  POTTERY WITHOUT A POTTER'S WHEEL A ALMOST every girl at one time in her life has loved dearly to make mud-pies, and it is not strange, for her mother, grandmother, and many, many times great-great-grandmother before her delighted in making mud-pies. The last, the primitive women of our race, made them to some purpose, for they were the inventors of pottery. The home-making, house-keeping instinct was strong even in these women, who had no houses to keep, and they did their best with the material at hand. First they wove rude baskets for holding and carrying food; then they learned that cooked food was better than uncooked and could be preserved much longer, so they made baskets of a closer weave and cooked in them by means of water heated by hot stones; finally, they tried cooking over the fire in shallow baskets lined with clay. The clay came out of the basket baked and hard, and behold, they had a new kind of vessel—fire-proof and water-proof. We may imagine with what joy they welcomed this addition to their meagre store of home-making utensils and with what patient industry they strove to improve upon this discovery. drawing Making coiled pottery They used their baskets as moulds to hold the soft clay, and they fashioned the clay without moulds into shapes suggested by natural objects. The sea-shells furnished inspiration and many vessels were made in their beautiful forms. The first potter was a woman, even as the first basket-maker was a woman, and, coming down to our own times, the important discovery of the production of exquisite colors and blending of colors in the Rookwood pottery was made by a woman. Discovered, developed, and still, in many cases, carried on by women, surely pottery is a woman's art, and as a girl inheriting the old instincts, you may find it the simplest and most natural means of expressing your individuality and love of the beautiful. Beginning as these gentle savages began, using their primitive method, you may be inspired to study deeper into the art, and perhaps become the discoverer of some new process that will give to the world a still more beautiful pottery. Even the smallest girls may do something in Coiled Pottery, for it is very simple and easy at first, growing more difficult only as one grows ambitious to attempt more intricate forms. The Clay ready for use you will find at any pottery. If it is dry break into small pieces, put it in a large stone jar, and cover with cold water; let it stand until thoroughly soaked through and then stir with a stick until well mixed, and work with your hands—squeezing and kneading until free from lumps and perfectly smooth. When it is dry enough Keep the clay always in the jar and closely covered that it may not again become too dry. Besides the clay you will need a table to work on, a pastry-board, a thin block of wood about twelve inches square, a wet sponge for cleaning and moistening your fingers, and several simple tools. The Table. If you stand at your work, a tall office stool with rotating seat will be just the thing you want, for by turning the seat this way and that you may look at your work from all sides without disturbing its position. Any kind of ordinary table will answer the purpose, however. On top of the table or stool place your pastry-board, and at the right-hand side the sponge, which must be kept quite damp. drawing Fig. drawing Fig. You will want but Few Tools as most of the work is done by the fingers alone. A short, flat stick, sharpened on one side like the blade of a knife (Fig. 321), an old penknife, a piece of round stick sharpened at each end like Fig. 322, and some emery-paper are all you will need at first. drawing Fig. On the pastry-board place a large lump of clay, then take a handful of the clay and begin to make The Roll drawing Fig. by turning it lightly between your hands (Fig. 323). When the clay lengthens out lay it on the board, and roll under your hands, as perhaps you have done when making dough snakes. Keep your clay snake of an even size its entire length, be careful not to flatten any part, and continue to roll it with a light touch until it is about the thickness of your little finger. Place your square block on the stand before you, and in the centre begin To Coil the Clay (Fig. 324). When you have made a disk about two and one-half inches in diameter, lift the roll and build up the sides, coiling slowly round and round, pinching it slightly as you go, with the last row always resting on the one just beneath (Fig. 325). Unless you have made a very long roll, which is not easy to handle at first, you will soon have to stop coiling for lack of material. Do not use all of the first roll, but allow the end to rest on the table, where it can be joined to the new roll you are to make. Pinch the drawing Fig. Continue coiling until you have made a cup-shaped vessel three inches high, then break off the roll and flatten the end to meet the surface of the brim. Moisten your fingers on the sponge, and smooth the inside of the cup, holding the walls in place with your left hand curved around the outside (Fig. 326). Do not press too hard with either hand, but slide your fingers gently round and round over the inner surface. When the coils on the inside have become well flattened mix a little clay and water into a paste, and spread it on, filling any cracks that may still be left between the coils, constantly smoothing all the time. drawing Fig. You will find that this process has, at first, the effect of broadening the base and lowering the sides of the cup, and until you have quite mastered the method you must allow for the broadening and flattening of your work. Your cup, with a base of two and one-half inches and sides three inches in height, will now probably drawing Fig. As you are working without a wheel the symmetry of your pottery must depend entirely upon your eye and hand, therefore keep turning the block upon which it stands that no irregularity may be overlooked. When you add ornaments or handles see that the roll of clay from which you make them adheres closely to the vessel. Add soft clay to the joints and smooth until the whole seems to be of one piece. drawing Fig. In your first attempts leave the outside of the pottery corrugated by the coils (Fig. 328); later work you may smooth, making a surface equal to that turned on a wheel. Do not try to finish a piece in one day; it is much better to allow it to harden a little and become set, then make it as smooth as you can with your tools, levelling the edges and taking away extra thicknesses. If this cannot be done at one time, set the work away once more covered with a damp cloth and it will keep in good working condition for any length of time, but remember, the cloth must be kept damp, otherwise the clay will harden. When you have perfected your piece of pottery to your satisfaction put it away to dry, not in the sun. Several days later, after it has become quite hard, go over the surface again with knife and emery-paper, scraping and rubbing down until it is entirely smooth and free from flaws. The work will then be ready to take to the potter for firing. The color of clay changes in firing, and your little piece of pottery will probably come back to you almost the color of old ivory. One cannot be very positive about the color, however, for clays vary, and perhaps yours may be of a kind that will fire another color. The potter will glaze your work for you if you wish, or leave it in the bisque. Nothing has been said about what Shapes to Make the Pottery, for that will depend much upon your own taste and ability. Rather low, flat, dish shapes are most easily handled and variations in the cup or flower-pot shape. After these may come the jars and vases. Set a well-shaped piece of pottery before you as a model to copy, until you have ideas of your own to carry out, and learn to handle your clay before attempting too ambitious a subject. |
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