A visit to the Zapotec village of San Marcos Tlapazola in the Oaxaca valley to see how the potters there prepare their clay and form it into vessels. This technique, quite active today, has been used in the village for 200 generations.
Please also visit www.TraditionsMexico.com for pottery and weaving workshops, and back-cactus tours in southern Mexico
Please also visit www.TraditionsMexico.com for pottery and weaving workshops, and back-cactus tours in southern Mexico
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2-To make pots you need clay
3-in San Marcos that means heading to the edge of the village
4-where the clay is dug just below the topsoil
5-and brought home and put out to dry
6-the dry clay is dissolved in water
7-then sieved to clean out roots and sand
8- it is then left to settle out and the excess water is removed off the top
9-meanwhile sand from the creek bank is sieved
10-this is mixed 1 to 1 with the clay
11- a bed of sand is prepared on a swept piece of patio
12-and the wet clay is evenly spread there
13-it will be left there a couple hours until it firms up to usable consistency
14-before being collected and taken inside to make a pot.
15- the clay is wedged
16-and then formed into a cone
17-the potter punches a hole in the wide side of the cone
18-with a rolling pin made from a corn cob she begins to pull up the walls
19-her tools are simple, corn cobs and gourd ribs
20-now working on her 'lazy susan' she continues to pull up the form with the corncob
21-and starts to refine the shape
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23-she shapes the rim with a stiff piece of leather
24-and uses a large rib to give this vessel a belly
25-a worn corncob is used to smooth the outer surface
26-And then lets the pot sit over night to firm up.
27-When it is leather hard she will trim, using a piece of strapping metal.
28-She smoothes the surface, a pre-burnish, with the edge of a gourd.
29-The pot rests again until ready for the next step,
30-iron oxide slip is collected from the mountains above the village
31-and rubbed onto the pot
32-spread evenly and carefully.
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34-When the slip is dry enough the pot will be burnished, or stone polished.
35-It is then set aside to dry for firing...
Students learning to make pottery the Zapotec way in San Marcos, Oaxaca.