Ceramic Arts Daily Lesson Plan
Mimbres Decoration Technique
by Tracy P. Gamble
Goals
• Learn to paint figures and designs in
the Mimbres style.
• Research Mimbres designs on the
internet by Googling “Mimbres designs.” You’ll find several sites with
designs that will help you get started.
• Research contemporary artists who
reference Mimbres styles, including
Diego Romero.
• Translate your own ideas for decorative patterns using a combination
of contemporary interpretations of
Mimbres style images and majolica
painting techniques.
History
The Mimbres people painted images in
black on a white background, mostly on
earthenware bowls. Very little beyond
pottery has been recovered to learn
more about these people, so making an
interpretation of the Mimbres culture
based on archaeological finds remains
highly speculative.
What is agreed upon, however, is that,
between 550 and 1150 C.E., they lived
in a 46-mile-long valley in a southwest
corner of New Mexico. With no known
incidence of war, these peaceful village
dwellers also farmed, hunted and foraged.
What is also agreed upon is that they
painted on pottery, creating images of
human figures with rabbits, lizards, fish,
antelopes and even bugs from their landscape. It is interesting that Europe was
rife with violence, and war during the
same period that the Mimbres were painting images that appear to reflect a very
different world view.
Interpretation
The bowl form and antelope decoration of the vessels in the photographic
Mimbres–style vessel with contemporary silhouette of “Bob the
Wonderdog,” 8½ inches in height. Earthenware with white opaque
matt glaze and single coat of gloss black decoration fired to cone 04.
examples shown here was inspired directly from an authentic Mimbres piece in the Eiteljorg Museum collection
(in Indianapolis, Indiana). I drew an interpretation of the
original antelope design, photocopied it and enlarged it to a
size that best fit the vessel being glazed, then cut it out with
an X-Acto knife.
In my recent work, this Mimbres decorative style has
progressed into more silhouette-type images from contemporary themes. For example, animal silhouettes—from
dogs to chickens—as the main image on a vessel with
Mimbres traditional rim designs are used. Think of ways
that images that are meaningful to you can be incorporated into your designs, and make sketches of different
©2010 Ceramic Publications Company
Creating a Continuous
Rounded Base
The simple forms of Mimbres pottery are directly connected to the decoration. Traditionally, Mimbres pots have
a rounded base without a separate foot, but I created a
foot with a continuous rounded look that is functional (it
stands sturdy on the foot without rocking) while keeping its appearance traditional. This same foot is used for
mugs, vases and bowls.
Throw any size bowl, mug or vase in the usual way
and trim the foot when the vessel is leather hard. (Note:
I started out throwing a vessel with a bit thicker base (an
extra ¼-inch thickness in the bottom of the vessel) and
discovered that additional thickness was not really needed
with careful trimming.)
Center and attach the leather-hard pot to the wheelhead, then mark the outside of the foot with a trimming
tool (figure 1). Trim away excess clay from the outside of
the piece using the rounded side of the trimming tool (figure 2). Remove ridges with the flat side of the trimming
tool (figure 3). Trim inside the foot ring with the corner
of the tool (figure 4). Round the foot for a continuous
rounded look to the curve of the vessel base and smooth
and finish with flat side of tool (figure 5). Smooth with a
slightly damp sponge, then smooth the curve with a flexible rib (figure 6). Sign or stamp the bottom.
1
2
3
4
5
6
variatios and possibilities in
your sketchbook before committing one to the surface of a
pot. Once you have a design you
like, make several photocopies to work from, and save the
original in your sketchbook. Mimbres Surface
Decoration
The Mimbres decoration is black
on white, and historically was
unglazed.
To recreate the black and white
style but incorporate glaze, do
the following. After bisque firing
earthenware clay to cone 03,
paint on three coats of an opaque
white matt glaze for the white
base/background. Apply the glaze
one coat at a time and allow it to
dry naturally between coats. Forcing the coats to dry with a hair
dryer or heat gun does not work
well because the heat shrinks
the glaze quickly, causing it to
separate from the clay and crawl
during firing.
Use a soft lead pencil to trace
a design on the raw, unfired
white glaze base, then paint on
the decoration using black glaze.
If you use a gloss black, just a
single coat will work if you want
to keep the matt or satin effect
of the white glaze. A second coat
makes the black too glossy. Find
a combination of clay and glazes
you want to use and test them
before investing a lot of time in
decorating a piece. I’ve used various earthenware clay bodies and
a variety of low-fire opaque matt
white glazes and black glazes, all
with good results.
Once the decoration was
painted on, do a final glaze firing
to cone 04.
Tracy Gamble is a studio potter working
and teaching in clay in Plainfield, Indiana.
She opened her first studio in Des Plaines,
Illinois in 1993.
©2010 Ceramic Publications Company
1
Using your template, trace the image
onto the base glaze with a pencil.
2
Add the details, pencil marks will
disappear during the kiln firing.
3
Using a small bamboo brush, paint the image
with one coat of black, low-fire majolica glaze.
4
Center the vessel on the wheel or banding
wheel and, as the vessel slowly turns, add 3
to 8 lines on and near the rim on the inside using a dagger brush.
©2010 Ceramic Publications Company
5
Mark the centers of the small triangles that
will go all the way around the rim.
6
Fill in triangles to complete the motif.
Mimbres–style antelope bowls
ranging from 3 to 9 inches in diameter, wheel-thrown, red earthenware, fired to cone 04.
Mimbres–style lizard and rabbit vessels, wheel-thrown,
earthenware, fired to cone 04, by Tracy Gamble.
©2010 Ceramic Publications Company