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Title: Pottery of the ancient Pueblos. (1886 N 04 / 1882-1883 (pages 257-360))
Author: William Henry Holmes
Release Date: February 4, 2013 [EBook #41998]
Language: English
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION----BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
POTTERY
OF THE
ANCIENT PUEBLOS.
BY
WILLIAM H. HOLMES.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introductory 265
Pueblo art 266
Distribution 266
Character 266
Treatment 266
The ceramic art 267
Age 267
Material 267
Tempering 267
Construction 268
Surface finish 268
Firing 268
Glaze 268
Hardness 269
Color 269
Form 269
Origin of forms 269
Handles 271
Ornament 271
Origin of ornament 272
Use 272
Classification 272
Coil-made ware 273
Coiling 273
Coiling of the Pueblos 273
Coiling of other peoples 275
Origin of the coil 277
The coil in ornamentation 278
Other varieties of ornament 282
Material 283
Color, etc. 283
Form 283
Use 283
Illustrations of vessels 284
District of the Rio San Juan 284
District of the Rio Virgen 287
District of the Little Colorado 292
Pecos and the Rio Grande 298
District of the Rio Gila 299
Imitation coiled ware 299
Plain ware 299
Painted ware 302
Preliminary remarks 302
Color of designs 302
Execution 302
Stages of ornament 303
Classification of ware 304
White ware 305
Classification by forms 306
Bowls 306
Ollas 306
Bottles 306
Handled vessels 306
Eccentric and life forms 307
Illustrations 307
District of the Rio Virgen 307
Bowls 308
Ollas 314
Handled vessels 314
District of the Rio San Juan 315
Bowls 316
Handled cups 318
Ollas 318
Handled vases 319
District of the Colorado Chiquito 321
Bowls 322
Ollas 335
Bottles 343
Handled vessels 346
Eccentric and life forms 353
Concluding remarks 358
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Fig. 210.--Origin of forms 270
211.--Origin of forms 270
212.--Origin of forms 270
213.--Origin of forms 270
214.--Origin of forms 270
215.--Origin of handles 271
216.--Origin of handles 271
217.--Beginning of the coil 274
218.--Section of coil-made vessel 274
219.--Ordinary superposition of coils 277
220.--Coiled and plain surface 278
221.--Rib-like coil 279
222.--Rib-like coil 279
223.--Indented pattern 280
224.--Thumb-nail indentation 280
225.--Wave-like indentation 281
226.--Wave-like indentation 281
227.--Impressions of finger tips 281
228.--Implement indentations 281
229.--Nail markings 282
230.--Incised lines 282
231.--Incised pattern 282
232.--Applied fillet 283
233.--Examples of relief ornaments 283
234.--Examples of relief ornaments 283
235.--Examples of relief ornaments 283
236.--Examples of relief ornaments 283
237.--Examples of relief ornaments 283
238.--Examples of relief ornaments 283
239.--Vase from a cliff house, Mancos Cañon 285
240.--Vase from Epsom Creek 287
241.--Vase from tumulus at Saint George 288
242.--Vase from tumulus at Saint George 289
243.--Vase from tumulus at Saint George 290
244.--Bowl from tumulus at Saint George 291
245.--Vase from Parowan, Utah 291
246.--Cup from central Utah 292
247.--Vase from Zuñi 293
248.--Vase from Zuñi 294
249.--Mug from Tusayan 294
250.--Vase from Tusayan 295
251.--Vase from Tusayan 296
252.--Vessel from Tusayan 296
253.--Vase from Tusayan 297
254.--Bowl from Cibola 297
255.--Bottle from tumulus at Saint George 300
256.--Vase from tumulus at Saint George 301
257.--Vase from tumulus at Saint George 301
258.--Bowl from tumulus at Saint George 308
259.--Bowl from tumulus at Saint George 309
260.--Bowl from tumulus at Saint George 309
261.--Painted design 310
262.--Bowl from Kanab, Utah 310
263.--Painted design 311
264.--Bowl from Kanab, Utah 311
265.--Painted design 311
266.--Bowl from tumulus at Saint George 312
267.--Painted design 312
268.--Bowl from Tusayan 312
269.--Bowl from tumulus at Saint George 313
270.--Bowl from tumulus at Saint George 313
271.--Pitcher from tumulus at Saint George 314
272.--Bowl from Montezuma Cañon 316
273.--Bowl from San Juan Valley 316
274.--Bowl from San Juan Valley 317
275.--Bowl from San Juan Valley 317
276.--Painted design 318
277.--Handled cup from Montezuma Cañon 318
278.--Handled cup from Montezuma Cañon 318
279.--Vase from San Juan Valley 318
280.--Vase from San Juan Valley 319
281.--Vase lid from San Juan Valley 319
282.--Vase lid from San Juan Valley 319
283.--Handled bottle from San Juan Valley 319
284.--Handled bottle from San Juan Valley 320
285.--Handled mug from San Juan Valley 320
286.--Handled mug from San Juan Valley 320
287.--Handled mug from San Juan Valley 320
288.--Handled mug from southern Utah 320
289.--Bowl from Tusayan 322
290.--Bowl from Tusayan 323
291.--Painted design 323
292.--Bowl from Tusayan 324
293.--Painted design 325
294.--Handled bowl from Tusayan 325
295.--Painted design 326
296.--Original form of painted design 326
297.--Handled cup from Tusayan 327
298.--Handled cup from Tusayan 327
299.--Dipper from Tusayan 327
300.--Dipper from Tusayan 328
301.--Figure of bird 328
302.--Dipper from Tusayan 328
303.--Painted design 329
304.--Painted design 329
305.--Unit of the design 329
306.--Bowl from Tusayan 330
307.--Bowl from Tusayan 331
308.--Bowl from Tusayan 331
309.--Bowl from Tusayan 332
310.--Bowl from Tusayan 332
311.--Painted design 333
312.--Bowl from Tusayan 333
313.--Bowl from Tusayan 334
314.--Vase from Tusayan 334
315.--Vase from Tusayan 335
316.--Vase from Tusayan 335
317.--Vase from Tusayan 336
318.--Vase from Tusayan 336
319.--Painted design 337
320.--Vase from Tusayan 337
321.--Vase from Tusayan 338
322.--Painted design 338
323.--Unit of the design 339
324.--Vase from Tusayan 339
325.--Painted design 340
326.--Unit of the design 340
327.--Vase from Tusayan 341
328.--Painted design 342
329.--Unit of the design 342
330.--Vase from Tusayan 343
331.--Vase from Cibola 343
332.--Vase from Cibola 344
333.--Painted design 345
334.--Painted design 345
335.--Vase from Tusayan 346
336.--Handled vase from Tusayan 346
337.--Painted design 347
338.--Handled mug from Tusayan 347
339.--Painted design 348
340.--Vase from Tusayan 348
341.--Painted design 348
342.--Handled cup from Cibola 349
343.--Painted ornament 349
344.--Painted ornament 349
345.--Painted ornament 350
346.--Painted ornament 350
347.--Vase from Tusayan 350
348.--Vase from Tusayan 351
349.--Bottle from Tusayan 351
350.--Bottle from Tusayan 352
351.--Bottle from Tusayan 352
352.--Vase from eastern Arizona 353
353.--Vase from eastern Arizona 354
354.--Vase from Tusayan 354
355.--Vase from Tusayan 355
356.--Vase from Tusayan 355
357.--Vase from Tusayan 356
358.--Vase from Cibola 357
359.--Vase from Arizona 358
360.--Bird-shaped cup from Tusayan 358
POTTERY OF THE ANCIENT PUEBLOS.
By WILLIAM H. HOLMES.
INTRODUCTORY.
A study of the pottery of the ancient Pueblo peoples is here commenced
in accordance with plans formed years ago by the Director of the Bureau
of Ethnology. His aim was to present to the world a monographic work
upon the splendid material obtained by the Bureau, including with it the
important collections made previously by himself. The preparation of
this work has been postponed from time to time with the view of
completing the collections, which were being enriched by annual visits
to the Pueblo country. Meantime I began the study of the collection for
the purpose of securing at the start a satisfactory classification of
the material on hand.
The present paper is the first result of that study. I have, however,
taken up only the more ancient groups of ware, leaving the rest for
subsequent papers. A comparative study is not attempted, for the reason
that a detailed examination of all the groups to be considered is
absolutely essential to satisfactory results. Conclusions drawn from
partial observations lead generally to error.
There were great difficulties in the way of treating satisfactorily the
modern varieties of ware, as no one had sufficient familiarity with the
language of the Pueblo tribes to discuss the ideographic phases of the
ornamentation. Mr. F. H. Cushing's studies bid fair to supply this want,
and his recent return from Zuñi has led to the preparation of the
valuable paper presented in this volume.
Mr. James Stevenson, who has procured a large portion of the collection
of modern pottery, has published catalogues with copious illustrations.
Most of the cuts have been prepared under my supervision, and have been
selected with the view of securing engravings of a full series of
typical examples for a final work.
PUEBLO ART.
DISTRIBUTION.--The ancient Pueblo peoples dwelt in a land of cañons and
high plateaus. They had their greatest development in the valley of the
Rio Colorado, where they delighted to haunt the shadows of the deepest
gorges and build their dwellings along the loftiest cliffs. The limits
of their territory are still in a measure undefined. We discover
remnants of their arts in the neighboring valleys of Great Salt Lake,
the Arkansas, and the Rio Grande, and southward we can trace them beyond
the Rio Gila into the table-lands of Chihuahua and Sonora.
Thus outlined, we have an area of more than one hundred thousand square
miles, which has at times more or less remote been occupied by tribes of
town-building and pottery-making Indians.
CHARACTER.--High and desert-like as this land is, it has borne a noble
part in fostering and maturing a culture of its own--a culture born of
unusual needs, shaped by exceptional environment, and limited by the
capacities of a peculiar people. Cliff houses and cavate dwellings are
not new to architecture, and pottery resembling the Pueblo ware in many
respects may be found wherever man has developed a corresponding degree
of technical skill; yet there is an individuality in these Pueblo
remains that separates them distinctly from all others and lends a keen
pleasure to their investigation.
TREATMENT.--The study of prehistoric art leads inevitably to inquiries
into the origin of races. Solutions of these questions have generally
been sought through migrations, and these have been traced in a great
measure by analogies in archæologic remains; but in such investigation
one important factor has been overlooked, namely, the laws that govern
migrations of races do not regulate the distribution of arts. The
pathways do not correspond, but very often conflict. The arts migrate in
ways of their own. They pass from place to place and from people to
people by a process of acculturation, so that peoples of unlike origin
practice like arts, while those of like origin are found practicing
unlike arts. The threads of the story are thus so entangled that we find
it impossible to trace them backward to their beginnings.
For the present, therefore, I do not propose to study the arts of this
province with the expectation that they will furnish a key to the origin
of the peoples, or to the birthplace of their arts, but I shall treat
them with reference rather to their bearing upon the processes by which
culture has been achieved and the stages through which it has passed,
keeping always in mind that a first requisite in this work is a
systematic and detailed study of the material to be employed.
THE CERAMIC ART.
AGE.--The ceramic art of the ancient Pueblos is practically a unit. We
find in its remains few indications of distinct periods. There is
nothing to carry us back to a remote past. The oldest specimens known
are nearly as high in the scale as the latest. In the deposits of caves
and burial-grounds we find, so far, nothing more archaic than in the
ruins of once populous villages and beneath the fallen walls of
hewnstone cliff houses. In methods of manufacture and in styles of
ornamentation there is no specific distinction.
Once introduced, there is much in the character of the country to
develop this art. The people were sedentary, and thus able to practice
the art continuously for a long period; and in a country so arid there
was often great need of vessels suitable for the transportation and
storage of water.
MATERIAL.--Nature was lavish in her supply of the material needed.
Suitable clay could be found in nearly every valley, both in the
well-exposed strata and in the sediment of streams. I have noticed that
after the passage of a sudden storm over the mesa country, and the rapid
disappearance of the transient flood, the pools of the arroyos would
retain a sediment of clay two or three inches thick, having a
consistency perfectly suited to the hand of the potter. This I have
taken without tempering and have made imitations of the handsome vases
whose remnants I could pick up on all sides. In drying and burning,
these vessels were liable to crack and fall to pieces; but I see no
reason why, with the use of proper tempering materials, this natural
paste might not be successfully employed. It would not be difficult,
however, to find the native clay among the sedimentary formations of
this district. Usually the clay has been very fine grained, and when
used without coarse tempering the vessels have an extremely even and
often a conchoidal fracture.
TEMPERING.--The materials used in tempering do not often come into
notice. It appears that, in a majority of cases, fine sand, probably
derived from naturally disintegrated rocks, was employed. A large
percentage of rather coarse sand is found in the more roughly finished
coil-made ware, but vessels intended for smooth finish have little
perceptible tempering material.
The speckled appearance of some of the abraded surfaces suggests the use
of pulverized potsherds, a practice frequently resorted to by the modern
tribes. In some localities, notably in the south, we find a slight
admixture of mica, which may have come from the use of pulverized
micaceous rock.
CONSTRUCTION.--No one can say just how the materials were manipulated,
fashioned into vessels, and baked; yet many facts can be gleaned from a
critical examination of the vessels themselves; and an approximate idea
of the various processes employed may be formed by a study of the
methods of modern potters of the same region or of corresponding grades
of culture.
It is evident that the vessels were built and finished by the hands
alone; no wheel was used, although supports, such as shallow earthen
vessels, baskets, and gourds were certainly employed to a considerable
extent. Primitive processes of building have varied considerably. The
simplest method perhaps was that of shaping a single mass of clay by
pressure with the fingers, either with or without the assistance of a
mold or support. The mold would be useful in shaping shallow vessels,
such as plates, cups, and bowls. The walls of vessels of eccentric forms
or having constricted apertures would be carried upward by the addition
of small more or less elongated masses of clay, with no support but the
hand or an implement held in the hand. Casting proper, in regularly
constructed molds, was practiced only by the more cultured races, such
as the Peruvians. A variety of methods may have been employed in the
construction of a single piece.
SURFACE FINISH.--A great deal of attention was given to surface finish.
In the coiled ware the imbricate edges of the fillets were generally
either smoothed down and obliterated entirely, or treated in such a way
as to give a variety of pleasing effects of relief decoration. Vessels
with smooth surfaces, whether built by coiling, modeling, or molding,
very often received a thin coat of fine liquid clay, probably after
partial drying and polishing. This took the place of the enamels used by
more accomplished potters, and being usually white, it gave a beautiful
surface upon which to execute designs in color. Before the color was
applied the surface received a considerable degree of polish by rubbing
with a suitable implement of stone or other material. Attention was
given chiefly to surfaces exposed to view--the interior of bowls and the
exterior of narrow-necked vases.
