Fig. 308Fig. 308.—Bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 308.—Bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
The vessel presented in Fig. 310 has a flattened upper surface, an angular shoulder, and a high body, slightly conical below. The painted design is nearly obliterated in places by abrasion or weathering, but is correctly presented in Fig. 311, which gives the three zones in horizontal projection. This brings out a very marked feature, the cruciform arrangement of the parts, which would not be apparent in a vertical projection.
Fig. 309Fig. 309.—Bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 309.—Bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 310Fig. 310.—Bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 310.—Bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
The two inner circles occupy the upper surface of the vessel and the outer one the most expanded portion of the body. The inner belt is separated into four panels or compartments by as many series of transverse lines, the panels being filled in with longitudinal, broken lines. The second band is also divided by four series of straight lines, but the compartments are occupied by scrolls in white, bordered by serrate wings in black. The outer band exhibits a very curious combination of features, the whole figure, however, being based upon the meander. It is probable that the grouping in fours is accidental, the division of a surface into four being much more readily accomplished than into any other number above two.
Fig. 311Fig. 311.—Painted design.
Fig. 311.—Painted design.
There are few better examples of the skill and good taste of the ancient potter than the bowl illustrated in Fig. 312. The body is much flattened and the incurved margin considerably depressed. The color is reddish, both on the surface and in the mass, while the upper part is painted a bright red. Upon this color, encircling the shoulder and extending inward toward the lip, is a handsome design in black and white lines. This is nearly obliterated, but enough is left to show that it consists of a highly elaborated rectilinear meander pattern, the idea being developed apparently in the light ground color. The painted lines are in black bordered with fine white stripes—a common occurrence in the south.
Fig. 312Fig. 312.—Red bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 312.—Red bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
We have in the Museum an exquisitely shaped vessel of this class obtained from the Zuñi Indians. The material and color are identical with the red specimen from Saint George. The whole surface is painted red and a neat border design in black is worked over this. The lip is not so much depressed as in the preceding examples. Two perforationsoccur near the margin, through which the Zuñis have passed a buckskin thong. Another plain bowl is very much compressed vertically.
Fig. 313Fig. 313.—Oblong bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 313.—Oblong bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Oblong bowls are not a prominent feature in Pueblo pottery. A few examples were found at Saint George, Utah, but these are of the shallow variety. The only oblong bowl with incurved rim yet sent in is shown in Fig. 313. It is six inches long and four inches wide. The ornamentation consists of three lines of meanders, that upon the flat upper surface being irregular and not continuous.
Fig. 314Fig. 314.—Globular vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 314.—Globular vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
In Fig. 314 we see another variation from the two usual forms of bowls. This vessel is globular, and the aperture quite large. Two small nodes attached to the sides and vertically perforated serve as handles. The ornamentation consists of a number of disconnected and greatly varied bands of meandered lines and figures, obliquely placed. The ornamented surface is separated into two parts by vertical panels at the handles. This affords a suggestion, of an adventitious or mechanical origin for the vertical bands which are so prominent a feature in modern Pueblo pottery. One of these is partially visible at the right side in the cut.
Fig. 315Fig. 315.—Vasel: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 315.—Vasel: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Ollas.—A typical example of the chalky ware of Tusayan is illustrated in Fig. 315. It is a wide, low vase of symmetrical form. The body is flattened above and hemispherical below. The material is almost as white and as soft as chalk. The design comprises two zones of devices. One occupies the upright neck, and consists of encircling lines interrupted by vertical bands. The other, upon the flattened shoulder, is based upon the meander. Both are bordered by wide bands in the dark color and an additional band encircles the body.
Fig. 316
Another handsome little vase is presented in Fig. 316. The two meanders show very diverse styles of treatment. In the upper the lines are all oblique, while in the lower they are chiefly rectangular and much prolonged horizontally. Corresponding treatment of the two bands occurs in other vessels.
The vessel shown in Fig. 317 is very different in appearance from the two preceding, and is much larger and ruder in finish. The surface has been finished with the trowel or hand without polishing. It is ten inches high and the same in width. The whole decoration consists ofinterlinked meander-units not arranged in belts, but thrown together in a careless manner across the body of the vase. In the Keam collection there is a water bottle nearly twice as large as this, similar in shape and finish, but having a very different though equally rude painted design. This collection contains also the large pot-like vesselor cauldron shown in Fig. 318. The walls are heavy, the lip is rounded, and the form is such as to be very serviceable for ordinary domestic use. The ornamentation consists of two bands of figures, the upper, as usual, being very simple. The figures of the body zone are in black upon the light ground. Two sets, or pairs, of the triangular links make the circuit of the vessel, the entire ornament appearing in Fig. 319.
