Amalia Felices making pots, by joining two mold-made halves and smoothing the inside; April 16, 1968.
[The potter] takes a mold, with the opening facing her and the mouth up. The shield or tortilla of [clay] paste is laid inside, with the flat side fitting into the mouth. With a small piece of rag, continually dipped into a bowl of water at one side, she smooths the clay until it adheres firmly and takes the exact form of the inside of the mold. Then with a piece of maguey fiber, one end held in the mouth and the other between thumb and index finger of the right hand, she quickly trims off any surplus that extends beyond the edges. After the other half of the mold has been similarly prepared the two pieces are fitted together, with the mouth facing the potter. She takes small bits of paste to fill any spaces at the joints, and then with the wet cloth smooths the inside until it is almost impossible to tell where the contact has been made. The mouth is carefully worked and smoothed, and with the same maguey fiber-or perhaps a horsehair, if there is no maguey at hand-the surplus is trimmed off. This mold is laid aside, and the process is repeated with others, each pot taking about 20 minutes to form. . . . [The potter] lifts off half of the first mold, and taps the emerging pot inside and outside. The dead sound indicates that it has dried sufficiently, so she carefully carries it, still resting in the other half, to a bed of zacate grass in the sun, where it is lifted out and left to try. For these large pots the fresh paste must be left in the mold for up to 2 hours to prevent sagging when it is removed (1948).
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