FIRING.--The firing of the ancient ware seems to have been carefully and
successfully accomplished. The methods probably did not differ greatly
from those practiced by the modern Pueblo tribes. The ware is, as a
rule, light in color, but is generally much clouded by the dark spots
that result from imperfections in the methods of applying the fire. The
heat was rarely great enough to produce anything like vitrifaction of
the surface, and the paste is seldom as hard as our stone ware.
GLAZE.--A great deal has been said about the glaze of native American
wares, which exists, if at all, through accident. The surface of the
white ware of nearly all sections received a high degree of mechanical
polish, and the effect of firing was often to heighten this and give at
times a slightly translucent effect; a result of the spreading or
sinking of the coloring matter of the designs.
HARDNESS.--The paste exposed in fractured edges can be scratched with a
steel point, and often with ease. Some of the white pottery of ancient
Tusayan can be carved almost as readily as chalk or sun-dried clay. At
the same time all localities furnish occasionally specimens that through
the accidents of firing have the ring and hardness of stoneware. The
ancient pottery is generally superior in hardness to that produced by
the historic tribes.
COLOR.--This pottery presents a pleasing variety of color, although the
light grays prevail, especially in the more archaic varieties. The
general color probably depended greatly upon the natural constituents of
the clay and the degree of heat applied, and these conditions varied
with the locality and the people. Reds and browns result from the
presence of iron, which may have been oxidized in burning, or the red
oxides may have been used in rare cases as coloring matter in kneading
the clay. The surface is often lighter than the mass; a condition
probably resulting from the presence of vegetable matter in the clay,
which is destroyed on the surface and remains unchanged within. In the
south the colors of the paste are often slightly reddish or yellowish in
hue. It is notable that a small percentage of the ware of all localities
is red. This gives rise to the suggestion that vessels of this color
probably had some especial or sacred use. Color is known to have an
intimate connection with superstitious observances among many barbarian
peoples.
FORM.--In form the ancient ware is universally simple and pleasing. Many
shapes known to both civilized and barbarian art are absent. High-necked
bottles and shallow plates are of rare occurrence, and pitchers,
canteens or lenticular bottles, and vessels with legs and stands are
unknown. There is a notable dearth of life forms, a circumstance that
would seem to indicate the rather tardy development of a taste for
modeling--a condition which may have resulted from the comparatively
recent origin or introduction of art in clay.
Vessels with full globular bodies prevail. The bottoms are generally
round or a little pointed, indicating primitive conditions of life and
suggesting great simplicity in methods of manufacture and in the models
copied.
_Origin of Forms._--There can be no doubt that ceramic forms are to a
great extent derivative, and the search for their originals will
constitute a most important feature in our studies. Turning to nature
for possible originals, we find them liberally supplied by both the
animal and the vegetable kingdom. The shells of the sea shore were
probably among the first receptacles for food and drink. We have
examples of pottery from the mounds in the Mississippi Valley,
representing three or four distinct varieties of shells. The shells of
turtles and the horns of cattle and other animals have also served as
models.
[Illustration: FIG. 210.--Origin of forms.]
[Illustration: FIG. 211.--Origin of forms.]
The vegetable world furnishes many originals; the gourd, for example,
was utilized at a very early date. Its forms are greatly varied, and
must have given rise to many primitive shapes of vessels in clay, and
perhaps in wicker-work and wood. One of the ordinary forms cut off
midway would suggest the series of bowls outlined in Fig. 210. Simply
perforated it would give rise to the series illustrated in Fig. 211.
[Illustration: FIG. 212.--Origin of forms.]
[Illustration: FIG. 213.--Origin of forms.]
[Illustration: FIG. 214.--Origin of forms.]
Wide-mouthed vases would be suggested as indicated in Fig. 212, bottles
as shown in Fig. 213, and eccentric forms as seen in Fig. 214.
These particular examples are presented in illustration of the manner in
which forms may be derived and nothing more, as there are many possible
origins of the same forms. In a separate paper I have amplified this
topic, and have discussed the relative importance of the influence of
natural and artificial products upon the conformation of utensils of
clay.
HANDLES.--In searching for the first suggestions of handles we must
certainly go back to the very beginnings of art, when men and women
employed leaves or vines to carry their children or their food, or to
suspend them for safety from the trees of the forest. The art of
basketry would naturally fall heir to this use of handles. Clay, bronze,
and iron, when they came into use, would also inherit some of the forms
thus developed. There are, however, other sources of equal importance,
among which are animal forms, such as horns, and various forms of
vegetable growth, such as the gourd. The latter may again serve as an
illustration.
By cutting the body of the gourd longitudinally at one side of the axis,
we have dippers with straight or curved necks or handles. The primitive
potter would in like manner have the suggestion of a handled vessel in
clay, which, carried forward by the ever active spirit of improvement,
would in time give us the series shown in Figs. 215 and 216:
[Illustration: FIG. 215.--Origin of handles.]
[Illustration: FIG. 216.--Origin and development of handles]
ORNAMENT.--The shapes of vessels are, in a measure, ornamental, but it
is difficult to say just how much the necessary or functional characters
of particular forms have given way to decorative modifications. Pure
ornament is a feature not essential to the vessel. Its ideas may be
expressed by three principal methods: by relieved, by flat, and by
intaglio figures.
Relief ornament was not extensively employed by the ancient Pueblos. The
forms are few and simple, and nearly all are traceable to constructional
or to functional features. Thus the ornamental crenulated surface of the
coiled ware is constructional, consisting as it does of ridges,
resulting from the method of building. The knobs, isolated coils, and
festooned fillets are probably, in some cases, atrophied forms of
handles.
Intaglio decoration is still more rare. It consists of incised,
impressed, and punctured figures. No designs of importance are produced
by this method, the most notable being the simple patterns traced by the
finger or a sharp implement upon the relieved edges of fillets in the
coiled ware.
With these people, the highest class of decoration consisted of designs
in color. This topic is fully discussed in a subsequent section.
_Origin of ornament._--It is probable that before pottery came into use
the decorative art had been cultivated in other fields, and we shall
need to look both to nature and to antecedent arts for the originals of
many decorative ideas.
From a remote period man has been able to appreciate beauty. The first
exercise of taste would probably be in the direction of personal
adornment, and would consist in the choice of colors or articles thought
to enhance attractiveness, or in the grouping and modification of
objects at first functional in character. Later, taste would be
exercised on a variety of subjects, and finally it would extend to all
things in use. Man may have recognized the comeliness of the first
simple articles employed in his humble arts, but when he came to attempt
the multiplication of these articles artificially, utility was probably
the only thought. In reproducing them, however, non-essential features
would be copied automatically, and the work of art would through this
accident inherit purely ornamental attributes.
Thus it appears that the first ideas of decoration do not necessarily
originate in the mind of the potter, but that, like the shapes of art
products, they may be derived, unconsciously, from nature. This is an
important consideration. At a later stage new forms of ornament are
derived in a like manner from constructional features of the various
arts. Invention of decorative motives is not to be expected of a
primitive, tradition-following people. Advance is greatly by utilization
of accidents.
USE.--A satisfactory classification of this pottery by functional
characters will be most difficult to make. In the early stages of its
manufacture it was confined chiefly, if not solely, to the alimentary
arts. A differentiation of use would take place when certain vessels
were set aside for special departments of the domestic work. Thus we
would have vessels for eating, for cooking, for carrying, and for
storage. When vessels came to be used in superstitious exercises,
certain forms were probably set aside for especial ceremonies. With some
peoples, particular forms were dedicated to mortuary uses, but we have
no clew to any such custom among the ancient Pueblos, as the same vessel
served for food both before and after death, and cinerary vessels were
not called for. Certain classes of the ruder and plainer ware are found
to be blackened by smoke. These were evidently cooking vessels. The
painted pottery rarely shows evidences of such use. Bowls were probably
employed chiefly in preparing and serving food. The larger vessels were
devoted to carrying and storing water, fruits, grains, and miscellaneous
articles. Smaller vessels were used as receptacles for paint, grease,
and the like. The ancient people had not yet devoted their ceramic art
to trivial uses--there are no toys, no rattles, and no grotesque
figures.
CLASSIFICATION.--In treating a subject covering so wide a field, and
embracing such a diversity of products, a careful classification of the
material is called for. Three grand divisions of the ceramic work of
this province may be made on a time basis, namely: prehistoric,
transitional, and modern. At present I have to deal chiefly with the
prehistoric, but must also pay some attention to the transitional, as it
embraces many features common both to the archaic and to the modern art.
In discussing the prehistoric pottery I find it convenient to consider
it under the three heads, coiled ware, plain ware, and painted ware.
This classification is unsatisfactory, as it is based upon somewhat
imperfectly differentiated characters. The smooth vessel is in many
cases a coil-built one with obliterated coils, and a painted vessel a
smooth one with the addition of designs in color. Very little of the
pottery was left plain, but the coiled and painted varieties are fully
represented in every locality.
I place the coiled ware first because to all appearances it is the most
archaic variety and one which is rarely made at the present day. I
suspect that the pieces made by modern potters serve to supply the wants
of the collectors rather than to meet the requirements of traditional
art. Among the collections in the National Museum are found many crude
attempts to manufacture this ware by potters who did not comprehend the
secrets of its construction, or who thought to produce the coiled effect
by the cheap device of scarifying and indenting the surface of a plain
vessel.
Close relations are established between the coiled and the painted
pottery, not only by the identity of materials, form, color, and time,
but by the union of the two methods of finishing, the coiling and
painting, in one and the same vessel, as may be seen in the examples
given in in the following pages.
COIL-MADE WARE.
COILING.--The art of building vessels by means of coils of clay has been
practiced by many widely separated communities, and is, therefore,
certainly not peculiar to the ancient Pueblos. A careful study of the
ceramic field shows considerable diversity in the treatment of the coil.
The most striking variation, the employment of the coil as a means of
embellishment, is, so far as my observation extends, peculiar to the
Pueblo peoples. With others it is a feature of construction simply.
The preliminary steps are with all primitive potters in a general sense
the same. The first care is to secure suitable clay and to have it
properly purified and tempered. After this the treatment varies greatly.
_Coiling of the Pueblos._--The ancient Pueblo potter rolled out long,
slender fillets or ropes of clay, varying in width and thickness to suit
the size and character of the vessel to be constructed. They were
usually perhaps from one-fourth to one-half of an inch in thickness.
When they were properly trimmed and smoothed the potter began by taking
the end of a single strip between his fingers and proceeded to coil it
upon itself, gradually forming a disk, as shown in Fig. 217, which
represents the base of a large vase from the San Juan Valley.
[Illustration: FIG. 217.--Beginning of the coil.]
[Illustration: FIG. 218.--Section of coil-made vessel.]
At first the fillets overlapped only a little, but as the disk grew
large and was rounded upward to form the body of the vessel, the
imbrication became more pronounced. The fillet was placed obliquely, as
shown in the section, Fig. 218, and was exposed on the exterior side to
probably one-half of its width. Strip after strip of clay was added, the
ends being carefully joined, so that the continuity might not be broken
until the vessel was completed. The rim generally consisted of a broad
strip, thickened a little at the lip, and somewhat recurved. The
exterior imbricate edges were carefully preserved, while those on the
inner surface were totally obliterated, first by pressure, and finally
by smoothing down with an implement, or with the fingers, imprints of
the latter being frequently visible. So thoroughly were the fillets
pressed down and welded together that the vessels seldom fracture more
readily along the lines of junction than in other directions.
The fact that the spiral ridges of the bottom are frequently without
abrasion, as shown in Fig. 217, suggests an idea in regard to the
manipulation of the coil. While building the upper part of the vase the
base would necessarily rest upon some sort of support and the soft
ridges would suffer from abrasion. In preventing such defacement, an
interior support, such as a mold or the base of another vessel, must
have been used, in which case the vessel was necessarily built in an
inverted position. At the same time it is clear that this would be
practicable only with bowls or with very wide-mouthed vessels, as the
mold, if rigid, could not be removed through a restricted aperture.
In pressing the coil down, in welding it to the preceding turn, internal
support would be necessary, as otherwise the strain would warp the
walls. A curved trowel or a rounded pebble could be used as long as the
aperture would admit the hand, but no support excepting the fingers, or
an implement shaped for the purpose, could be used beyond this stage.
The whole process was a most delicate one, requiring patience and skill.
In this respect it contrasted strongly with the coiling of other
peoples. As indicated by numerous specimens, the coil was sometimes laid
on the inside of a shallow basket or bowl, the surface of the vessel
showing a combination of basket-markings and nearly obliterated spiral
creases. This device served a good purpose in starting the vessel, the
upper part being completed by free-hand coiling.
_Coiling of other peoples._--The art, as practiced by the Indians of
Louisiana, is graphically described by Dumont. The following paragraph
is translated from his work:
"Moreover, the industry of these (savage) girls and women is admirable.
I have already alluded to the skill with which, with their fingers only,
and without a wheel, they make large pieces of pottery. The following is
their method of work: After having collected a quantity of the proper
kind of earth, and having cleaned it thoroughly, they take shells which
they break up and reduce to a very fine, loose powder; they mix this
fine dust with the earth which they have collected, and, moistening the
whole with a little water, work it with their hands and feet into a
paste, from which they make rolls six or seven feet long and as thick as
they may desire. If they wish to make a dish or a vase, they take one of
these rolls by the end, and marking on this lump with the thumb of the
left hand the center of the vessel, they turn the roll around this
center with admirable rapidity and dexterity, describing a spiral. From
time to time they dip their fingers into the water, which they are
always careful to have near them, and, with the right hand, they flatten
the inside and the outside of the vase, which without this would be
uneven. In this way they make all kinds of earthen utensils, dishes,
plates, bowls, pots, and jugs, some of which hold as much as 40 or even
50 pints. This pottery does not require much preparation for baking.
After having dried it in the shade, they make a large fire, and as soon
as they think they have enough embers they clean a place in the middle,
and, arranging the pieces of pottery, cover them with charcoal. It is
thus that the pieces are given the necessary heating (cooking), after
which they are as strong as our pottery. There is no doubt but that we
must attribute their strength to the mixture which these women make of
powdered shells with the earth which they employ."[1]
Professor C. F. Hartt has furnished many facts in regard to the
manufacture of pottery by the Brazilian Indians. According to his
account the women of Santarem model the bottom of a vessel from a lump
of clay in the usual way. Then "a piece of clay is rolled under the hand
into a long, rope-like cylinder. This rope is then coiled around the
edge of the bottom of the vessel, being flattened sidewise by pinching
with the fingers of the left hand, and caused to adhere to the bottom.