Fig. 317Fig. 317.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 317.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 318Fig. 318.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 318.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 319Fig. 319.—Painted design.
Fig. 319.—Painted design.
Fig. 320Fig. 320.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 320.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
There is, however, something less simple and consistent in the ornament seen in Fig. 320. The connecting stems of the units are heavy dark lines. The ends of the links are but imperfectly developed or are obscured by elaboration giving a suggestion of degeneracy, but the whole result is highly pleasing. The shape is an exceptional one, the body being flattened to a greater degree than usual. The ground color and the paste are quite white, yet there is in the design and its treatment a suggestion of the decoration of the cream colored ware of Tusayan. This suggestion is emphasized by the occurrence of the two pairs of dark strokes on the neck—a feature more usual in the yellow wares.
Fig. 321Fig. 321.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 321.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 322Fig. 322.—Painted design.
Fig. 322.—Painted design.
In 1883 Mr. Mindeleff brought in two superb examples of ancient water vases. They are excellent illustrations of the skill and taste of the ancient Pueblo potter. The example illustrated in Fig. 321 is ten and a half inches in height and twelve inches in diameter. Its form is symmetrical and graceful. The surface has been whitened, but is somewhat uneven and not highly polished. The painted design is well preserved, and consists of two broad belts of devices. The upper, occupying the sloping neck, is a very simple combination of lines, based upon a single white meandered line, and the lower is quite complex and encircles the widest part of the body. The latter appears at first sight to be rather complicated, but is easily resolved into its elements.
Fig. 339Fig. 323.—Unit of the design.
Fig. 323.—Unit of the design.
Fig. 324Fig. 324.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 324.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
The zone is five and a half inches in width and consists of two lines of highly elaborated meanders combined in a most ingenious and pleasing manner. The design is projected in Fig. 322 and compares favorably with the exquisite diaper patterns of oriental decorators. A single unit of its structure is given in Fig. 323. The triangular spaces along the border are filled in with fragments of designs harmonious in style with the principal figures. Certain spaces of the expanded connecting fillets of the units, are filled in with serrate or dotted lines. Some portion of the design seem to be developed in the white ground, as, for instance, the figures in the lateral triangles.
Fig. 325Fig. 325.—Painted design.
Fig. 325.—Painted design.
Fig. 326Fig. 326.—Unit of the design.
Fig. 326.—Unit of the design.
The boldness of the primitive decorator is well shown in the manipulation of these large vases. Simplicity and breadth were not sacrificed when it became necessary to carry the oft-repeated figures over the broad surface of such a vessel as that shown in Fig. 324, whose height and width measure fourteen inches each. In shape, in surface treatment, and in the arrangement of the broad belts of decoration this vessel corresponds very closely with the preceding, but the favorite motives are executed in the white color of the ground, and are thrown across the surface of the vessel with charming freedom and boldness. The upper zone encircling the neck is occupied by a large, rather rudely drawn chain of scrolls developed in the white ground by painting the interspaces black. The broad belt of figures encircling the body of the vase is not filled out as in the preceding case, the lower series of triangular spaces being plain. The principal feature consists of a single line of the fret-work developed in the white ground. This is shown in Fig. 325. A unit of the design is given in black in Fig. 326. The connecting curve or stem of the unit incloses a rectangular space, throughwhich the fillet returns in a series of fine scrolls. The interlocked ends of the units of the principal chain have terminations or hooks angular in two cases and curved in another, demonstrating the identity of the curvilinear and the rectilinear forms of this ornament. The small isolated stepped figure between the hooks tells, I imagine, of a textile ancestry.
Fig. 327Fig. 327.—Large vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/9.
Fig. 327.—Large vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/9.
