John Guerin on wed 8 jan 97
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Forwarded message:
Subj: Re: Bee Plant/Weed?
Date: 97-01-07 11:24:20 EST
From: Azclockdoc
To: CLAYART@lsv.uky.edu
In a message dated 97-01-07 10:57:36 EST, you write:
<< Russel Fouts asks about pueblo pottery:
>What I hadn't understood up to now (duh) was that it went on BEFORE
>the firing. Normally a plant extract would burn off (out) in the firing, so
>what's happening here? The firing is very high reduction using dung, the
>white base slip (in the case of Santo Domingo Pueblo) must be resisting the
>smoke to come out white.
and
>Is the Bee Weed syrup causing an intense local carbonization where the
>design is drawn? Any ideas of what could be substituted for the Bee Weed?
>>
Russel, you are correct in that the Bee Plant extract being a vegetable
extract will burn off in the firing. By itself, it will leave only a faint
grey shadow on the pot after a firing. The Bee weed Extract actually is used
as a "binder" to hold the mineral on the surface of the pot. The "mineral" is
usually manganese dioxide or black iron oxide, in the case of black paint,
which is found or mined in its natural state and ground up along with the Bee
Weed Extract (called Guaco) by the Pueblo Indians. Some of them keep it in
liquid form after boiling it down , but must pour it out into dried corn
husks and set it in the sun till it dries into a solid then grind it up along
with the mineral. The Bee Weed Plant is called Wild Spinich by the indians
because when they pick it in the spring and boil it, they eat it. However in
the late summer when a purple flower blooms on it, it is bitter tasting and
they just boil it for the Guaco.
Substitutes I have read about are the Mustard Plant and the Agave Plant. I
have sucessfully substituted Honey and the Mata Ortiz potters use Black
Walnut Husks.
Mesquite bark and Mesquite Sap can also be used. It doesn't sound like a very
reliable paint formula, but you can't argue with success. Their painted pots
have survived intact out in the desert for over a thousand years.
John Guerin
Indian Pottery Instructor
Pima College
Tucson,AZ
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