On this, coil after coil is laid in like manner, each being flattened as
before. After a few have been added they are worked into shape with
the fingers, which are occasionally moistened in water, and the
irregularities produced by the coils are caused to disappear. The vessel
is formed by the hand alone and the surface is smoothed down by means of
a bit of gourd or a shell, which is from time to time dipped in water.
If the vessel be large it is now set away in the shade for a while to
dry a little, after which new coils are added as above, no other
instrument being used except the hands and the gourd or shell, with
which alone the vessel may receive not only an extremely regular form,
but also a very smooth surface. * * * The coils are so worked together
that from a simple inspection of the vessel it is impossible to
determine how it was built up. I should never have suspected that the
pottery of Pacoval had been made by coiling, were it not that I found
the coils still ununited on the inner surface of the heads of idols."[2]
Prof. Hartt states, also, on the authority of Dr. de Magalhaes, that the
pottery of the several tribes of the Araquaya River is always made by
coiling, the surface being worked down by the hand and water and the aid
of a spoon-like trowel made of bamboo. Humboldt makes a similar
statement in regard to the tribes of the Orinoco.
Mr. E. A. Barber[3] relates, on the authority of Captain John Moss, a
resident, for a long time, of southwestern Colorado, that the Ute
Indians manufacture pottery at the present time, and that they probably
follow the methods of the Mokis, from whom they learned the art.
[1] Mémoires sur la Louisiane. Butel-Dumont. Vol. II, pp. 271-273.
Paris, 1753.
[2] Hartt: American Naturalist, February, 1879, pp. 83-86.
[3] Barber: American Naturalist, Vol. X, p. 412.
Captain Moss states that "They use marl, which they grind between two
rocks to a very fine powder. They then mix this with water and knead it
as we would dough. Afterwards they roll it out into a rope-like state
about one inch in diameter and several yards in length. They then
commence at the bottom of the jar, or whatever vessel they may be
making, and coil the clay-rope layer on layer until they have the bottom
and three inches of the sides laid up. The tools for smoothing and
joining the layers together are a paddle made out of wood and perfectly
smooth, and an oval-shaped polished stone." Both of these tools are
dipped in the water (salt water is preferred), the stone is held in the
left hand and on the inside of the vessel, and the paddle is applied
vigorously until the surfaces are smooth. The method thus described by
these authors was, probably, almost universally practiced.
[Illustration: FIG. 219.--Ordinary superposition of coils. Section.]
I have specimens from a number of the Eastern and Southern States that
fracture along the line of junction, showing clearly the width of the
fillets and the manner of their attachment. I picked up a small specimen
at Avoca, North Carolina, which has broken along the line of junction,
giving the section illustrated in Fig. 219. It will be seen that there
is no overlapping as in the Pueblo work, the attachment being
accomplished by pressure and by drawing both edges of the coil down over
the convex edge of the preceding coil. I have similar specimens from the
modern Pueblos, from Florida, from Mexico, and from Brazil. It will
readily be seen that this method of building differs essentially from
that practiced so successfully by the ancient Pueblos.
ORIGIN OF THE COIL.--This use of the coil is but a refinement of the
most simple possible method of construction, that of building by the
addition of small masses of clay. A disk or shallow cup can be formed
successfully by the fingers alone from a single lump of clay, but to
carry the wall upward by pressure or by blows from a paddle would result
in a weak, frayed edge. To counteract or prevent this tendency small
elongated masses are used, which are laid one upon another along the
growing margin. From this, in the most natural manner possible, we
arrive at the use of the long, even rope or fillet. The imbrication or
overlapping of the coil practiced by the Pueblos may have originated in
the effort to secure a more stable union of the parts which had to be
welded together by pressure. It would also almost necessarily arise from
the attempt to lay the coil upon or within a mold or support. There is a
possibility that it may have been suggested by features of construction
observed in other arts--the overlapping parts of a roof, of a plate or
scale garment, or of a coiled basket. The latter is especially
suggestive, since we must generally look for the origin of features of
the ceramic art in the features of closely associated arts.
THE COIL IN ORNAMENTATION.--Ordinarily the coil has not been expected to
contribute to the beauty of the vessel, but the Pueblo tribes made it a
prominent feature in decoration. The primitive potter as he laid his
rude coils noticed that the ridges thus produced served to enhance the
appearance of the vessel. He also observed that the series of
indentations left on the outer surface of the fillet in pressing it down
gave a pleasing effect, and made use of the suggestion. Improving upon
the accidents of manufacture, he worked out a variety of decorative
devices.
In some cases the coiled ridges are confined to particular parts of the
vessel, the other parts having been worked down or originally
constructed by plain modeling. Numerous examples have the body quite
plain, the collar alone retaining the spiral ridges of the coil. Fig.
251 illustrates a very good example of this peculiarity.
[Illustration: FIG. 220.--Coiled and plain surface. Section.]
The fragment shown in Fig. 220 is from the neck of a pot-shaped vase.
The surface has been plain below and the fillets of the upper part have
been pressed down evenly with the thumb, leaving the extreme edge of the
overlapping band in sharp relief, as shown more clearly in the section.
The whole coil is sometimes left plain, as in Figs. 221 and 222, in
which cases the edges have been carefully pressed down and smoothed with
the fingers.
[Illustration: FIG. 221.--Rib-like coil. Section.]
[Illustration: FIG. 222.--Rib-like coil. Section.]
A great variety of devices were resorted to to diversify and decorate
the ribbed spirals, and in this the innate good taste of the Indian
exhibits itself to much advantage. The coil is often indented or crimped
throughout, from the center of the bottom to the rim of the vessel. At
times a few turns at the beginning are left plain, as shown in Fig. 217,
while again alternate bands, consisting of several turns each, are not
crimped, as clearly brought out by an example from Southern Utah,
illustrated in the Art Review for July, 1874, by F. W. Putnam, and also
by two fine specimens recently collected by E. W. Nelson near
Springerville, Arizona.
The decided taste of this ancient people for ornament is still further
indicated by attempts to elaborate more intricate patterns by means of
thumb-nail indentations. The idea may have been borrowed from basketry.
The fragment given in Fig. 223 illustrates the method of procedure. We
have some very fine vessels of this class from Springerville, and others
from the province of Tusayan in which the entire surface is covered with
checkered or meandered patterns. An excellent example is shown in Fig.
253. We shall appreciate the cleverness of this work more fully when we
remember that the separate thumb indentations forming the figures of the
pattern are made in each coil as it is laid and pressed into place and
before the succeeding turn is made.
[Illustration: FIG. 223.--Indented pattern.]
[Illustration: FIG. 224.--Nail indentations.]
These curious decorative effects were still further elaborated by
diversifying the character of the indentations of the coil. In Fig. 224
we have a most successful effort in this direction. The fillets are
alternately crimped and plain. The thumb, in pressing down the one, has
been applied with such force that the nail has cut entirely through it,
indenting the plain layer below and causing the two to coalesce. This
specimen was obtained from the cañon of the Rio Mancos.
Certain districts are particularly rich in remains of this peculiar ware
and furnish many examples of crimped ornament. The remarkable
desert-like plateau lying north of the Grand Cañon of the Colorado
contains many house and village sites. At intervals along the very brink
of the great chasm we come upon heaps of stones and razed walls of
houses about which are countless fragments of this ware. These are
identical in nearly every character with the pottery of Saint George on
the west, of the San Juan on the east, and of the Gila on the south. A
few miles south of Kanab stands a little hill--an island in the creek
bottom--which is literally covered with the ruins of an ancient village,
and the great abundance of pottery fragments indicates that it was, for
a long period, the home of cliff-dwelling peoples. In no other case have
I found so complete an assortment of all the varieties of
coil-ornamentation. All the forms already given are represented and a
number of new ones are added.
[Illustration: FIG. 225.--Wave-like indentation.]
[Illustration: FIG. 226.--Wave-like indentation.]
In the example given in Fig. 225 the fillets are deeply indented, giving
a wave-like effect. Another pretty variety is seen in Fig. 226.
[Illustration: FIG. 227.--Impressions of finger-tips.]
[Illustration: FIG. 228.--Implement indentations.]
One of the most successful of these archaic attempts at relief
embellishment is illustrated in the fragment shown in Fig. 227. The
raised edge of the fillet is pinched out at regular intervals, producing
rows of sharp-pointed "beads." Over the entire surface impressions of
the fine lines of the finger-tips are still distinctly visible. The
dotted lines show the direction of the coil.
The indenting was not always done with the thumb or finger-tips, but a
variety of implements were used. The vase, of which Fig. 228 shows a
small fragment, had a figure worked upon it by indenting the soft coils
with a sharp implement.
[Illustration: FIG. 229.--Nail markings.]
The coil ridges were sometimes worked down into more regular forms by
means of an implement and were left plain or were interrupted by
transverse lines. Lines of nail marking are shown in Fig. 229. These
lines are occasionally combined in rude patterns.
[Illustration: FIG. 230.--Incised lines.]
In the specimen illustrated in Fig. 230, incised lines are drawn across
the ridges of the coil.
[Illustration: FIG. 231.--Incised pattern.]
OTHER VARIETIES OF ORNAMENT.--I have already remarked that certain
styles of decoration are confined to somewhat definite geographic
limits. In the ancient Pueblo district we find that painted designs and
coil ornaments are co-extensive, while within this area there are but
rare examples of incised designs, stamped figures, or cord-marking. We
find basket indentations, but these are in all cases the accidents of
manufacture. The coil has often been laid upon the inner surface of a
basket.
The fragment shown in Fig. 231 was picked up on the site of an ancient
Pueblo village near Abiquiu, New Mexico. It is a portion of the neck and
upper part of the body of a small vase which was covered by a simple
pattern of intaglio lines, produced with a bone or wooden stylus.
Ornaments in relief, aside from the coil and forms resulting directly
from its use, were sparingly employed and are of comparatively little
interest. They consist of straight, curved, or crimped fillets, applied
to the surface of the vessel as shown in Fig. 232. Additional examples
are given in Figs. 233, 234, and 235.
Nodes, cones, and other forms are also used as seen in Figs. 236, 237,
and 238. These are usually placed about the neck of the vessel,
occupying the places of the handles.
[Illustration: FIG. 232.--Applied fillet.]
MATERIAL.--The clay used in this ware was in some sections tempered with
a large percentage of rather coarse silicious sand, which gives to the
surface a rough, granular look. In the south the paste seems to be finer
grained than in the northern districts.
COLOR, ETC.--The color of the paste is generally gray, but in the
province of Tusayan it is frequently yellow. In some cases the surface
has received a wash of fine liquid clay, and a few bowls from the Little
Colorado and Gila Valleys have designs in white paint covering the
exterior surface. This ware is always well baked and extremely hard.
[Illustration:
FIG. 233. FIG. 234. FIG. 235.
FIG. 236. FIG. 237. FIG. 238.
Examples of relief ornaments.]
FORM.--The forms are not nearly so varied as are those of the painted
ware. The leading variety is a round-bodied, wide-mouthed olla or pot,
with flaring rim. Bottles are of rare occurrence, and bowls are not
nearly so plentiful as in other varieties of pottery. Life and eccentric
forms are occasionally found. Many small vessels of the more elongated
shapes are furnished with handles, which are in most cases placed
vertically upon the neck, and consist of single or double bands or ropes
or of two or more strands twisted together.
USE.--As a rule the forms are such as have been devoted by most peoples
to culinary uses, and in many cases the entire exterior surface is
coated with soot. Plain vessels of similar outlines are used by the
modern tribes of this province for cooking and serving food. Examples
having very neatly or elaborately finished surfaces have apparently not
been used over a fire. Those of large size doubtless served for the
transportation and storage of water.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF VESSELS.
As it is my desire to give this paper something of a monographic
completeness, I shall present a typical series of the best preserved
vessels of this class along with some notices of the circumstances under
which they were discovered. The treatment by districts or localities is
for convenience simply, and has no reference to distinctions in the
character of the ware.
DISTRICT OF THE RIO SAN JUAN.
Our first expeditions into the land of the cliff-dwellers were full of
interest. We were not, however, the first explorers. The miners of the
silver-bearing mountains to the north had made occasional excursions
into the sinuous cañons of the plateau district, and failing to bring
back the coveted gold, told tales of the marvelous cities of the cliffs,
and speculated upon discovering in the débris of ancient temples and
tombs a portion of the fabled gold and jewels of the provinces of Cibola
and Tusayan.
Notwithstanding our entire freedom from expectations in this direction,
the thought gave color to our anticipations, and it was not an uncommon
occurrence to hear, about the slumbering camp fire, half jocular
references to the "great pots of gold moons" that some one had whispered
might be hidden away in the inaccessible cliffs that overshadowed us.
I shall not soon forget the incidents connected with the discovery of a
pair of fine water-jars--one of which is illustrated in Fig. 239. On the
occasion of our first passage down the cañon of the Rio Mancos[4] I made
the discovery of a group of fine cliff-houses on the south side, far up
in the vertical walls. On our return I made it a point to camp for the
night directly below these houses, although a dense growth of underbrush
had to be cut away to give room for our beds by the side of the sluggish
stream.
[4] Tenth Annual Report U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories, p.
394.
The two finest houses were set in shallow, wind-worn caves, several
hundred feet above the valley. One was almost directly above the other,
the upper being reached by a number of notches picked in the nearly
vertical rock-face.
I had ascended alone and was busily engaged in studying the upper house
and tracing the plans of its fallen walls, when I heard a voice echoing
among the cliffs. Descending hastily to the lower house I found that
one of my men had followed me and was excitedly scratching with a stick
among the debris of fallen walls. He had just discovered the rim of a
buried pot, and was fairly breathless from the anticipation of "piles of
moons." By the aid of my geologic hammer we soon had the upper part of
the neck uncovered, but hesitated a moment with bated breath before
venturing to raise the rough stone lid. But there was no treasure--only
a heap of dust. I was content, however, and when by a little further
search we came upon a second vessel, a mate to the first, the momentary
shades of disappointment vanished.
[Illustration: FIG. 239.--Coiled vase from a cliff-house in the Mancos
Cañon, Colorado.--1/3.]
