Dec 29 2008
Pueblo Indian Pottery is highly collectible. The Pueblo Indians have been making pottery for about 2000 years. While early pottery was made primarily for their own use, contemporary Indian pottery is mostly decorative.The Process of Gathering the Clay has Meaning
Pueblo Potters use mostly local clays for their work. The preparation of the clay from Mother Earth is a difficult and time consuming process as well as a spiritual experience. Sometimes other clays are brought from other areas for the slip coat, which is a water and clay solution. Native plants and minerals are used to create colors and designs.
Pueblo Potters do Not Use a Potter's Wheel
Pueblo potters are unique in that they do not use a wheel. The most common technique used is called the coil method where the clay is rolled into a long rope which is coiled around on top of itself until the desired shape is formed. The coils are pressed togther, smoothed and shaped by hand after which a tool is use to scrape away the excess clay. After all shaping and smoothing is completed, the pot is set aside to dry. After drying, it can then be sanded with coarse and fine sandpaper to reduce the thickness of the walls and refine the surface. With a cloth, the potter applies slip to the entire surface of the pot to smooth it and create a uniform texture. However, carved pottery and pottery with a textured surface are treated differently. Usually two coats of the slip are applied from the base of the pot to the rim. The potter then begins that difficult and exacting task of polishing. Every inch of the surface must be rubbed over and over again with a stone since red and black pottery develop their beauty from their polish which is obtained without a glaze.
The Traditional Firing Process - Bark, Dung and Manure
A thin coat of grease is then applied by hand to increase the luster and reduce the drying shrinkage. If the pot is to have designs they are applied now with the slip solution and the pot is ready for firing. However, the temperatures reached in the firing of pottery today are not high enough to make a pot waterproof.
The potter still builds his or her primitive kiln from corrugated tin, racks, tin cans, whatever she has found to be successful for her. Pots are placed between two sheets of tin, not touching each other, which are then covered with bark. After lighting the bark, the tin becomes red hot with the actual firing lasting about 30 minutes. The pottery must be allowed to cool slowly. In order to achieve the black pottery, cow dung is mixed with the bark and when the fire reaches its maximum temperature, it is smothered with fine horse manure. This sooty smoke penetrates the pores and turns the pottery black. From this lengthy process come beautiful original works of art.
Watch a video of this firing process courtesy Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe.
Finding the Pottery
The finest examples of polished red or black pottery comes from San Juan, San Ildefonso Pueblos. Pottery with primarily white or buff backgrounds on which there may be designs in black, brown, read and orange can come from Acoma, Zuni, Cochiti, Santa Domingo, Laguna, Jemez, and Zia Pueblos. Micaceous pottery is found primarily in the Taos and Picuris Pueblos, but sometimes potters from other pueblos use mica to decorate or finish their pottery.
Everyone Loves Storyteller Dolls
Storytellers began around 1958 at Cochiti Pueblo. This pueblo is well-known for making figures and animals. The story teller figure depicts an elder telling the children the legends of their people. Since there was no written language, storytelling provided an important social and cultural function and perpetuated ethnic identity. The storyteller doll has become a means of keeping an awareness alive. Other pueblos make storytellers, each developing their own interpretation. Pottery of Tomorrow
Recently, the Federal government has sponsored classes to teach untrained Native American people to make pottery. They have encouraged experimentation, imagination and innovation. As a result, you may see a blending of styles, designs and finishes. Today you may find quite a selection of nontraditional pieces, full of excitement and originality.
Information and above article courtesy: Elizabeth Buchanan for theIndian Arts and Crafts Association
