'34 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
AZOREAN POTTERY 
Agnes Austin Anbin 
In Ponta Delgada, the largest city of the Azores, 
clown a narrow street by the wharves is a shop full of 
beautiful Azorean pottery, of all shapes and sizes. 
Plates, flagons, jugs, bowls, cups and pitchers fill the 
shelves, while the floor-space is covered with piles of half- 
unpacked crockery, peeping from its protecting straw. 
This pottery is made at Lagoa, a little place about 
eight miles from the city, and is of two kinds, the terra- 
cotta and the glazed ware. 
The terra-cotta ware is used for water bottles (figure 
i) and for large pitchers, which the island women carry 
on their heads to the fountain, where they fill them with 
water for household uses. Large jars of this ware are 
placed in gardens to hold rain water. These graceful jars 
and pitchers are often decorated with borders pricked into 
the clay before it is baked. 
Of terra-cotta also are the little figures of Azorean 
peasants (Figure 2). In these models the woman wears 
her enveloping capote, while the man's head is surmounted 
by that odd head-piece with its projecting horns known as 
the carapuca. The clothes of this clay couple have been 
painted blue and white, but their faces and hands are of the 
color of their own red soil. 
When the terra-cotta is covered with a pinkish-gray 
glaze and decorated by hand with gay designs it becomes 
the ordinary household w r are of the islanders. 
The patterns are sometimes put on unevenly, for the 
hand of the decorator may sometimes slip, but there is a 
naivete about the designs which is most attractive. Any 
object, from a canary bird to a pear, may be seen on this 
island crockery. 
The prevailing color of the ornamentation is blue — 
the Portuguese national color. This harmonizes with the 
pinkish-gray of the glaze. 
The graceful flagon, for oil or vinegar (Figure 3), is 
decorated with blue bands and wreaths, while the central 
stars are red. 
The plate (Figure 4) with its blue zigzag border, has 
the golden crown and black castles of the Portuguese 
coat-of-arms, surrounded by the blue of its country's 
flag. 
The large sugar-bowl (Figure 5), seven inches high 
by nine inches wide, is ornamented with blue flowers and 
green leaves. Why the natives use such large sugar- 
bowls I have never been able to ascertain. It is not be- ' 
cause sugar is cheap on the islands, for it retails at fifteen 
cents a pound. 
As for the mugs (Figure 6), one bears a yellow pear 
nestling in its green leaves, while the other is well covered 
with a conventional pattern in green and blues. 
The pear decoration appeared particularly felicitous 
to me, and I was bearing the unwrapped mug proudly 
through the streets when I met one of the English denizens 
of the town. An expression of surprise, mingled with 
horror, overspread his countenance when he beheld me 
and my burden. "Only fancy," said he, "a lady with a 
shaving-mug!" 
LOCUST FLOWER (Page 125) 
Photograph by Helen Pattee. 
H. Barclay Paist. 
THE flowers are white, therefore, we have to do with 
nothing but values which may be held with Grey for 
Flowers and Grey Green. The leaves are Glossy Green 
on the face and Grey Green on the backs, and for all the 
lighter values. For the dark green, use Dark Green and 
dry dust or glaze with Moss Green. For the color of the 
background, some suggestion would be Neutral Yellow, 
Apple Green, Grey Green or Olive Green, tinted on flat. 
The study, however, would be quite pleasing in tones of 
green, using Grey Green tint for the background. This 
study could easily be used in place of Wistaria, in which 
case the flowers would be modeled with shades of Violet 
using a pale Ivory Yellow or Copenhagen Grey for back- 
ground. If adapted to a vase, the background, of course, 
could be shaded if desired, but would be quite as effective 
kept flat. 
