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INSTITXTTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



The artisan takes pride in his fireworks, which 

 he himself usually sets off at a festa^ and he makes 

 them with loving care. "These factory -made fire- 

 works never are satisfactory," he says, "they are 

 made any old way just to sell them. No one keeps 

 thinking, 'Will they be pretty or ugly at the festa V 

 But if one of my rockets does not rise or a homba 

 does not go off as it should, everyone will look at 

 me, because they know I made it. Not a single 

 one of my fireworks has failed, thank God. That's 

 because I take lots of pains with them. I am al- 

 ways turning people down; for if I can't make 

 these things well— if I don't have time to take 

 pains with them — I won't make them at all. I 

 prefer to lose a customer rather than to have him 

 disappointed." At the last fesia of Sao Joao, re- 

 quests from the village and the neighboring towns 

 of Sao Jose dos Patos, Piracema, and Boa Vista 

 totaled 30 dozen rockets. 



POTTEEY 



Dona Maria, a woman 37 years of age, who lives 

 on the border of the community, halfway to Boa 

 Vista, is the only person who now makes pottery, 

 although a neighbor woman occasionally assists 

 her with this task. An elderly woman living in 

 the immediate vicinity and another elderly woman 

 on the other side of the village, also know how to 

 make pottery, but neither has practiced the art 

 for several years. Even Dona Maria makes pot- 

 tery infrequently, as much as a year or two some- 

 times elapsing between firings. She makes vessels 

 for her own use and, on request, for relatives or 

 acquaintances who live nearby. When her needs, 

 added to these requests, reach approximately 30 

 items, the vessels are all prepared at one time. 



The clay used is almost black in color. It is 

 obtained from the edge of a brook near Dona 

 Maria's house. She is careful to take it from below 

 the topsoil, so that it is free from organic matter. 

 Dug out with an enxaddo, it is brought into the 

 house and left several days to dry, after which it 

 is pulverized in the pildo and passed through a 

 sieve, made of taquara. 



A quantity of this sifted clay is then either put 

 in a large wooden bowl {gainela) or dumped onto 

 a wide board. Water is added, little by little, and 

 the mass is kneaded like dough for bread, until it 

 has the necessary consistency. Portions are then 



detached from the larger mass and rolled into cyl- 

 inders about three-fourths of an inch thick and 

 15 to 30 inches long. The first cylinder is coiled 

 flat on the board, each successive coil touching the 

 one previously laid down, until the whole reaches 

 the size desired for the base of the vessel. As each 

 coil is laid down. Dona Maria works it with her 

 fingers until it is attached firmly to the other coils 

 already in place. 



The coiling of these cylinders one against the 

 other is then continued upward to form the sides 

 and top of the vessel, so that the complete outline 

 eventually emerges in rough form. A corncob, 

 the rough outer portion of which has been burned 

 off, is used to smooth out the larger irregularities, 

 after which the vessel is further smoothed with 

 a piece of gourd. The newly formed vessel is then 

 left to dry naturally, a process which usually takes 

 from one to two days, subsequent to which it is 

 put in the kiln, along with other vessels, and 

 baked. 



To construct the kiln {forno), advantage has 

 been taken of the differences in level provided 

 by a nearby bank of earth. An excavation a little 

 over 3 feet in diameter and extending down about 

 15 inches, has been dug in the bank. From the 

 floor of this excavation, six round holes, each about 

 4 inches in diameter, have been dug down about 

 12 inches further into the bank. One of these holes 

 is centrally located and the other five are disposed 

 at equal distances about it, all being separated by 

 enough dirt to avoid cave-ins. This constitutes 

 the upper portion of the oven. 



Below this portion, an opening around 15 inches 

 high by an equal distance wide has been cut hori- 

 zontally back into the bank. Immediately beneath 

 the six holes, the opening has then been widened 

 out until it is oval in form. This constitutes the 

 chamber in which fuel is burned. 



As indicated, approximately 30 vessels are baked 

 at one time. These are placed so as not to interfere 

 with the free circulation of air through any one 

 of the six holes, after which the vessels are com- 

 pletely covered over with pieces of broken pottery. 

 A fire is then lighted in the lower chamber and 

 fuel added slowly so as to increase the heat gradu- 

 ally and thus avoid cracking any of the vessels. 

 "Wlien I can spit on them and the spit sizzles," says 

 Dona Maria, "I know the clay is hot enough not to 