These vessels had been placed in a small recess, where the falling
walls had not reached them, and were standing just as they had been left
by their ancient possessors. The more perfect one, which had lost only a
small chip from the rim, I determined to bring away entire. This I
succeeded in doing by wrapping it in a blanket, and by means of straps,
slinging it across my back. I carried it thus for a number of days over
the rough trails of the cañons and plateaus. The other, which was badly
cracked when found, was pulled apart and packed away in one of the mess
chests. It is now with its mate in the National Museum, perfectly
restored.
The unbroken vessel is shown in Fig. 239 about one-third its real
height. Its capacity is nearly four gallons. The clay is tempered with a
large portion of sand, some grains of which are quite coarse. The color
of the paste is a light gray, apparently not having been greatly changed
by the baking. A few dark contact clouds appear on the sides of the
body. The walls are quite thin for a vessel of its size and are of very
uniform thickness. The entire weight hardly exceeds that of a common
wooden pail of the same capacity. The mouth is wide and the rim, which
is made of a plain rough band, is one inch wide and abruptly recurved.
The vessel can hardly be said to have a neck, as the walls round
gradually outward from the rim to the periphery of the body, which is
full and nearly symmetrical. The narrow strands of clay have been coiled
with something less than average care, the exposed surfaces being wide
in places and in others very narrow. The thumb indentations have been
carelessly made. Two small conical bits of clay are affixed to the neck
as if to represent handles. These may have been intended for ornaments,
but are as likely to owe their presence to some little superstition of
the archaic artisans.
The companion vessel has also a capacity of about four gallons. Its form
differs from that of its mate, being considerably more elongated above
and having a more pronounced neck. The material is about the same, but
the color is darker and the workmanship is superior. The surface is
coated with soot, indicating use over a fire in cooking food or in
boiling water. The coil was laid with a good deal of care and the
indentation was done in a way to produce a series of sharp points along
the margin of the coil. The interior of the rim was finished with a
polishing stone. A small cord of clay was neatly coiled into a double
scroll and attached to the narrowest part of the vessel, corresponding
in position to the knobs in the other example. This ornament, though
small, is nevertheless effective. Similar scrolls are found upon vases
from many parts of the Pueblo Province.
It is an interesting fact that this vessel had been successfully mended
by its owners. A small perforation near the base had been stopped by
cementing a bit of pottery to the inside with clay paste. These vases
were evidently the most important of the household utensils of the
cliff-dwellers, especially as in this place water had to be carried, at
least during a part of the year, from the creek five hundred feet below.
It is probable that baskets and skins were sometimes used for carrying
water, and that the earthen vessels were used as coolers, as are similar
vessels among many primitive peoples. That they were used for carrying
water up the cliffs is indicated by the fragments that lie upon the
slopes and point out the location of houses invisible from the trails
below.
A large fragment of a similar olla was picked up in the valley of Epsom
Creek, southeast Utah. This vessel was larger, neater in finish, and
more elegant in shape, than either of those described. A sufficiently
large fragment was discovered to show satisfactorily the character of
the rim, the outline of the body, and the details of surface finish.
(Fig. 240.) The rim is but slightly recurved and the neck is high and
upright. The body swelled to a diameter of about eighteen inches at the
greatest circumference. The paste, as usual, indicates a gray clay
tempered with coarse sand. The inside is smooth and the walls are
remarkably thin for so large a vessel, being about one-fourth of an inch
in thickness. The coil is very neatly laid and indented, a variety to
the effect being given by leaving occasional plain bands. This vessel is
described by W. H. Jackson in the Bulletin of the U. S. Geological
Survey of the Territories, Vol. II.
[Illustration: FIG. 240.--Part of a large vase from Epsom Creek,
Utah.--1/8.]
Fragments of this class of ware are found throughout the cañoned region
of southern Utah and for an undetermined distance into Nevada. I have
already described fragmentary specimens from Kanab and therefore pass on
to the west.
DISTRICT OF THE RIO VIRGEN.
The most notable collection of this coiled ware ever yet made in any one
locality is from a dwelling-site tumulus near Saint George, Utah, nearly
three hundred miles west of the Rio Mancos.
About the year 1875, the curator of the National Museum obtained
information of a deposit of ancient relics at the above locality, and in
1876 a collector was sent out to make an investigation. The result, so
far as collections go, was most satisfactory, and the account furnished
gives an insight into the customs of this ancient people not yet
obtained from any other source. On the Santa Clara River, a tributary of
the Rio Virgen, about three miles from the Mormon town of Saint George,
a low mound, which I suppose to have been a sort of village-site
tumulus, was found. The outline was irregular, but had originally been
approximately circular. It was less than ten feet in height, and
covered about half an acre. One side had been undermined and carried
away by the stream. The work of exhumation was most successfully
accomplished by means of water. A small stream was made to play upon the
soft alluvium, of which the mound was chiefly composed. The sensations
of the collector, as skeleton after skeleton and vase after vase
appeared, must have been highly pleasurable.
It is thought that the inhabitants of this place, like many other
primitive peoples, buried their dead beneath their dwellings, which were
then burned down or otherwise destroyed. As time passed on and the dead
were forgotten, other dwellings were built upon the old sites, until
quite a mound was formed in which all the less perishable remains were
preserved in successive layers.
Following the customs of most primitive peoples, the belongings of the
deceased were buried with them. Earthen vessels were found in profusion.
With a single body, there were sometimes as many as eight vases, the
children having been in this respect more highly favored than the
adults. There seems to have been no system in the arrangement either of
the bodies or of the accompanying relics.
The majority of the vases were either plain or decorated in color, but
many of the larger specimens were of the coiled variety. About sixty
vessels were recovered. Those of the former classes will be described
under their proper headings.
[Illustration: FIG. 241.--Vessel from the tumulus, at Saint
George.--1/3.]
The shapes of the corrugated vases are of the simplest kind. The
prevailing form corresponds very closely with the Cliff House specimen
illustrated in Fig. 239. One unusually large example was brought back in
fragments, but has since been successfully restored. It stands nearly
seventeen inches high and is sixteen inches in diameter. The plain part
of the rim is one and one-half inches wide, and the lip is well rounded
and strongly recurved. The lines are quite graceful, the neck expanding
below into a globular body which is just a little pointed at the base.
The color is dark, from use over the fire. The fillets of clay were
narrow and very neatly crimped. Roughly estimated, there were at least
three hundred feet of the coil used. The vessel has a capacity of about
ten gallons.
[Illustration: FIG. 242.--Vase from the tumulus at Saint George.--1/2.]
Vases of this particular outline may be found, varying in size from
these grand proportions to small cups an inch or two in height. Of a
somewhat different type is the vessel shown in Fig. 241. The outline is
symmetrical. The neck is comparatively high and wide and swells out
gently to the widest part of the body, the base being almost
hemispherical. A band about the neck is coiled and roughly indented,
while the body is quite smooth. The plain band about the mouth is broad
and sharply recurved. The coils are wide and deeply indented. They have
been smoothed down somewhat while the clay was still soft. The vase
shown in Fig. 242 is characterized by its upright rim, elongated neck,
round body, and plain broad coils. The fillets are set one upon another,
apparently without the usual imbrication. This latter feature occurs in
a number of cases in the vessels of this locality.
The bottle given in Fig. 243 is quite comely in shape. The neck expands
gracefully from the rim to its junction with the body, which swells out
abruptly to its greatest fullness. The coil is not neatly laid. The
indentation began with the coil, but was almost obliterated on the lower
part of the vessel while the clay was yet soft. The fillets are not so
well smoothed down on the interior surface as usual, a ridged
appearance being the result. This comes from the difficulty of operating
within a much restricted aperture. The color is gray, with a few
effective clouds of black, the result of firing. Another, of similar
form, was taken from the collection by unknown persons.
[Illustration: FIG. 243.--Vase from the tumulus at Saint George.--1/2.]
The only example of coiled ware from this locality having a handle is a
small mug. Its body is shaped much like the larger vessels, but it is
less regular in outline. The single vertically placed handle, now
partially broken away, was attached to the side of the body near the
top, and consisted of a rough cord of clay less than half an inch in
diameter. The Saint George tumulus furnished a number of vessels with
smooth, unpainted surfaces, very similar in form and size to the coiled
vessels. They are generally blackened by use over fire, and, like the
large coiled pots, were evidently used for culinary purposes. A few
smaller vessels of the same style of finish exhibit forms characteristic
of the painted ware, as will be seen by reference to the illustrations
of these two groups.
From the same source we have two bowls of especial interest, as they
have coiled exteriors and polished and painted interiors. One of these
is illustrated in Fig. 244. They form an important link between the two
varieties of ware, demonstrating the fact that both styles belong to the
same age and to the same people. A similar bowl, found in possession of
the Zuñi Indians, is illustrated in another part of this paper, Fig.
254. Another was obtained at Moki. Fragments of identical vessels are
found occasionally throughout the whole Pueblo district. One piece from
the San Juan Valley has figures painted upon the coiled exterior
surface, the interior being polished and unpainted. Specimens from the
vicinity of Springerville, Arizona, have designs in white painted over
the coiled surface. A large number of well-made, hemispherical bowls
from this locality have a coiled band about the exterior margin, but are
otherwise plain and well polished. Some are brownish or reddish in
color. Many of them have been used over the fire.
[Illustration: FIG. 244.--Bowl with coiled exterior and painted
interior: Saint George.--1/2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 245.--Vase from Parowan, Utah.--1/2.]
The ceramic remains of Utah present some puzzling features. As we go
north from the Rio Virgen there is an apparent gradation from the
typical Pueblo ware to a distinct group characteristic of Salt Lake
Valley. The interesting problems suggested by this condition of things
cannot be discussed in this place, and I will stop only to present a
specimen of the coiled ware from Parowan, which is in some respects the
finest example known. The form, so far as it is preserved, seems
unusually graceful, and the laying and indenting of the coil is
surprisingly perfect. This vase is in the Salt Lake Museum, and the cut,
Fig. 245, is made from a photograph furnished by Prof. Marcus E. Jones.
Vessels with similar finish have recently been obtained from graves at
Fillmore, Utah, by Dr. H. C. Yarrow, and, singularly enough, identical
work is seen in some very fine pieces obtained by Mr. Nelson from ruined
pueblos in middle eastern Arizona.
[Illustration: FIG. 246.--Cup from central Utah.--1/3.]
An interesting little cup, said to have been found in central Utah,
illustrates some of the peculiar characters of the more northern
examples of this ware. The vessel has apparently been built with coils,
as usual, but the surface is worked over in such a way as to obscure the
spiral ridges. The rim is upright and plain. The high, wide neck has a
series of narrow, vertical flutings, made with a round-pointed
implement, or possibly with the finger tip. A band of four channels
encircles the middle of the body, the lower part of which is covered
with oblique markings.
The handle is large and round, and is attached above to the top of the
rim, and below to the middle of the body. This cup is now in the museum
at Salt Lake. The photograph from which the engraving is made was
obtained through Professor Jones.
DISTRICT OF THE LITTLE COLORADO.
The region now inhabited by the Pueblo tribes seems to have been a
favorite residence of the ancient peoples. Ruins and remains of ceramic
art may be found at every turn, and it is a common thing to find
ancient vessels in possession of the Pueblo Indians. This is especially
true of the Zuñis and Mokis, from whom considerable collections have
been obtained. These vessels have apparently been culled from the sites
of ancient ruins, from cave and cliff-houses, and possibly in some cases
from burial places. Recently, since they have become valuable in trade,
the country about Moki has been ransacked by both Indians and whites,
and many valuable specimens have been acquired.
Within recent years a number of expeditions have been sent into this
region. To these the cañons and cliffs have yielded many specimens. Both
Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Victor Mindeleff have brought in excellent
examples, a few of which have already been illustrated in the
publications of the Bureau of Ethnology. I must not fail to mention the
very extensive collection of Mr. T. V. Keam and his associate, Mr. John
Stephen, examples from which I am permitted to illustrate in this paper.
Most of the pieces described by Mr. Stevenson are small and not at all
pleasing in appearance. They comprise ollas and handled mugs of an
elongated scrotoid or sack shape, the widest part of the body being, as
a rule, near the base, while the upper part is elongated into a heavy
neck, to which a recurved rim has been added.
A number of examples, illustrated in the Second Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology, were obtained from the Zuñi Indians, and are
thought by Mr. Stevenson to have come from the Cañon de Chelly.
[Illustration: FIG. 247.--Vessel from Zuñi.--1/4.]
A large, very badly constructed specimen is given in Fig. 247. The rim
is roughly finished, the body unsymmetrical, and the bottom slightly
flattened. The coils differ greatly in width, and are carelessly joined
and unevenly indented. The rudeness of workmanship noticed in this case
is characteristic of many of the specimens from Zuñi.
[Illustration: FIG. 248.--Vessel from Zuñi.--1/2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 249.--Handled mug from Tusayan.--1/2.]
A rudely constructed cylindrical cup, of the wide-mouthed, narrow-bodied
variety, is illustrated in Fig. 248. The bottom was flattened by contact
with some hard, scarred surface before the clay hardened. Two round,
tapering, serpent-like fillets of clay have been fixed in a vertical
position upon opposite sides of the vessel.
There are a number of handled vessels of this class. They are mostly
rather rudely made and unsymmetrical. They are small in size and were
probably devoted to ordinary domestic uses. A good specimen from the
Keam collection is shown in Fig. 249. The handle in this case is a large
loop made of three ropes of clay placed side by side. In one case there
are three strands set side by side, and joined near the ends. In another
case the strands have been twisted, giving a rope-like effect. These
forms closely resemble wicker handles in appearance and manner of
attachment, and are probably to some extent derived from them, although
there is no reason why the ropes of clay, in constant use by potters,
should not be joined in pairs, or even twisted, if greater strength or
variety were desired.
Vessels from the province of Tusayan may often be identified by their
color, which, like that of the transition and modern wares of the same
region, is often a rich yellow, sometimes approaching an orange. This
color is probably a result of changes in the natural constituents of the
clay employed.
[Illustration: FIG. 250.--Yellow vase from Tusayan.--1/3.]
An excellent example of the yellow coiled vases is illustrated in Fig.
250. It has a new look, and probably belongs to a later period than the
light gray ware of the district. It is symmetrical, and the coil is
neatly laid and indented. Portions of the sides and base were blackened
in firing.
There are a number of fine specimens of this class in the Keam
collection, all obtained from the ancient province of Tusayan. A small,
wide-necked pot is shown in Fig. 251. The surface is smooth, with the
exception of a narrow band or collar about the neck, formed of a few
indented coils. Other vessels closely resembling this in style are much
larger and heavier.
[Illustration: FIG. 251.--Yellow vase from Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 252.--Vessel from Tusayan.--1/3.]
