueblo Indians, Cusbing, in the Fourtli Annual Re- 

 I)ort of the Bureau of Ethnology). 



Fifi. 32 — Use of a basket as a mold for the 

 base of an earthen vessel (Pueblo Indians, 

 Gushing, work oited). 



