Title: Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum
Identifier: annalsofsouthaf751978sout (find matches)
Year: 1898 (1890s)
Authors: South African Museum
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: Cape Town : The Museum
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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302 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM sunset the pots are positioned and supported on small stones. Bark is stacked inside and round the pots; kindling and old thatching grass are piled on top and ignited. As the grass burns, more is added until the flames are smothered and the burnt grass is insulating the smouldering coals within. The bark burns slowly and without a flame. After checking with a long stick that all the pots are surrounded by glowing coals, the potter leaves the fire to burn overnight. The pots are allowed to cool (Fig. 11) and are finally taken home. Fired pottery is porous and not fully waterproof. Pots for cooking and brewing beer are sealed through use. In pots for storing water porosity is an advantage as it allows the water to cool. On other pots the application of graphite or ochre, followed by burnishing, may make them less porous, but it was not asked whether burnishing was done consciously for this reason as well as for the more obvious decorative purpose. Breakages in the firing are usually explained in terms of poor quality clay or the excessive heat of the fire. None of the potters questioned put breakages down to supernatural causes. This accords with Krige & Krige's (1943: 35) observation that technical success is based on practical knowledge of the environment, in this case the quality of the clay, rather than on manipulation of 'mysterious forces'. Repair Cracked pots are repaired with beeswax. A well-made ledzomela in the Krige Collection, SAM-9801, has been carefully caulked with beeswax and is held together with fine wire round the rim.
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Fig. 11. Pots cooling after a large firing.

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