A vessel of very archaic appearance is illustrated in Fig. 252. In form,
color, and finish it differs from the preceding example. The mouth is
almost as wide as the body at its greatest circumference, the color is
gray, and the coils are narrow and regularly indented. A minute coiled
fillet is attached to the rim for ornament.
The vessel illustrated in Fig. 253 is one of the most noteworthy of its
class. In form and construction it does not differ essentially from
specimens already described, but the decoration is superior. The coils
are indented in such a way as to produce a pattern of triangular
figures, which is carried over the entire surface of the vessel. It
belongs to the Keam collection, and comes from the province of Tusayan.
[Illustration: FIG. 253.--Large vase from Tusayan.--1/4.]
[Illustration: FIG. 254.--Bowl from Cibola.--1/2.]
From Cibola we have a bowl, the exterior of which is coiled and the
interior polished and painted. It is undoubtedly of the most archaic
variety of ware, and is almost a duplicate of the example from the Saint
George tumulus, shown in Fig. 244. The interior is encircled by a
series of five triangular volutes in black lines, and the exterior exhibits
a very neatly laid and indented coil. Fig. 254.
PECOS AND THE RIO GRANDE.
In New Mexico, upwards of four hundred miles east of Saint George, in
the handsome upland valley of the Rio Pecos, we have the most easterly
of the ancient Pueblo remains. The site was occupied at the time of the
conquest, but is now wholly deserted, a small remnant of the people
having gone to dwell with their kindred at Jémez.
The site of this village has been thoroughly examined by that learned
gentleman, Mr. A. F. Bandelier. It is his opinion that the remains show
at least two distinct periods of occupation, the first being marked
chiefly by a stratum of ashes, pottery, etc., of great horizontal
extent. This underlies more recent deposits which belong to the people
found in possession, and whose arts are nearly identical with those of
the existing Pueblos.
The underlying stratum is characterized by great quantities of
fragmentary coiled ware uniform with that of more western localities. At
the same time there is almost a total absence of painted pottery.
The conclusion reached by Mr. Bandelier is that probably the coiled
pottery wherever found marks the occupancy of a people antecedent to
those who made painted ware. It is my impression, as already stated,
that the coiled form may be the most archaic of the ancient Pueblo
pottery, yet I think it best to notice two things in regard to the
conditions at Pecos.
In the first place, it should be remembered that the painted pottery
found by Mr. Bandelier is said to resemble that of Nambe of to-day,
nothing being said of the painted ware characteristic of the ancient
ruins of the west, and which is always found associated with the coiled
fragments, as at Saint George, in the same graves and even in the same
vessel, Fig. 244. We would not expect in Pecos, or in any other place,
to find modern Pueblo ware like the more recent pottery from Pecos
intimately associated with the ancient ware either painted or
corrugated. The only strange feature at Pecos is that the coiled
fragments are not associated with ancient painted ware as in other
places.
Mr. Bandelier advances the idea that this deposit of corrugated ware may
represent the site of an ancient pottery, where the vessels were laid
out in heaps surrounded by fuel and burned as by the modern Pueblo
potters, the broken pieces being left on the ground, forming finally a
considerable stratum. If this is correct, then the true explanation
probably is that on this spot only the one variety of pottery was made,
the painted pottery of the same locality, if such was in use, being made
by potters in other parts of the village. Unless there is an actual
superposition of the ancient painted ware upon deposits of the coiled
variety, we learn nothing of chronological importance.
The valley of the Rio Grande has furnished but few specimens of the
coiled ware, although it is known to occur along nearly its entire
course through New Mexico.
DISTRICT OF THE RIO GILA.
The broad area drained by the Gila River and its tributaries abounds in
ruins and relics, but its exploration is yet very incomplete. Coiled
pottery identical, in nearly every respect, with that of the more
northern valleys is abundant, but it is sometimes associated with
painted wares very different in style from those of the cliff-house
districts. It will probably be found that the ceramic products of the
Rio Gila and the Rio Grande are much less homogeneous than those of the
Colorado Chiquito, the San Juan, and the Rio Virgen.
IMITATION COIL-WARE.
I have already mentioned the occurrence in the Pueblo towns of modern
coiled pottery, and also that there are seen, occasionally, vessels in
which the coiled effect is rudely imitated by means of scarifying and
indenting the plastic surface. Specimens of the latter class are
generally small rude bottles with wide recurved lips and slightly
conical bases. They are very rudely made and clumsy and are but slightly
baked, and on account of the omission of proper tempering material are
extremely brittle. They are new looking, and in no case show indications
of use, and I have seen no example worthy of a place upon our museum
shelves save as illustrating the trickery of the makers. It is possible
that they are made by the Mokis, but if so by very unskilled persons who
have neither understood the methods nor employed the same materials as
the professional potters. I consider it highly probable that some clever
Navajo has thought, by imitating archaic types of ware, to outwit
collectors and turn an honest penny.
PLAIN WARE.
All the groups of pottery furnish examples of plain vessels. These are
generally rudely finished and heavy, as if intended for the more
ordinary domestic uses, such as the cooking of food and the storing of
provisions and water. The material is coarser than in the nicely
finished pieces and the surface is without the usual slip and without
polish or applied color.
The characters of these utensils are quite uniform throughout very
widely separated districts, so that it is more difficult to assign a
single vessel to its proper family than in the case of decorated wares.
We have from Saint George and other localities examples of plain vessels
that belong, without a doubt, to the coiled variety, the resemblance in
material, color, shape, and finish being quite marked.
These vessels are plentiful in the province of Tusayan, and many of
them, as indicated by their color, construction, and texture, belong to
the yellow and orange groups of ancient coiled ware. There is in many
cases an easily discernible gradation from the wholly coiled through the
partially coiled to the plain ware. In some cases the coil has been so
imperfectly smoothed down that obscure ribs encircle the vessel
indicating its direction, and in other cases fractures extend along the
junction lines, separating the vessel when broken, into its original
coils. These vessels are large and heavy, with wide mouths and full
bodies, which are occasionally somewhat compressed laterally, giving an
oval aperture.
Similar pithoi like vessels are in daily use by the Mokis and also by
the Zuñis, Acomas, Yumas, and others. They are employed in cooking the
messes for feasts and large gatherings, for dyeing wool, and for storing
various household materials. The modern work is so like the ancient that
it is difficult in many cases to distinguish the one from the other.
Besides the typical pot or cask there are many varieties of plain
vessels, some of which appear to be closely related to, or even
identical with, the classes usually finished in color. These include
bowls, pots, and bottles. I present three examples from the tumulus at
Saint George, Utah. The little bottle, shown in Fig. 255, is remarkable
in having a subtriangular shape, three nearly symmetrical nodes
occurring about the most expanded part of the body. An interesting
series of similar vessels has been obtained from Tusayan, some of which
are decidedly askoidal in shape.
[Illustration: FIG. 255.--Bottle from the tumulus at Saint
George.--1/2.]
Similar to the last in general outline is the curious vessel given in
Fig. 256. It was obtained in Southern Utah, and is now in possession of
the Salt Lake City Museum. The three nodes are very prominent and curve
upwards at the points like horns. An upright handle is attached to the
side of the neck.
[Illustration: FIG. 256.--Vase from the tumulus at Saint George.--1/2.]
A large bottle-shaped vessel from the same locality is illustrated in
Fig. 257. The neck is short and widens rapidly below. The body is large
and globular, and is furnished with two small perforated ears placed at
the sides near the top. There are a number of similar examples in the
collection from this place. We have also a number of handled cups,
mostly with globular bodies and wide apertures. All are quite plain.
[Illustration: FIG. 257.--Vase from the tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
Examples from this and other sections could be multiplied indefinitely,
but since the forms are all repeated in more highly finished pieces it
is needless to present them.
PAINTED WARE.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.--It is with a peculiar sense of delight that we
enter upon the study of a group of art products so full of new and
interesting features. Every object of antiquity has its charm for us,
but there is an especial fascination about the works of a people like
the "cliff-dwellers," whose long forgotten history takes the form of a
romance in our imaginations. In the study of these relics we have the
additional charm engendered by a contemplation of new forms of beauty,
and we follow the stages of their evolution from the initial steps to
the end with ever increasing zest.
The ceramic art of classic and oriental countries has exerted a powerful
influence upon existing culture, and is therefore much nearer the heart
of the general student than the work of the American races; but it will
not do for science to underrate the value of a study of the latter. Its
thorough examination cannot fail to furnish many illustrations of the
methods by which arts grow and races advance in culture, and,
supplemented by a study of the art of the modern peoples, it will serve
to illustrate the interesting phenomena attending the contact of widely
separated grades of art. In the introductory pages I have considered
many of the technical questions of construction and ornamentation.
Before entering upon detailed descriptions of the specimens, I desire to
give a brief review of the subject of painted decoration.
COLOR OF DESIGNS.--The colors employed are doubtless generally of a
mineral character, although carbonaceous matter derived directly from
vegetable sources may have been used to some extent. They comprised
white, black, red, and various shades of brown, and were applied to the
surfaces of the vessels by means of brushes not inferior in efficiency
to those employed by the potters of more enlightened races.
EXECUTION.--The technical skill of the artist has not generally been of
a high order, although examples are found that indicate a trained eye
and a skilled hand. The designs are painted upon the show spaces of the
vessels, which have been tinted and polished with especial reference to
their reception. Large apertured vessels, such as dishes, cups, and
bowls, are decorated chiefly upon the inner surface. The design often
occupies only a band about the rim, but not infrequently covers the
entire inner surface. High or incurved rims have in some cases received
figures upon the exterior margin.
Vessels with constricted necks have exterior decorations only. The
placing of the designs was governed, to a great extent, by the contour
of the vessel, although there was no fixed rule. The grouping of the
figures is possibly a little more irregular in the more archaic forms,
but in nearly all cases there is a tendency toward arrangement in zones
horizontally encircling the vessel. This feature is suggestive of the
use of the wheel or of the influence of wheel-made decoration; but
there is probably a pre-ceramic reason for this peculiarity, to be
sought in the decoration of antecedent vessels of more pronounced
surface or constructional characters, such as basketry. This arrangement
may also be attributed in a measure to the conformation of the vessel
decorated. It will be observed that generally the neck furnishes the
space for one zone of devices and the body that for another, while the
shoulder, where wide or particularly accentuated, suggests the
introduction of a third. In vessels of irregular form the figures take
such positions as happen to have been suggested to the decorator by the
available spaces, by the demands of superstition, or the dictates of
fancy pure and simple.
It appears that the artist never worked in a hap-hazard manner, yet
never by rule or by pattern. The conception of the intended design was
well formed in the mind, and the decoration commenced with a thorough
understanding of the requirements of the vessel under treatment and of
the effect of each added line upon the complete result. The vessels,
being for the most part free-hand products, are necessarily varied in
form and proportion, and the mobility of method in decoration is
therefore a necessary as well as a natural condition. In accommodating
the ordinary geometric figures to the variously curved and uneven
surfaces, there were no erasures and, apparently, no embarrassments.
This feature of the art shows it to be a native and spontaneous
growth--the untrammeled working out of traditional conceptions by native
gifts.
STAGES OF ORNAMENT.--In the transmission of a nation's art inheritance
from generation to generation, all the original forms of ornament
undergo changes by alterations, eliminations, or additions. At the end
of a long period we find the style of decoration so modified as to be
hardly recognizable as the work of the same people; yet rapid changes
would not occur in the uninterrupted course of evolution, for there is a
wonderful stability about the arts, institutions, and beliefs of
primitive races. Change of environment has a decided tendency to modify,
and contact with other peoples, especially if of a high grade of
culture, is liable to revolutionize the whole character of the art. The
manufactures of our modern tribes show abundant evidence of the
demoralizing effect upon native art of contact with the whites. There
are no such features in the prehistoric art.
_First stage._--In the early stages of art the elements used in
embellishment are greatly non-ideographic, and the forms of expression
are chiefly geometric. The elements or motives are limited in number and
are in a measure common to all archaic art. They embrace dots, straight
lines, and various angular and curvilinear figures, which in their
higher stages become checkers, zigzags, chevrons, complex forms of
meanders, fretted figures, and scrolls, with an infinite variety of
combination and detail. At the same time there is no confusion. The
processes by which the parts are segregated are as well regulated as are
the processes of natural growth. This phase of decoration seems to be
the prevailing one in the earlier stages of Pueblo art.
_Second stage._--A second phase or stage is marked by the free
introduction of ideographic devices of pictorial origin into decoration.
These are drawn, to a great extent, from that most prolific source of
artistic conceptions, mythology. This stage is the second in Pueblo art.
The period or stage of culture at which such elements are introduced
varies with different peoples. It is possible that ideographic and
non-ideographic devices may enter art simultaneously. This is certainly
to be expected in the ceramic art, which comes into existence rather
late in the course of progress.
_Third stage._--In strong contrast with the preceding stages is the
state of modern Pueblo decoration. Contact with the whites has led to
the introduction of life forms and varied pictorial delineations. These
conditions belong to a stage in advance of the position reached in the
natural course of growth. Ideographic, non-ideographic, and purely
pictorial characters are combined in the most heterogeneous manner in
the decoration of a single vessel. The decorator has ceased to work
under the guidance of his instincts as a rule unerring, and now, like
the mass of his more highly civilized brethren, he must grope in
darkness until culture shall come to his aid with canons of taste--the
product of intellect.
CLASSIFICATION OF WARE.--In the treatment of this great group, or rather
collection of groups, of pottery a scheme of classification is the first
thing to be considered. In glancing over the field we notice that a
whitish ware, having a certain range of material, finish, form, and
decoration, is very widely distributed, that, in fact, it is found over
nearly the entire area known to have been occupied by the Pueblo tribes.
We find, however, that within this area there are varieties of this
particular group distinguished by more or less pronounced peculiarities
of color, form, and ornament, resulting from dissimilarity of
environment rather than from differences in time, race, or method of
construction. This group is associated, in nearly every locality, with
the archaic coiled ware, and together they are especially typical of the
first great period of Pueblo art. Its makers were the builders of the
cliff dwellings, of the round towers, and of countless stone pueblos.
Distinct from the preceding, and apparently occupying an intermediate
place in time and culture between the primitive and the recent wares, we
have a number of pretty well defined groups. At least two of these are
peculiar to the ancient province of Tusayan. The vessels of one of these
groups are noticeable for their rounded symmetrical bodies, their finely
textured paste, and their delicate creamy shades of color. The designs
are well executed and display unusual refinement of taste.