In Fig. 327 we have another vase of still higher grade—a very masterpiece of fictile work. It is next to the largest piece of the ancient ware yet described, being twenty-four inches in diameter and upward of twenty inches in height. The form is not quite symmetrical, but the outline is highly satisfactory. The body is full and slightly conical at the base, and above joins the neck with a graceful convex curve. The surface is even and well polished, and the painted design is executed with great precision. The motives employed are identical with the preceding. Scrolls and fretted figures are carried around the neck, shoulder, and body in three bands suited exactly in width and in size of parts to the conformation of the vessel. The simple scrolls of the upper part need no explanation, and a careful analysis of the broader band, as projected in Fig. 328, furnishes a key to its rather extraordinary construction. The dark lines are drawn with mechanical exactness, and the delicate white lines, in which many of the finer details are workedout, areleftwith a nicety of handling worthy of the most skilled decorator. By a reference to the outline given in Fig. 329 it will be seen that the whole ornament hangs upon a single thread woven into a chain of delicate fret-work running through the middle of the design. The long connecting band of each unit consists of two lines (taking the black lines as representative of the idea or motive), which separate in the middle part, inclosing a wide rectangular space. This is filled with geometric ornamentation in white lines upon a black ground, as shown in Fig. 328. The triangular spaces above are occupied by checker-work of light and heavy lines. The very marked rectangular character of this handsome design indicates familiarity with the textile embodiment of the motive.
Fig. 328Fig. 328.—Painted design.
Fig. 328.—Painted design.
Fig. 329Fig. 329.—Unit of the design.
Fig. 329.—Unit of the design.
Fig. 330Fig. 330.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 330.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 331Fig. 331.—Vase: Province of Cibola.—1/3.
Fig. 331.—Vase: Province of Cibola.—1/3.
Bottles.—Under this head I desire to present a number of vases having high, narrow necks. Few examples of the pottery of any people show bolder and more successful treatment than the specimen illustrated in Fig. 330. It is a large, full-bodied bottle, the neck and lip of which unfortunately are lost. The restored outline can profess to be approximate only. The surface is well polished, though gray from age.Two masterly scrolls, formed each of a broad black line bordered by white lines, are thrown across opposite sides of the vase. The ground upon which they are drawn is filled in with series of lines which accommodate themselves very gracefully to the surface of the vessel and to the scrolls.
A number of ancient vessels, found in the hands of the Zuñi Indians, were probably obtained by them from some of the neighboring ruins, although in a few cases they may have been carried from distant places in the north or west. The finer examples correspond very closely to the ware of which multitudes of fragments are found at old Zuñi, San Antonio Springs, Nutria, and other places in or near the province of Cibola. They seem to be identical also in many respects with the better class of the white ware of Tusayan. The forms are very much the same and the ornaments exhibit similar arrangements of identical motives.
Fig. 332Fig. 332.—Vase: Province of Cibola.—1/3.
Fig. 332.—Vase: Province of Cibola.—1/3.
The superb vessel illustrated in Fig. 331, is a typical example of the work of the ancient potters of Cibola. In form it falls but little short of perfect symmetry. The body is nearly globular, being slightly compressed vertically. The neck is small and the lip slightly recurved. The surface, originally white, now darkened from use, is well polished excepting where roughened by age. In Fig. 333 we have a partial projection of the painted design obtained by viewing the vase vertically. This may be described as a rosette of spiral rays which consist of gracefully meandered lines alternating with groups of plain stripes. These are developed in the light color of the vase by painting in a black ground.Viewed from the side the decoration is seen to consist of the two usual zones—a narrow one about the neck, occupied by a meander, and a broad one covering the greater part of the body, crossed obliquely by a number of bands of ornament.
A similar vase, also from Zuñi, is illustrated in Fig. 332. It is much darkened by use and age and has suffered considerably from wear and tear. The ornament consists of three zones, a band of stepped figures about the neck, a handsome meander-chain with terraced links upon the rounded collar, and a broad belt of radiating meanders encircling the body. A vertical view showing the two outer lines of decoration is given in Fig. 334. A peculiar feature in this vessel is the indented finger-hold seen in the lower part of the body, Fig. 332.
In both form and ornament these bottles exhibit decided resemblances to wicker vessels. The introduction of stepped figures and spiral rays sufficiently demonstrates the textile origin of the painted designs.
Figs. 333Fig. 333.—Painted design.
Fig. 333.—Painted design.
Figs. 334Fig. 334.—Painted design.
Fig. 334.—Painted design.
