Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24.15

c24.15

The potter may be found at work in the verandah of his house, or sometimes in a separate shed wholly devoted to the work. His appliances are, as may be supposed, simple enough. His wheel (*pōruva*) is a circular board about 2½ feet in diameter mounted on a stone pivot which fits into a larger stone socket embedded in the ground, the horizontal surface of the wheel itself standing not more than six inches above the ground (Fig. 134). The wheel is turned by a boy (Pl. V, 1) who squats on the ground opposite the potter and keeps it going with his hands. A lump of clay is dumped on the wheel, enough for half a dozen or more pots, and they are moulded one by one under the potter’s hands, cut off, and set aside to dry. To finish off the rims, a strip of wet cotton is used; with this the potter smooths off the edges as the wheel turns, and pressing through it with his nail, he makes the little mouldings at the top. As removed from the wheel the pots are bottomless and have to dry for a few hours or a day or two before they can be finished; when they are ready the potter takes a smooth stone in his left hand and a sort of wooden bat (*valantalana lella*) in his right hand, and holding the stone inside the vessel he beats and pats its sides till finally they meet across the bottom (Pl. V., 2); the vessel is rubbed smooth with the bat.* Occasionally the surface is polished by rubbing with a smooth seed. Any ornament required is now added, and the pot is ready for the fire. Firing is done in a low kiln with stone sides and a domed covering of wet clay and sticks. The kiln is square in plan, and has three or four openings along one side for the insertion of fuel, and on the other sides smaller openings for the escape of air. Long sticks are used for fuel, pushed through the openings by degrees as they burn away. The kiln is usually protected from the weather by a rough shed.