Another, and probably the more important variety, is characterized,
first, by peculiarities of form, the body being doubly conical and the
bottom deeply indented; second, by richness of color, orange and yellow
tints prevailing; and, third, by the striking individuality and
remarkable execution of the painted designs.
In the valley of the Little Colorado and extending southward to the
Gila, we find remnants of a group of highly colored pottery differing
from the preceding and, in many respects, from the widely distributed
red ware of the north, specimens of which occur in connection with the
white ware. The surfaces are painted red and profusely decorated in
white, black, and red lines and figures.
Still another variety is obtained from this region. As indicated by
collections from Saint John and Springerville, it consists greatly of
bowls, the colors, forms, and decorations having decided points of
resemblance to corresponding features of the cream-colored ware of
ancient Tusayan. There are still other groups, probably of intermediary
periods, whose limits are not yet well defined, examples of which are
found in possession of the Pueblo Indians.
At Pecos the art was practiced long after the advent of the conquerors,
and later specimens show the archaic decorative ideas worked out in
Spanish glaze. The deserted pueblos of the Rio Grande furnish antique
forms that show wide distinctions from the ancient wares of the west.
Another variety peculiar to the southwest shows indications of having
been carried down to the present in the work of the Indians of the Lower
Colorado Valley. Each of these groups and such new ones as may be
discovered will be made the subject of careful study.
The remainder of this paper will be devoted to a single group--the first
mentioned in the preceding list.
WHITE WARE.
The coiled ware has already been presented in some detail. Most nearly
related to it in material, form, color, and distribution is the archaic
white ware, the pottery _par excellance_ of the "Cliff-Dwellers." It is
easily recognized, even from small fragments, whether found in the
valley of the Colorado, of the Rio Grande, or of the Gila, although each
locality has its slight peculiarities of texture, tint, shape, and
ornamentation. As a rule the material is a fine-grained clay, tempered
with fine sand, the surfaces of the vessels being coated with a thin
wash of very fine white clay. The ware is nearly always well baked and
hard, breaking with a saccharoidal, rarely with a conchoidal, fracture.
The surface is, as a rule, well polished, but often slightly undulating.
The color of the paste is generally gray within the mass and white upon
the surface. Associated with the white ware in most localities we find a
small percentage of red ware nearly identical in all save color with the
white ware.
The forms are comparatively few and simple, a full, well-rounded body,
as with the coiled ware, being a strong characteristic. The
ornamentation is generally in black paint, exceptionally in red and
white, and consists to a great extent of geometric figures, often rather
rudely drawn. Very rarely we observe an attempt to delineate a life
form--human or animal, never vegetable.
CLASSIFICATION BY FORM.--The ware of each province is conveniently
presented in form-groups, beginning with the more simple shapes and
advancing to the more complex.
BOWLS.--Bowl-shaped vessels have been in great favor with all the Pueblo
peoples, and in ancient times, especially in the north and west,
predominated very decidedly over all other forms. This is naturally a
favorite shape with primitive peoples, as it is the most simple and
probably that first developed. A long experience would be necessary for
the evolution of narrow-necked or complex forms.
Our collections contain many examples of ancient bowls, perfectly
preserved, but if this were not the case the shapes are so simple that
it would be an easy matter to make satisfactory restorations from
fragments. There is considerable diversity of outline, yet all may be
conveniently classed under two heads: the hemispherical and the
heart-shaped. The former are much more plentiful and were probably the
favorite food vessels of the people. As a rule they are plain segments
of spheres. The rims are, in rare cases, oval in outline, and a few are
elongated at the ends.
Heart-shaped bowls are characterized by a somewhat conical base and a
deeply incurved rim, sometimes much depressed about the contracted
mouth. The forms are often elegant, and the painted designs are
generally well executed and pleasing to the eye.
OLLAS.--Between bowls and pot-shaped vases or ollas there is but a
step--the addition of an upright or recurving band forming a neck. In
vessels of the latter class the body is almost universally globular,
often tapering a very little below. Occasionally there is a slight
flattening of the bottom and very rarely a concavity. The neck is seldom
high, but varies greatly in size and shape. These vessels correspond to
the water vases of the modern tribes.
BOTTLES.--Bottle-shaped vessels are very widely distributed. They differ
from the ollas in one respect only--the necks are narrower and higher.
They are rarely flattened, as are the modern Pueblo bottles known as
canteens.
HANDLED VESSELS.--Smaller vessels of nearly all shapes are at times
furnished with handles. The origin of certain forms of these has
received attention in the introductory pages. They vary in style with
the shape of the vessel to which they are attached. Bowls exhibit two
well-marked varieties--a cylindrical form and a simple loop. Those of
the former often imitate the handle-like neck of a gourd, and archaic
specimens from various parts of the Pueblo province are so literally
copied that the small curved stem of the gourd is represented. This
feature in some cases becomes a loop at the end of the handle, serving
to suspend the vessel, like the ring attached to our dipper handles.
Specimens from the headwaters of the Colorado Chiquito have the ends of
the handles modeled to represent the head of a serpents or other
creatures. A loop sometimes takes the place of the cylindrical handle,
and is attached to the side of the bowl in a vertical or a horizontal
position. It may be long or short, wide or narrow, simple or compound,
and is not always evenly curved. In certain forms of cups the
vertically-placed loop occupies the whole length of the vessel,
suggesting well-known forms of the beer-mug.
High-necked cups, vases, and bottles have rather long, vertically-placed
loops, giving a pitcher-like effect. These may consist of two or more
strands placed side by side or twisted together. Rarely an animal form
is imitated, the fore feet of the creature resting upon the rim of the
vessel and the hind feet upon the shoulder. Perforated knobs often take
the place of the loops, and unperforated nodes and projections of varied
shapes are not unusual. Some of these, placed upon the upper part of the
neck, represent the heads of animals.
A novel handle is sometimes seen in the ancient vases of Cibola and
Tusayan. While the clay was still soft a deep abrupt indentation was
made in the lower part of the vessel, sufficiently large to admit the
ends of two or three fingers, thus giving a hold that facilitated the
handling of the vessel. I have seen no looped handles arching the
aperture of the vessel, as in the modern meal baskets of the Zuñis.
ECCENTRIC AND LIFE FORMS.--The simple potter of early Pueblo times seems
barely to have reached the period of eccentric and compound forms, and
animal and grotesque shapes, so common in the pottery of the
mound-builders of the Mississippi valley, the Mexicans, and the
Peruvians, are of rather rare occurrence. The last section of this paper
is devoted to life and eccentric forms.
For convenience of treatment, the following illustrations will be
presented by districts, beginning at the northwest.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
DISTRICT OF THE RIO VIRGEN.
Under the head of coiled pottery I have given a detailed description of
the remarkable dwelling-site tumulus at Saint George, Utah, which has
furnished such a complete set of the fictile works of the cliff-house
potter, the first collection of importance known to have been made by
exhumation. I will now present the painted ware and point out its very
interesting local peculiarities. All the ordinary shapes are present
excepting the olla. Vessels of this form are all of the plain or coiled
varieties. The paste is gray and the surface color is usually a light
gray. A small percentage of the vessels are painted or stained red. The
designs are all executed in black, and are for the most part nicely
drawn. They differ slightly in a number of ways from those of other
districts, their relationships being, with a few exceptions, more
intimate with the ware of the Rio San Juan. A characteristic of this
pottery is the thinness of the walls and the hardness and tenacity of
the paste. In form a striking feature is the occurrence of bowls of oval
form, and in one case such a bowl has sides cut down or scalloped and
ends prolonged. The oval form is sometimes seen in other districts, and
the elongation of portions of the rim is a feature especially
characteristic of the Pima and Mojave work of to-day.
BOWLS.--I have already shown in Fig. 244 a small bowl from this
locality, in which a coiled exterior is combined with a polished and
painted interior. This is an unusual combination, the exterior commonly
being plain. The following examples are grouped, as far as possible,
according to their painted designs. A usual and very widely distributed
decoration consists of a belt of figures encircling the inner margin. In
its simplest condition it is only a single broad line, but more
frequently it is elaborated into a tasteful border so wide as to leave
only a small circle of the plain surface in the bottom of the vessel.
The figures present much variety of effect, but combine only a few
elements or ideas, as the following figures will amply show. All are
rectilinear, or as nearly so as the conformation of the vessels will
permit. No example of exterior decoration occurs. As my illustrations
are necessarily limited to a few pieces, those having the simpler
combinations of lines are omitted, and such only are given as exhibit
the decorations of this district to the best advantage.
The bowl shown in Fig. 258 may be regarded as a typical example.
[Illustration: FIG. 258.--Bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
It is a plain hemisphere of gray clay, with roughly finished exterior
and whitened and polished interior surface. It is eight inches in
diameter and nearly four inches deep. The painted design occupies a band
about two inches wide, and consists of two broad bordering lines
inclosing meandered lines. The triangular interspaces are occupied by
serrate figures, giving to the whole ornament an appearance
characteristic of textile borders.
Two small bowls have borders in which the meandered lines are in the
natural color of the ground, the triangular spaces being filled in with
black. In one case the effect of the guilloche is given in the same
manner.
Few vessels exhibit a more characteristic example of the ornamentation
of this ware than that given in Fig. 259. It is identical in surface
finish with the last, excepting that the exterior has been painted red.
An exceptional feature may be noticed in the shaping of the rim, which
has been brought to a sharp edge.
[Illustration: FIG. 259.--Bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
The design occupies the usual space, and consists of a very elaborately
meandered or fretted line, which is so involved that the eye follows it
with difficulty. Four units of the combination complete the circuit of
the vessel. In another specimen, which also has the design divided into
four parts, the lower line of each part is made straight, by which means
the space left in the bottom of the vessel is square instead of round,
as in the other cases.
[Illustration: FIG. 260.--Bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/2.]
Another variety of decoration, quite characteristic of this region,
consists of a band of fret-work dashed boldly across the inner surface
of the bowl, giving a most striking result. These figures appear to be
fragments of continuous borders, taken from their proper connections and
made to do duty on a surface that had ordinarily been left without
decoration. This observation has led to the proper interpretation of
many enigmatic combinations at first thought to have especial
application and significance.
[Illustration: FIG. 261.--Painted device.]
The handsome shallow bowl presented in Fig. 260 has been badly broken
and carefully mended while still in the hands of its aboriginal owners.
It is ten and one-half inches in diameter, and only three and
three-fourths inches in depth. The surface finish is identical with that
of the preceding example. The design, which consists of a single segment
of a chain of fret-work, is drawn in broad, steady lines. Fig. 261.
Not unlike the last in its leading features is the vessel illustrated in
Fig. 262. The label indicates that it was collected at Kanab, Utah, a
Mormon village ninety miles east of Saint George. The design is carried
over the whole inner surface, and is somewhat difficult to analyze.
There is little doubt, however, that it consists of portions of fretted
or meandered patterns arbitrarily selected from basketry or other
geometrically embellished articles, and applied to this use. The
complete device is shown in Fig. 263.
[Illustration: FIG. 262.--Bowl from Kanab.--1/4.]
The following examples are unique in their styles of decoration. The
first, Fig. 264, resembles the preceding save in its painted device.
Like a few others, it has been badly fractured and carefully mended by
its Indian owners. It was obtained also at Kanab, and is nine inches in
diameter by four and one-half in height. The design is cruciform in
arrangement, the four parts being joined in pairs by connecting lines.
It exhibits some very unusual features (Fig. 265), and we are led to
suspect that it may in some way have been significant, or at least that
it is a copy of some emblematic device.
[Illustration: FIG. 263.--Painted device.]
The almost total absence of life forms in the art of the primitive
Pueblos has often been remarked. One example only has been discovered in
this region. This occurs in a subject painted on the inner surface of a
rather rude, oblong, bowl, from the Saint George tumulus, Fig. 266. A
checkered belt in black extends longitudinally across the bowl. At the
sides of this, near the middle, are two human figures, executed in the
most primitive style, as shown in Fig. 267. Their angular forms are
indicative of textile influence. The middle part of the bowl is broken
out, so that the feet of one figure and the head of the other are lost.
[Illustration: FIG. 264.--Bowl from Kanab.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 265.--Painted device.]
These figures resemble those painted upon and picked in the rocks of the
pueblo region, and the triangular head is sometimes seen in the ceramic
decoration of modern tribes. A bowl with similar figures was brought
from Tusayan by Mr. Mindeleff. It is illustrated in Fig. 268.
[Illustration: FIG. 266.--Bowl with human figures: Tumulus at Saint
George.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 267.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 268.--Bowl with human figures: Province of
Tusayan.--1/3.]
Among the many fine things from the mound at Saint George are a few red
bowls. They were made of a slightly reddish clay, or the paste has
reddened uniformly in burning, and a slip or wash of bright red color
has been applied to the surface. The designs are painted in black, but
differ in style from any of the preceding. This work corresponds very
closely indeed with the decorations of similar vessels from the Little
Colorado. The marked peculiarities of the ornamentation and color of
these bowls give rise to the idea that they may have been intended for
some especial service of a ceremonial character. It is not impossible,
however, that these vessels reached very distant localities by means of
trade. A representative example is shown in Fig. 269. The broad interior
band of ornament is divided into four compartments by vertical panels of
reticulated lines. The compartments are occupied by groups of
disconnected rectangular fret-links on a ground of oblique stripes.
[Illustration: FIG. 269.--Red bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
The heart-shaped bowls previously mentioned include medium sized and
small vases, with slightly conical bases, distended shoulders, and much
constricted, often depressed, apertures. They are of very general
distribution, but like the hemispherical red bowls are rarely found in
numbers. It is probable that they were devoted to ceremonial rather than
to domestic uses. The shapes are generally pleasing to the eye; the
finish is exceptionally fine, and the designs, though simple, are
applied with more than usual care.
A very good specimen from the tumulus at Saint George is illustrated in
Fig. 270.
[Illustration: FIG. 270.--Heart-shaped bowl of red ware: Tumulus at
Saint George.--1/3.]
The bottom in this case is slightly flattened, and the incurved lip but
slightly sunken. The paste is a light red and the surface has received
a coat of bright red color. The design is in black, is extremely simple,
and rather carelessly drawn. The principal figure seems to be a very
simple form of the favorite device--the meander.
A large fine bowl much like the preceding, and obtained from the same
locality, is owned by the Salt Lake City Museum. The design is of the
same class, but very much more elaborate. Another example from Saint
George is smaller and yellowish-gray in color, with figures in red and
black. At Kanab I picked up fragments of a small vessel, highly polished
and of a rich, brownish-purple color, the designs being in black.
Another fragment showed designs in bright red and black upon a yellowish
ground.