A few bottles are larger than the examples given. One having a high narrow neck is seventeen inches high and sixteen in diameter of body. Generally vases of this shape are below medium size, and they are very often supplied with handles or perforated knobs, either upon the shoulder or the neck. In a few cases only the necks are high and slender like the bottles of the mound-builders of the middle Mississippi region.
The vessel illustrated in Fig. 335 is not properly classified either with the preceding or with the following group, but I place it here on account of its peculiar painted device, which appears in other forms and connections in the two succeeding figures. The ornament as usual occupies two zones, each of which has three groups of vertical lines alternating with as many star-like figures resembling somewhat the Maltese cross. The latter device may possibly have been introduced to represent some idea, and I have no doubt that almost any member of the modern tribescould be induced to give a full explanation of its significance. It would, however, be his idea only and not necessarily that of the ancient potter.
Fig. 335Fig. 335.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 335.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 336Fig. 336.—Handled vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 336.—Handled vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Handled vessels.—Handled vessels of this province are greatly varied. Examples of the dippers have already been given. Besides them there is a long series of vessels with more or less constricted necks; the handles of which are of three or four pretty distinct varieties, including the long vertical loop connecting the rim with the shoulder or body, thestrong horizontal loop set at the base of the neck, and the perforated knob placed upon the shoulder. There are also a few examples of cup-shaped projections, Fig. 351, and heads of animals, Fig. 352, which are set upon the neck near the rim and seem to be survivals of handles or ornaments merely.
Fig. 337Fig. 337.—Painted design.
Fig. 337.—Painted design.
Fig. 338Fig. 338.—Handled mug: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 338.—Handled mug: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
The vessel shown in Fig. 336 has an interesting combination of decorative features. I present it here, although a little out of place in my classification by form, in order to point out the similarity between its decoration and that of Fig. 335. It is a handsome mug of hard gray ware, finished with a white slip, and decorated with painted designs in the prevailing arrangement. Four equidistant nodes of large size are placed about the shoulder of the vessel. These occur along the middle of the lower zone of painted devices, the notable feature being that the volutes of the painted scroll-work encircle the nodes and inclose, between their interlinked points, cross-like devices, resembling those found upon the preceding specimen. These crosses occupy the apices of the nodes, as shown in the illustration. The painted design is given in Fig. 337.The design proper—the interlinked scrolls—is in white, the dark color being used as a ground to develop it. This is true of a great majority of the examples presented. The same device, with a slightly different combination, is seen in Fig. 338, which illustrates a small jug from the Keam collection. The design is well shown in Fig. 339, and in this case it will readily be seen that the motive proper is in white, while the black hooks and the connecting lozenge-shaped figures, forming the cross, represent the ground. This association of the cross with the linking of the scrolls is suggestive of a possible origin of the device as used independently in the instance given in Fig. 335.
Fig. 340Fig. 339.—Painted design.
Fig. 339.—Painted design.
Fig. 340Fig. 340.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 340.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 341Fig. 341.—Painted design.
Fig. 341.—Painted design.
I shall now present a small group of handled vessels of varying characters upon which we have some illustrations of a peculiar treatment of meander motives.
Fig. 342Fig. 342.—Handled cup: Province of Cibola.—1/3.
Fig. 342.—Handled cup: Province of Cibola.—1/3.
Fig. 343Fig. 343.—Painted ornament.
Fig. 343.—Painted ornament.
The vessel illustrated in Fig. 340 belongs to the Keam collection. The decoration is very simple and consists of a novel combination of running scrolls. The design is produced by filling in the space between two separate chains of scrolls in black with fine oblique lines, Fig. 341. Identical treatment of the meander is found upon a mug brought from Zuñi and illustrated by Mr. Stevenson in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. Fig. 342. This will be apparent when the design, Fig. 343, is placed by the side of the preceding. The first is drawn in curved black lines, the ground remaining white, the second is in rectilinear white lines, the ground being black.
Fig. 344Fig. 344.—Painted ornament.
Fig. 344.—Painted ornament.
Two others of like character, one angular and the other curvilinear, are found upon small red vessels from Tusayan, Figs. 344 and 345. Stillanother noteworthy example is found upon the interior surface of a red bowl from Cibola, which, when projected in a straight line, gives the handsome ornament illustrated in Fig. 346.
Fig. 345Fig. 345.—Painted ornament.
Fig. 345.—Painted ornament.
Fig. 346Fig. 346.—Painted ornament.
