Women Potters of San Marcos Tlapazola, Oaxaca
Alvin Starkman MA, LL.B.
Every Sunday Gloria wakes at 3 clock, and begins preparation tejate, frothy, delicious corn and chocolate milk to the market it offers for sale in the Tlacolula. A few hours later, followed by her sister-in-law Maria and Maria's daughter, Luci, but in preparation for their own review automatic pre-Hispanic style figures and masks, Comal, and a selection of other baked clay bowls, cups, plates and containers. Sundays, the women laugh is their day of rest, if they do not worry about scrounging for firewood, tended fields, hauling raw materials for kneading clay in — the lifeblood of their economic existence — and in the case of María, look for preparation of breakfast for Luci and her older brother and get them to school.
The four-member family lives in a modest but fair sized dirt-ground link San Marcos Tlapazola, a Zapotec village about an hour outside of Oaxaca. Tlacolula around tourists and locals alike Oaxaca for the glory of their Sunday edition Market Place, its bakeries' wonderful chocolate-filled bread known to the church, the proximity of fields and Agave Mezcal factories and products for sale offered by the women of San Marcos.
Gloria, María and Luci, 40, 38 and 12 years old. While in the market, their traditional clothing, consisting of colorful and embroidered dresses and taffeta hats, light it up and others from nearby villages from the rest. Luci confesses that she also like to wear normal Clothing.
been in her life only once Gloria to Oaxaca. The mere thought of departure into the great city it intimidates.
Clumps of hard earth soaked. on a concrete floor in a dark room almost bare, María kneaded the mud with water and then softened a bit sandy, kneeling and working conditions their magic, until a smooth buttery sound ready to be molded into a vase. With hands raised to just above head height, they form a cone, in pounds from the inside A funnel sets, then on a small hard piece of plastic on a flat stone, with a little sand as a buffer. The sand allows it to turn the form into a ball. It uses establish roles clay it. A piece of corn is used to make the outer surface even, and another piece of plastic on the inside voices. A small round segment hardened gourd helps in producing the desired final outer shape. A strip of soft leather makes it easier to create a smooth surface. Then on the next.
Gloria sits a few feet away, she starts a small bowl under a cloth was removed over several other polish. It is given to one of two almost golf ball sized polished river stones, she from her grandmother. She already has a set of dishes coated with a Mixture of a different, much more red clay and water so as to produce a terracotta-painted clay. Once hard and dry, all that Gloria and Mary have in the course of the day, produces is ready for baking.
Some Alfareros in the city Atzompa use overground bricks and cement kilns. Other in San Bartolo Coyotepec Ocotlán and use underground stone mines. Manuel Reyes Yanhuitlán his own twin furnaces of clay bricks, lengths constructed again enforced steel and mud. But the women of San Marcos, every time they want their pieces baked clay, build a temporary enclosure on the floor, made variously of discarded bed spring Pieces of rusted wheelbarrow, bent bicycle rims, old parts of the otherwise unusable laminated metal and shards of pottery, which have not survived a previous fire.
A cousin sometimes comes to sell by a truck Gloria María and a load of rotten branches, twigs and logs, for everywhere 400-1200 pesos, depending on Size of the load. Sometimes he brings with dried agave leaves, stock, and pieces from the heart, or piña harvested for any reason for mezcal production were. Women themselves often collect similar pieces of potential fuel stop during the course of walking the hills outside of their village, and up to two Pages of their mules before heading back home.
A day of baking can usually run smoothly, if there is no rain, and any earlier rainfall not leave the wood wet, if it's not too windy, and certainly, if there is a sufficient supply of flammable product at hand and not too much useless from scrap become by the beginning of the decomposition / disintegration.
Typically, Maria is responsible process, while Luci assists and Gloria shares their time between doing other household chores such as cooking tortillas and is invited as Maria tires or has been affected by the heat, or a step in production is time-critical.
All ceramics are baked out there, gathered near to the area in the "oven" to be built: a series of rustic clay pots — a job for a client who sells and makes piñatas, three were dismissed Comal not enough on a previous occasion; point clay figures in different sizes and shapes for the Tlacolula tourism, and a range of functional pots, bowls and plates, and a few small spoons and small screens.
A circular area of about two meters in diameter, produced, preferably using bed early on a pair of staggered Layers of bricks laid, as such a foundation for ventilation. Broken pots, old jars, metal, roof tiles, and whatever else is near at hand creates a limited extent. Small branches and pieces of agave hearts are placed below. María cuts agave leaves with a machete. Using an extremely heavy, Meter-and-a-half-long crowbar Barreta known Gloria split into pieces as a sign pitches and lengths of dried agave stock. María and Luci build flammable surface of the tip of the spring. With gentle understanding, María both directs and assists in placing the pieces. From her experience she knows how best to achieve even burning and prevent breakage.
More for each class of flammable and dried Tumbleweed is carefully about each other set the tone pieces. make tortillas hot ashes shoveled into crevices to facilitate combustion, while a few games, has a few specific sectors, a natural Lighting set, a fast light insured. A fairly strong wind fuels are still young, first fire, and within seconds the raging fire and smoke is billowing. More representatives and died Agave parts thrown on, with the utmost care, as multi-directional wind tunnels have been created. Gloria must completely cover her head, to ensure that no spark ignites her hair. Everyone takes a turn to free itself from the swirling, seemingly out-of-control flames. Finally, leaves of rusted Strategically placed next to metal, and on top to draw air from entering the inner parts of the control housing.
The morning the work completed, Flames are left to disperse, while Gloria, Maria and Luci sit, a drink of fresh fruit juice, and rest. After about 45 minutes until completion. The area to cool are left, while Gloria María and return to their work space simple, add a little water on their drying clay and begin kneading before the start of production again another diverse lot. Later that day, the oven will be dismantled, potters away hopefully with a minimal amount of breakage, dusted ash. The women of San Marcos Tlapazola then develop and field their goods in preparation for their next trip to the market.
Most Sundays find Maria sitting on the floor with Luci will be displayed with a series of rustic clay figures and masks, and a selection of traditional Zapotec cooking utensils and dishes in front of them on one side of an external Passage in the marketplace Tlacolula. Gloria is directly across from them, pouring cups tejate to thirsty passers-by.
About the Author
Alvin Starkman has a Masters in anthropology and a law degree. Now a resident of Oaxaca, Alvin writes, tours travelers to the sights — including excursions to visit San Marcos Tlapazola — and owns Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ), a unique Oaxaca bed and breakfast experience providing Oaxaca accommodations which combine the comfort and service of Oaxaca hotels with the personal touch of quaint country inn style lodging.