OLLAS.--I have already called attention to the fact, that the Saint
George tumulus furnished no example of ollas or large-necked vases of
the painted variety, vessels of this class being plain or of the coiled
ware. In the vicinity, however, I collected fragments of the white
painted pottery derived from large vessels of this class, very much like
the large, handsome vessels of ancient Tusayan. A number of such
fragments come from the vicinity of Kanab. Plain vessels of this shape
were obtained from the tumulus at Saint George. They are identical in
every other respect, save the presence of designs, with the painted
pottery. Some have received a wash of red, while it is not improbable
that others have lost their color or decorative figures by wear or
weather.
[Illustration: FIG. 271.--Red pitcher: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
HANDLED VESSELS.--From the tumulus at Saint George we have a very
excellent example of pitcher, which is shown in Fig. 271. The shape is
not quite satisfactory, the neck being clumsy, but the workmanship is
exceptionally good. The surface is even and well polished and the color
is a strong red. The painted design in black, upon the red ground,
consists of a number of meandered lines, to which are added at intervals
small dentate figures, as seen in the cut.
DISTRICT OF THE RIO SAN JUAN.
In a number of ways the valley of the Rio San Juan possesses unusual
interest to the antiquarian. Until within the latter half of the
nineteenth century, it remained wholly unknown. The early Spanish
expeditions are not known to have penetrated its secluded precincts, and
its cliff-houses, its ruined pueblos and curious towers have been so
long deserted that it is doubtful whether even a tradition of their
occupation has been preserved, either by the nomadic tribes of the
district or by the modern pueblos of the south. Certain it is that no
foreign hand has influenced the art of this district, and no Spanish
adventurer has left traces of his presence.
The ceramic remains are more uniform in character and apparently more
archaic in decoration than those of any other district. They belong
almost exclusively to two varieties, the coiled ware and the white ware
with black figures. The former has already been described, the latter
must now pass under review.
It is unfortunate that so few entire vessels of the painted pottery have
been found in this region. The fragments, however, are very plentiful,
and by proper study of these a great deal can be done to restore the
various forms of vessels. In my paper upon this region, in the Annual
Report of the Survey of the Territories for 1876, I gave a pretty
careful review of the material then in hand. Finding that in very few
cases were there whole vessels representing the achievements of the
ancient potter and decorator, I presented a number of restorations from
the better class of fragments. This was done in a way that could lead to
no serious misapprehension, as the fragments used were always clearly
indicated. The expert need never go astray in his estimate of the
character of the vessel to which given pieces belonged, and his
restoration from them gives a completeness of conception to the reader
or student at a distance that could never be acquired by the most
careful study of illustrations of the fragments. The fragments are
exceedingly plentiful about camp sites and ruins, and fairly whiten the
debris slopes beneath the houses in the cliffs. I found my mind so
diverted by these fascinating relics that it was often difficult to keep
the geologic problems of the district properly in view.
No tumuli or burial places were observed, but I suspect that careful
search will bring them to light, and that they will yield much richer
results than the scattered fragments of the surface. The district now
under consideration comprises the entire drainage of the Rio San Juan.
It includes the well-known valleys of the Animas, the La Plata, the
Mancos, the McElmel, and the Montezuma on the north, and the Chaco and
the de Chelly on the south. On the north I include also a portion of the
valley of the Rio Dolores. The center of the district will not be very
far distant from the corner stone of the four political divisions of
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
The collections from the valley of the Rio de Chelly, one of the richest
sections of this district, are very badly scattered, and the vessels
cannot be identified. Many fine things have been carried away to the
south and are now in the collections from Cibola and Tusayan; while
others have been brought east by the various expeditions without a
proper record of the locality. This is to be regretted, as it makes it
impossible to study the shades of distinction between the wares of
neighboring localities.
Bowls were very numerous and greatly varied in size, finish, and
ornamentation. Many have received painted designs both inside and out.
This occurs with those having nearly upright rims. Handled-cups of
hemispherical shape are also common, but the heart-shaped bowls are of
rare occurrence. Bottle-shaped vessels and ollas have not, as in the
south, formed a prominent feature. For some of the latter very neat lids
have been made, the rims being shaped for their reception. Upright
vessels with handles are common. Eccentric or animal forms have not been
found.
BOWLS.--The arrangement of the designs upon the bowls is far from
uniform. In a great majority of cases, however, they occupy belts
encircling the inner and outer margin. The fragmentary condition of the
remains makes it impossible to restore designs that covered the entire
surface of the vessels. The decorations comprise nearly all the usual
elements and motives. In Fig. 272 we have a small bowl from Montezuma
Cañon, Utah. In form it is a deep hemisphere. The design is upon the
interior surface, and consists of a broad band bordered by heavy lines
and filled in with vertical lines. The rim is ornamented with seven
pairs of dots. Fig. 273 is restored from a fragment obtained in
southwest Colorado. It shows an interior ornament consisting of a
well-drawn chain of volutes.
[Illustration: FIG. 272.--Bowl: Montezuma Cañon.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 273.--Bowl: Rio San Juan--1/3.]
Many of the bowls were large and handsomely finished, both surfaces
being whitened and polished. A superior example is given in Fig. 274.
Neat borders have been applied to both interior and exterior surfaces.
They are suggestive of patterns produced through the technique of
textile products, and consist of interrupted forms of the meander. I
have restored from small fragments in this and other cases, for the
reason that no large fragments of the finer vessels are preserved.
[Illustration: FIG. 274.--Bowl: Rio San Juan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 275.--Bowl: Rio San Juan.]
Fig. 275 illustrates a very pleasing vessel. It is hemispherical, and
about eleven inches in diameter. A narrow zone of ornament based upon
the meander encircles the exterior margin of the rim, and a broad,
carefully drawn design, consisting of two parallel meanders, Fig. 276,
occupies the interior. It will be seen that the meandered fillets are in
white, and the bordering stripes and the upper and lower rows of
triangular interspaces are in solid black, while the median band and its
connecting triangles are obliquely striped. It should be noticed that
the oblique portions of the meanders are indented or stepped. This is a
very usual occurrence in these decorations, and may be taken as a pretty
decided indication that they were copied, more or less directly, from
textile ornamentation in which all oblique lines are necessarily
stepped.
[Illustration: FIG. 276.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 277 and 278.--Handled cups: Montezuma Cañon.--1/3.]
HANDLED CUPS.--Small cups were generally furnished with handles and
probably served as ladles and spoons. An entire specimen is rarely
found. Two are illustrated in Figs. 277 and 278. They were obtained by
W. H. Jackson from the ruins of Montezuma Cañon. The handles of these
vessels vary a great deal; some are flat, while others are round,
consisting either of a single or a looped roll of clay; some are hollow,
resembling the handles of gourds, and a few are made of twisted fillets.
This latter form belongs generally to upright cups.
[Illustration: FIG. 279.--Vase: Rio San Juan.]
OLLAS.--It is quite impossible to make satisfactory restorations of the
vases or ollas from the small fragments recovered. The evidence is
sufficient, however, to show that vessels of this class were numerous,
and often large. I have made two restorations of small examples
belonging to this class, of which there are fragments showing the neck
and upper part of the bodies. The bottoms are so universally rounded
that I have drawn full globular shapes; Figs. 279 and 280. The most
striking character of Fig. 279 is the shape of the rim, which is
fashioned for the reception of a lid. The same feature is noticed in a
small vessel obtained at Zuñi.
[Illustration: FIG. 280.--Vase: Rio San Juan.]
Examples of lids from the San Juan Valley are shown in Figs. 281 and
282. They were evidently designed for vessels of the class just
described. The specimen given in Fig. 281 is neatly finished and
embellished, and the quality of the ware is very superior.
[Illustration: FIG. 281.--Vase lid: Rio San Juan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 282.--Vase lid: Rio San Juan.]
HANDLED VASES.--Many small vessels were furnished with handles, some
horizontal and others vertical. Of the first variety is the example
shown in Fig. 283. The fragment was obtained from the great ruin at
"Aztec Springs," Colorado. It shows a small, symmetrical vessel, with
black lines and devices. The handle, which probably had a companion on
the opposite side, is strong and neatly made.
Figure 284 represents a very pretty little vessel, brought by Mr. W. H.
Jackson from the Cañon de Chelly. It is of the usual gray polished ware,
the base being somewhat roughened by use. The design consists of
encircling lines combined with a belt of disconnected triangular hooks
or fret-links.
[Illustration: FIG. 283.--Handled bottle: Rio San Juan.]
Handled mugs with round bodies and wide high necks were in great favor
with the San Juan potter. There are but two entire specimens in the
collection. These were obtained by Capt. Moss, of Parrott, who stated
that they, with other relics, had been exhumed from a grave in the San
Juan Valley. Both are comparatively rude in construction, and seem to be
considerably weathered. The one shown in Fig. 285 is decorated with a
classic meander which encircles the body of the vessel. The other,
illustrated in Fig. 286, has the upper part covered with simple figures
resembling bird tracks.
Among the most novel works of the ancient potter are the flat-bottomed
mugs with upright sides, and with vertical handles which extend the
whole length of the vessel, giving very much the appearance of a German
beer mug. For a long time it was thought improbable that a vessel of
this character should be the _bona fide_ work of the cliff-dweller, for
his status of culture seemed to call for globular bodies and rounded
bases. But so many examples have been found that there is no longer room
for doubt.
[Illustration: FIG. 284.--Small bottle: Rio San Juan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 285.--Handled mug: Rio San Juan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 286.--Handled mug: Rio San Juan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 287.--Handled mug: Rio San Juan.--1/2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 288.--Handled mug: Southern Utah.--1/2.]
Fig. 287 is restored from a large fragment brought from the San Juan
Valley. Its walls widen a little below, and the very pretty ornament is
somewhat unevenly applied. The handle is made of a double rope of clay,
and extends from the lip to the base. The example shown in Fig. 288 was
obtained in the vicinity of Provo, Utah, by Capt. G. M. Wheeler's
expedition. It is so like those from the San Juan that I place it here
for comparison. It is a little wider toward the base, and is nearly
symmetrical. It is four inches in height and the same in diameter. A
very similar vessel, probably from the Province of Tusayan, is found in
the Keam collection.
DISTRICT OF THE COLORADO CHIQUITO.
The collection from this district, which includes the ancient provinces
of Cibola and Tusayan, is already very large, and much more material
will yet accrue, for pottery fanciers have taken up the search, and both
whites and Indians are on the _qui vive_ for additional examples of the
artistic and showy specimens.
The National Museum has procured many fine pieces through the agents of
the Bureau of Ethnology, and the collection of Mr. Keam is especially
rich in the pottery of Tusayan. Some of the finer examples of the latter
collection are selected for illustration.
It seems unaccountable that such a large number of the ancient vessels
should be preserved, and that too in a country where vessels are
constantly in demand. Many have been picked up by the Pueblo tribes and
laid away for especial uses or possibly as heirlooms; but many of those
secured by recent collectors were obtained from the sites of ancient
settlements, from burial places, and from caves, and brought directly to
the market so recently made for them.
There can be no doubt that many of the specimens accredited to this
district have come from neighboring or distant provinces; yet within the
valley of the Little Colorado there are such wide variations from
predominant types that foreign pieces cannot be readily detected. Many
of the finer pieces of the white ware are rather new looking and show
very superior taste and skill. The indications are that the manufacture
of this white ware was kept up in portions of this district down to a
comparatively recent date, possibly until the coming of the Europeans.
It will probably be impossible to determine just why and how the archaic
types gave way to the transitional and modern. It may be found, however,
that the influence of the Spaniard was a factor in the change.
Beside the archaic white ware and its closely associated red ware the
province of Tusayan furnishes two or three distinct varieties, all of
which, unlike that ware, are apparently confined to very limited
districts. These have been briefly described on a preceding page.
Many pieces of the white ware are of large size and of elegant shape and
finish. Some of the ollas and bottles are masterpieces of the art. The
texture of the paste is fine and the color is often quite white. The
designs are uniformly in black and are superior in execution and
conception to those of the north.
BOWLS.--The bowls are very generally hemispherical. The finish, like
that of the pottery of the San Juan and the Rio Virgen, is rather rough
on the exterior, and whitened and polished on the inner surface. The
painted figures are confined to the interior, and are highly elaborated
combinations of the usual geometric motives. They are generally made up
of four sections of double-zoned borders such as occur on the exterior
of vases, cut out, as it were, and fitted into the bowl in a cruciform
arrangement, a plain square remaining in the bottom of the vessel. See
Fig. 291. There are, however, many examples which consist of two
encircling zones of ornament identical in style and arrangement with
examples from the Rio Virgen, Figs. 230 and 231, and from the Rio San
Juan, Figs. 248, 259, and 274.
In Fig. 289 we have a representative example of the bowls of ancient
Tusayan. The outer surface is rudely trowel-finished, but the inside is
well polished. The painted design consists of four parts arranged about
a central square. Each part comprises a number of alternate bands of
straight and zigzag lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 289.--Bowl: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
The superb bowl presented in Fig. 290 is nearly fifteen inches in
diameter and seven inches deep. It is hemispherical but not quite
symmetrical. Having been broken, it was mended by its owners after their
aboriginal fashion. Two pairs of holes have been bored on opposite sides
of a long fracture for the insertion of thongs. Other perforations have
been commenced but do not penetrate the vessel. The walls are upwards of
one-eighth of an inch in thickness near the rim, but are less than that
throughout the body of the bowl. The paste is of a dark gray color,
speckled with ashy-white particles, which may be pulverized potsherds.
The interior surface is finished with a slip of white clay and has
received a fair degree of polish. The exterior is only trowel-finished
and is much scarified by use. The interior is embellished with a very
elaborate design, which is given with all possible accuracy in a plain
projection, in Fig. 291. The work does not exhibit a great deal of skill
or neatness in execution, but the whole design is carefully made out and
well adjusted to the deeply concave surface. An analysis of this figure
is easily given. It is a cruciform arrangement of four portions of
rather elaborate double borders. Each part consists of two parallel
bands, a principal and a subordinate, separated by parallel lines and
taking the relation to each other always noticed in the two belts of
designs painted upon the exterior of vases. Two of the sections are
alike. The others differ from these and from each other.
[Illustration: FIG. 290.--Bowl: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 291.--Painted design.]
One figure, consisting of three linked volutes, is defined in white by
painting around it a black ground. The artist in painting this vessel
has probably not thought of achieving anything beyond the filling up
neatly of the four spaces, and has followed the usual practice of
borrowing his motives from other objects; yet it will not be wise to
conclude that these figures are really meaningless combinations of
lines. The persistency and individuality of certain motives makes it
almost certain that they are not the result of aimless elaboration, and
that the potter understood their significance. They are too purely
geometric, however, to furnish any clew to us through internal evidence.