Fig. 346.—Painted ornament.
There is in the Keam collection a very interesting vessel, having two heavy horizontal loops attached to opposite sides of the body. The painted figure consists chiefly of a rectangular meander in white bordered by black and forming a wide zone about the body of the vessel. The spaces are filled in with fine parallel oblique lines. With the addition of a foot this vessel would be found to resemble, in both form and ornament, some early varieties of the Greek kylix.
Fig. 347Fig. 347.—Handled vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 347.—Handled vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
The wide-mouthed vase shown in Fig. 348 differs very decidedly in style from the last. It is finer in texture and much more carefully finished. The form is decidedly antique. The painted design is quiteindistinct, the color having rubbed off or faded out. The work has been neatly done with a fine brush and exhibits some new features in point of detail. If we trace out the figures, however, we will see that there are no new motives, the meander forming the basis of all. There is a double line of figures, the upper one being the more simple, as usual.
Fig 348Fig. 348.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 348.—Vase: Province of Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 349Fig. 349.—Bottle: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 349.—Bottle: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
In the bottle illustrated in Fig. 349 the usual motives have been employed. A few heavy lines serve to give emphasis to the lip, while a band of linked scrolls is carried around the shoulder, bordered by simple parallel lines. Unpretentious as the work is, it has a very pleasing effect. The shape is repeated in modern Pueblo pottery. It is theoriginal of the canteen, which has acquired the flattened form through accident, or change in the habits of the people employing it. A very superior example of these bottles is given in Fig. 350. The body is somewhat flattened and the sides are nearly perpendicular, giving two well defined spaces for decoration, the one above and the other about the middle of the body. The latter space is occupied by a very slender, meandered line in white, the interspaces being filled in with black. Four links encircle the vessel, two oblong ones occurring upon the sides and two short ones beneath the handles. The upper surface is decorated with a band of scrolls, four in number, partially defined in white by painting the space on one side black. There are two low, knob-like, vertically perforated handles on the shoulder of the vessel.
Fig. 350Fig. 350.—Bottle: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 350.—Bottle: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 351Fig. 351.—Bottle: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 351.—Bottle: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
The vessel shown in Fig. 351 is interesting on account of the peculiar knobs or ears placed on the sides of the neck, near the lip. They rudely resemble the corolla of a flower, but suggest as well the wheel-like coils of hair gathered up at the sides of the head by the women of Moki. They were probably associated with some superstition of the ancients. The neck of the bottle is unusually high. The shape is quite graceful and the painted decoration is simple and effective.
Fig. 352Fig. 352.—Vase: Eastern Arizona.—1/2.
Fig. 352.—Vase: Eastern Arizona.—1/2.
In a collection recently sent from the vicinity of Springerville, Arizona, by E. W. Nelson, there are a number of vessels similar in appearance to the preceding, but with shorter necks and rounder bodies. They are small, well-finished, and in some cases quite new looking. The designs in black are nicely executed and exhibit considerable refinement of taste. One having a small animal head attached to the side of the neck is illustrated in Fig. 352. A broad meandered border encircles the neck, and a superb pattern, consisting of four ingeniously combined horizontal chains of meanders in white covers the upper three fourths of the body.
Eccentric and life forms.—In the collection made by Mr. Nelson there are several eccentric forms. One, a two-storied vessel of good proportion, neat finish and ornamentation, is illustrated in Fig. 353. The form is an exceptional one in the ancient ware, but is frequently seen in modern work of the Pueblos and other tribes. It had its origin perhaps in a double-lobed form of the gourd, or possibly the idea was suggested by the superposition of one vessel upon another.
As previously observed, the Pueblo ware is characterized, in a general way, by great simplicity of form. There is, however, one small group of eccentric forms within which we find a pretty wide range of outline, a few specimens exhibiting undoubted resemblances to life forms. Nearly all are bottles with handles and lobed bodies, often unsymmetrical.The handle in each case connects the lip with the shoulder or body of the vessel. The lobes are generally three in number and are rarely of equal dimensions, one being more or less prolonged.
Fig. 353Fig. 353.—Vase of eccentric form: Eastern Arizona.—1/3.
Fig. 353.—Vase of eccentric form: Eastern Arizona.—1/3.
It is very difficult to say where these curious forms originated, or in what direction they were developing. Did the archaic potter, by exaggerating the accidental eccentricities of early and simple forms, arrive at these grotesque shapes, did use determine their conformation, or must we look for their originals in antecedent utensils derived from, or made in direct imitation of, life forms?
Fig. 353Fig. 354.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 354.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/2.
It is manifestly useless to seek for their antecedents within the limits of the ceramic art. A few are of such a shape as to suggest the skin vessels so often used by primitive peoples, and their origin in thismanner would be entirely consistent with the laws of art growth. One variety is shaped somewhat like a shoe or moccasin. Another takes the form of a bird. In regard to their origin it would indeed be a marvel if they should be found to represent an intermediate step between the skin vessels of primitive peoples and the conventional pitcher of civilization, as corresponding shapes are thought to do in Eastern countries.
Fig. 355Fig. 355.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/3.
Fig. 355.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/3.
Within the Pueblo province these vessels are widely but not very generally distributed, so far as specimens at hand show. I have already described two examples, Figs. 255 and 256, from Saint George, Utah, which are of the simplest type, having three nodes with no suggestion of life form.
Fig. 356Fig. 356.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 356.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/2.
In Fig. 354 we have a small, well-finished cup of white ware, from Tusayan, similar in outline to the Saint George specimens. One of the three somewhat pointed nodes is considerably more prominent than the others. The handle is unique, being modeled apparently after the curved neck of a gourd, the pointed tip touching but not uniting with the body of the vessel. This vessel is handsomely decorated with two bands of scrolls. That upon the neck is of a usual form consisting of three sets of linked scrolls with zigzag or stepped connecting fillets. The scrolls of the lower bands interlock upon the three nodes and areconnected by broad Z-shaped stems also stepped or notched. This specimen is from the Keam collection.
Another smaller vessel, still more unique in character, is illustrated in Fig. 355. One of the nodes is very much prolonged, giving, with the upright neck, a form rudely suggestive of a bird. The ornament, like the last, consists of two bands. The upper is of diamond-shaped figures in white upon a black ground, and the lower of a cleverly managed meander, which is made to conform neatly to the eccentricities of the body. The hooks encircle the nodes as in the preceding case.
A smaller specimen is given in Fig. 356. The node next the handle being prolonged resembles the tail of a bird, while the other nodes, which would occupy the place of the two prominences of the breast, are barely suggested. The decoration is extremely simple.
Fig. 357Fig. 357.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 357.—Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.—1/2.
A fine specimen of these novel vessels is illustrated in Fig. 357. The body is much prolonged on one side and has no prominence whatever at the breast points. The handle is but slightly arched and connects the rim with the extreme point of the projecting lobe. There is here a rather decided suggestion of a skin or intestine vessel. It is but a step from this form to the well-known shoe or moccasin shape of a later period of Pueblo art, a form known in nearly all centers of ancient American culture. The decoration is simple and unique, consisting of a meandered figure in white upon a black ground, with parallel bordering lines in black. It connects opposite sides of the rim passing beneath the projecting lobe.
A number of the best examples are in the National collection. One of these, Fig. 358, is figured by Mr. Stevenson in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. It might be described as shoe-shaped, yet we are forcibly reminded of the headless body of a bird, the rathersquare projecting breast being a marked feature. The painted ornament consists of broad zigzag, meandered bands filled in with fine oblique stripes.
Fig. 358Fig. 358.—Vase of eccentric form: Cibola.—1/3.
Fig. 358.—Vase of eccentric form: Cibola.—1/3.
One of the finest specimens is presented in Fig. 359. The triangular or three-lobed form of body is still noticeable, two of the points forming the breast, and the other, much prolonged, standing for the tail of the bird. The meaning of the latter feature is made plain by the painted figure. A conventional design, consisting of concentric, plain and zigzag lines, occupies the back, and terminates behind in a row of pinnate marks, evidently a conventional drawing of the tail. The wings are indicated at the sides by a design like that upon the back. The breast is embellished with a series of oblong dots probably intended for feathers. In this case the neck, which is high and narrow, has three prominences near the top; one at the front represents the bill of the bird, and others at the sides are meant for eyes. A handle has connected the head with the middle of the back. This is nearly all broken away and the stumps have been perforated for the insertion of cords. A serrate collar in black encircles the neck. The original of this vase was obtained in the Pueblo country and belongs to Dr. Sheldon Jackson. A specimen recently acquired by the National Museum is superior to this in its decorative treatment. The body has four lobes, one for the breast, another for the tail, and one for each of the wings. Each of these lobes is made the center about which the volutes of the very elaborate scroll-work are turned.
I shall give one more illustration, Fig. 360. This is taken from the Keam collection and represents a bird. The vessel is quite distinct inshape from those previously given, being much like the bird vessels of the mound-builders. It is a cup with constricted rim, the head, tail, and wings of the bird projecting horizontally from the outer margin of the rim. It is of the white ware and has had a painted design in black lines, now nearly obliterated.
Fig. 359.Fig. 359.—Bird-shaped vase: Arizona.—1/3.
Fig. 359.—Bird-shaped vase: Arizona.—1/3.
Fig. 360.Fig. 360.—Bird-shaped cup: Tusayan.—1/2.
Fig. 360.—Bird-shaped cup: Tusayan.—1/2.
Two great groups of ceramic products have now been presented—the coiled ware and the white decorated ware. These groups belong to the first great period of pueblo art in clay. Their chronological identity is sometimes questioned, the coiled ware to all appearances being the more archaic. It is simple in form and rude in finish, is without painted ornament, and was relegated to the more ordinary uses. These and other features give countenance to the theory of greater antiquity; but theintimate association of the two groups in nearly every locality indicates close identity in time. It cannot be said that the other classes of ware found within the same province belong to different times or to distinct races, but they are widely separated in many important characters from the two leading groups. They exhibit greater variety of form, less constraint in decoration, and greatly improved technique, points tending to prove advance in culture, and, presumably, in time.
The more closely the ceramic art of the ancient peoples is studied the more decidedly it appears that it was profoundly influenced by the textile arts, and especially by basketry. The latter art was practiced from remote antiquity, and within historic times the manufacture of baskets has been the most important industry of the tribes of the Pacific slope of temperate North America. Ceramic shapes, wherever found within this region, coincide closely with textile outlines, and the geometric ornamentation can be traced to textile prototypes originating in the technical peculiarities of construction.
Another point brought out by the preceding studies follows naturally the foregoing statement. There are in the pueblo country no primitive forms of earthenware. This may lead to the inference that the pueblo tribes migrated from other regions in which the earlier stages of the art had existed, but taken in connection with the lack of individuality in the potter's art, and its evident dependence upon the textile art, it leads decidedly to the conclusion that art in clay was acquired by these tribes in comparatively recent times. The ancient pueblos practised the art of basketry, but clearly remained ignorant of the plastic art, until by some accident of environment it was introduced or discovered. Under the influence of the sister art, pottery at once took a high stand. During the first stages, however, it was a servile art, reproducing the forms and decorations of basketry. The true plastic characters of clay remained practically undiscovered, and is only now, under the influence of the European, dawning upon the conservative mind of the inhabitant of the plateaus.
Besides basketry, it is probable that the early pueblos made use of gourds and of tissue vessels, traces of their influence occurring quite frequently, but there is no indication whatever of the presence of carvings in shell, wood, and stone.
I do not wish in this place to dwell upon the details of pueblo ornament. A single example will serve to illustrate the origin and character of the leading decorative conceptions. Glancing through the series of vases illustrated under painted ware, we find that ninety-four out of one hundred designs are meanders, or are based upon the meander. Beginning with the simple waved or broken line we pass up through all grades of increasing complexity to chains of curvilinear and rectilinear meanders in which the links are highly individualized, being composed of a sigmoid line, terminating in reversed hooks; but in nocase do we reach a loop in the curved forms or an intersection in the angular forms. The typical intersecting Greek fret does not therefore occur, nor, I may add, is it found anywhere in native American art.
The constructional characters of the art in which these linear forms developed, although they encouraged geometrical elaboration, forbade intersections or crossings of a line upon itself, and the genius of the decorator had never freed itself from this bondage. The forms imposed upon decoration by the textile art arenecessarilygeometric and rectilinear, and their employment in other and less conventional arts, has been too limited to destroy or even greatly modify these characters.
The study of Pueblo art embodied in the preceding pages tells the simple story of the evolution of art—and especially of decorative art—in a period when the expanding mind of primitive man, still held in the firm grasp of instinctive and traditional methods—the bonds of nature—was steadily working out its æsthetic destiny.