We have no resource beyond the analogies of historic art. Modern tribes
use the current meander to symbolize water, and a leading motive in many
of these designs--the linked scroll running through a field of serrate
lines--is wonderfully like some forms of the Aztec symbol for water, as
may be seen by reference to the Mexican codices.
[Illustration: FIG. 292.--Bowl: Province of Tusayan.--1/2.]
Another very excellent example of these bowls is presented in Fig. 292.
It is small and shallow, measuring six and a half inches in diameter and
two and a half in depth. The material is somewhat soft and chalky. The
walls are thick and the surface is well finished. The painted design is
cruciform, like the preceding, but is much more simple and satisfactory.
It is interesting to note the changes rung upon the few simple motives
employed in these designs. Again apparently each of the four parts is a
fragment of a double border, cut up and fitted into the concave surface.
The bands with oblique, dotted, or stepped lines, Fig. 293, are
repetitions of the neck belt of a bottle-shaped vase or basket, and the
other bands with their chaste fret-work repeat a section of the body
zone.
[Illustration: FIG. 293.--Painted design.]
Bowls and cups of the hemispherical model are very often supplied with
handles. Like other bowls, they are embellished with painted designs
derived from vases or from textile sources. In order of evolution, they
probably follow the plain form--the handles being added to facilitate
use.
[Illustration: FIG. 294.--Handled bowl: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
The principal varieties of handles have already been described. The bowl
illustrated in Fig. 294 is furnished with a single semicircular loop. In
form, finish, and color it is the same as that of the other bowls, and
the painted design has a similar derivation and arrangement.
In the collection we have a fine large red bowl, now in a fragmentary
state. It is eleven inches in diameter and six inches deep. A small loop
is attached to the outside near the margin. It has a very decided
resemblance in color, finish, and ornamentation to the red bowls of the
Rio Virgen. The color of both the surface and the mass is a dull red. A
broad band of bright red paint encircles the exterior, leaving a plain
marginal band of the ground color and a plain area of the same upon the
bottom. The painted design, which covers the inner surface is shown in
Fig. 295. We discover in it at first sight a type to all appearances
totally distinct from the usual devices of this locality, but a closer
study reveals the existence of the favorite motive--the meander--doubled
up across the middle in a way to challenge detection, with the
ever-present auxiliary band above and below. The curiously complex and
very pleasing ornament is amplified in Fig. 296.
[Illustration: FIG. 295.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 296.--Original form of painted design.]
One small cup or bowl has two ears, not semicircular, but rectangular,
which are placed horizontally and project in sharp points at the
corners.
The neat little vessel given in Fig. 297 has a much elongated horizontal
loop, carelessly made and rudely attached. The bowl is handsomely
finished. The margin is ornamented with a series of closely placed
transverse lines or dots, a character appearing more frequently in the
northern ware. The interior design is made up of four independent parts
as usual.
The cup presented in Fig. 298 serves to illustrate another variety of
handle--a large vertical loop, extending from rim to base, like those on
the upright cups given in Figs. 287 and 288. The paste is very fine
grained, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The color is gray and
the paint reddish from the firing. The bottom is flat, a rare occurrence
in the more archaic, pottery. The painted design is based upon the
meander, and occupies nearly the entire exterior surface of the cup. The
handle has two bird-track shaped figures on its outer surface.
[Illustration: FIG. 297.--Handled cup: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 298.--Handled cup: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 299.--Dipper: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
Vessels with long cylindrical handles are distributed over a very
extended district, but in Tusayan they are of a better class of ware
than elsewhere. Here the handles are long and stout and frequently
terminate in a loop, probably intended for the attachment of a cord. The
bowl is often graceful in form and tasteful in ornament. One of the
finer examples is illustrated in Fig. 299. It is of the chalky ware, and
has a very good surface finish. The handle is one inch in diameter and
five inches long. It is hollow and terminates in a narrow loop. It is
decorated with two groups of spirally inclined lines. The interior
decoration of the bowl furnishes a most excellent example of the
crucifrm designs previously described. This is well shown in Fig. 300.
The exterior surface is embellished with a most primitive drawing of a
bird, Fig. 301--a striking illustration of the pictorial accomplishments
of these classic decorators. Subjects of this class are of rare
occurrence upon the ancient white ware.
[Illustration: FIG. 300.--Dipper: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 301.--Figure of bird from exterior of dipper.]
[Illustration: FIG. 302.--Dipper: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
The dipper presented in Fig. 302 is somewhat inferior in workmanship to
the preceding example. The handle is plain and terminates in a
horizontal loop. The painted design is not arranged about a square, as
in the examples given, but leaves a space in the center of the bowl
resembling a four-cornered star. This shape is, however, the result of
accident. The four parts are units of an elaborate border, not severed
from their original connection, but contorted from crowding into the
circular space. The design drawn upon a plain surface is shown in Fig.
303. Projected in a straight line, as in Fig. 304, it is readily
recognized as the lower three-fourths of a zone of scroll ornamentation.
A unit of the design drawn in black is shown in Fig. 305. The meander
is developed in the white color of the ground, and consists of two
charmingly varied threads running side by side through a field of black,
bordered by heavy black lines. The involute ends of the units are
connected by two minute auxiliary scrolls.
[Illustration: FIG. 303.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 304.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 305.--Unit of the design drawn in black.]
Bowls heretofore referred to as heart-shaped are of frequent occurrence
in the valley of the Little Colorado. A number have been obtained by the
Bureau of Ethnology directly from the Pueblo Indians, while a few very
superior specimens are in the collection of Mr. Keam. A somewhat
globular example is represented in Fig. 306.
[Illustration: FIG. 306.--Heart-shaped bowl: Province of Tusayan.--1/2.]
It is remarkable in having four zones of devices. The narrow belt next
the lip contains a single line of bird-track figures. The others exhibit
simple forms of the meander. It is interesting to notice the variety of
treatment. In the upper band we have a chain of units imperfectly
connected. In the others there are series of triangular links quite
disconnected from each other. All are defined in white by painting in a
ground of black.
This district has furnished few vessels of more exquisite form and
decoration than that shown in Fig. 307. It is from the Keam collection.
The outlines are exceptionally symmetrical, and the design, developed in
the white of the ground, is drawn with more than usual care. The figures
are severely simple, however, and comprise but one motive--the typical
scroll, which is arranged in three zones, separated by parallel lines.
The spaces are filled in with serrate lines, parallel with the
connecting fillets or stems of the volutes, as in the case given in Fig.
290.
Another smaller vessel from the same collection is simple and
unpretentious, but so thoroughly satisfactory in every respect that one
could hardly suggest an improvement. The surface is well polished. The
ground color is whitish, and the design--a chain of classic scrolls--is
produced in white by filling up the interstices with black. It is a
noteworthy fact that the base of this cup has been perforated,
apparently for use as a strainer. Nearly a hundred small round holes
have been made while the clay was still soft. A pottery ladle from this
region, now in the National collection, exhibits the same feature.
[Illustration: FIG. 307.--Bowl: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
I add another example from the Keam collection, Fig. 309. The margins of
the figures are serrate and the volutes, which are in white, have
clumsy, disconnected stems.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 309.--Bowl: Province of Tusayan.--1/2.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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 perforations
occur near the margin, through which the Zuñis have passed a buckskin
thong. Another plain bowl is very much compressed vertically.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 315.--Vase: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 316.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
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 of
interlinked 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 vessel or
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 317.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 318.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/4.]
[Illustration: FIG. 319.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 321.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 323.--Unit of the design.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 325.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: 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,
through which 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.
[Illustration: 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 worked
out, are _left_ with 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 328.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 329.--Unit of the design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 330.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 333.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: 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 tribes could 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 335.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: 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, the
strong 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 337.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 339.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 340.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 342.--Handled cup: Province of Cibola.--1/3.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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. Still
another 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 345.--Painted ornament.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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 quite indistinct,
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 348.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: 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
the original 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 350.--Bottle: Province of Tusayan.--1/2.]
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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?
[Illustration: 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 this
manner 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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 are connected 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.
[Illustration: 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 rather square
projecting breast being a marked feature. The painted ornament consists
of broad zigzag, meandered bands filled in with fine oblique stripes.
[Illustration: 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 in
shape 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 359.--Bird-shaped vase: Arizona.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 360.--Bird-shaped cup: Tusayan.--1/2.]
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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 the
intimate 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 no case 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 are _necessarily_ geometric 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.
INDEX.
PAGE
Abiquin, N. Mex., Pottery of 282
Acoma pottery 300
Age of pueblo ceramic art 267
American Naturalist on pottery 276
Animas Valley 315
Antiquity of coiled ware and white ware, Relative 358-359
Araqnaya coiled pottery 276
Arizona, Coiled ware from 279
pottery 291, 353-358
Art, Pueblo 266
Review, cited on coiled ware 279
Artist in ancient pottery, Freedom of 303
Avoca, N. C., Coiled pottery from 277
Aztec Springs ruin 319
Bandelier, A. F., on pueblo pottery 298
Barber, E. A., on Ute pottery 276-277
Basket marked pottery 282
Basketry a primitive art 359
Bottles 283, 301, 306, 320, 343, 345, 351, 352
Bowls 283, 306, 308-314, 316, 322-334
Brazilian Indian coiled pottery 276, 277
Burial of dead under dwellings 288
Burial of property with the dead 288
Cañon de Chelly, Pottery of 293, 319
Cave-houses 284-286, 293
Ceramic art, The 267
forms, Origin of 269
Chaco Valley 315
Character of Pueblo art 266
Chiquito, Colorado 306
Cihola pottery 297, 307, 316, 321, 343, 344, 356
Classification of pottery 272, 304, 306
Cliff-dwellers 304, 305
Cliff-dwellings 284-286, 293
Coil in ornamentation, The 278-282
Coiled ware and white ware, Relative antiquity of 358-359
imitated 299
Coiling of the Pueblos 273-275
Coil-made pottery 273-299
Color of coiled pottery 283
of designs in pottery 302
of Pueblo pottery 269
Colorado Chiquito 306
pottery 321-357
Indian pottery 276
plateau house sites 281
pottery 281, 305
ruin 319
Construction, Pueblo ceramic 268
Cooking, Pottery for 272, 283
Crimped coil on pottery 279, 280, 282
Cross, Ideographic 345
Cups 349
Distribution of Pueblo art 266
Domestic pottery 272, 283, 306
Dumont describes pottery 275, 276
Eccentric forms of pottery 283, 307, 353
Epsom Creek pottery, Utah 286-287
Execution of design in painted pottery 302
Fillmore, Utah, Pottery from grave at 292
Firing of Pueblo pottery 268
Flat heads 340
ornaments 271
Florida coiled pottery 277
Form in pottery, Origin of 269
Gila pottery 281, 283
Glaze of Pueblo pottery 268
Gourds copied in pottery 270, 306, 353
Guilloche 309
Handled vessels 271, 300, 314, 319, 325, 340
Hartt, Prof. C. F., on Indian pottery in Brazil 276
Humboldt, W. O., on coiled pottery of the Orinoco 276
Indented pottery patterns 280
Indian coiled pottery of Brazil 276
Individuality of pottery designs 305
Intaglio ornament 271
Jackson, Dr. Sheldon; Indian vases 357
Jackson, W.H., on pottery 287, 318, 319
Jones, Prof. Marcus E., on pottery of Utah 292
Kanab, Pottery from 281, 287, 310, 314
Keam, T. V., Pottery collection of 293, 296, 321, 330, 336, 348, 355
La Plata Valley 315
Life forms in pottery 283, 307, 353
Little Colorado, Pottery of the 283, 292, 321, 330
Louisiana, Coiled Indian ware in 275-276
McElmel Valley 315
Magalhaes, Dr., on coiled pottery of the Araguaya River 276
Mancos Valley 315
Material used in pottery 267, 283
Meander in ornament 359
Mended Pueblo pottery 286
Mexico, Coiled pottery from 277
Mindeleff, Victor, collected pottery 293, 311, 338
Miscellaneous ornamentation of pottery 283
Moki pottery 277, 290, 293, 299
Monteztuna Cañon 315, 318
Mormon town 287, 310
Mortuary pottery 272
Moss, Capt. John, on Ute pottery 276, 319
Mound village, Utah 287-288
Muge 307, 320, 347
National Museum, Pottery in 285, 287, 321, 331, 333, 357
Navajo pottery 299
Nelson, E. W., obtained pottery 279, 292, 353
Nevada, Pueblo pottery in 287
New Mexico pottery 282, 298
North Carolina coiled pottery 277
Nutria pottery 344
Ollas 283-287, 293, 306, 314, 318, 335
Origin of ceramic forms 269, 272
the coil 277
Orinoco, Coiled pottery of the 276
Ornament, Ceramic 271, 278-282, 303, 305, 337, 359
Painted pottery 302-307
Parowan pottery 292
Pitcher forms 307
Plain pottery 299-301
Pottery Catalogue of Jaines Stevenson 265
developed from basketry 359
mended by Pueblos 286
Property buried with the dead 288
Provo, Utah, Pottery from 321
Pueblo art 266
coiled ware 273-275
Putnam, Prof. F. W., cited 279
Relief ornament 271, 282
Rio de Chelley Valley 316
Dolores Valley 316
Gila pottery 281, 283, 299
Grande pottery 298, 305
Mancos cliff-houses 284-286
, Pottery of the 281, 284-286
Pecos, Pottery of the 298, 305
San Juan, Pottery of the 315-321
Virgen, Pottery of the 287-292, 307-315
Saint George tumulus, Utah,
Pottery from 281, 287-291, 300, 307, 312, 334
Saint John, Pottery from 305
Salt Lake City Museum, Pottery in 292, 300
Salt Lake Valley, Pottery of 292
San Antonio Springs, Pottery at 344
Juan pottery 274, 281, 284-287, 291
Santa Clara River, Pottery on 287
Santarem, Brazil, Coiled pottery at 276
Springerville, Ariz., Pottery at 279, 291, 305, 353
Stages of ornament for painted pottery 303-304
Stephen, John, on pottery 293
Stevenson, James, on pottery 265, 293, 357
Storage of water, Pottery for 284
Surface finish of Pueblo pottery 268
Tempering materials in pottery 267
Transportation, of water, Pottery for 284
Tusayan pottery 269, 279, 283, 294, 300, 304, 307, 311, 316, 321, 358
Utah pottery. (_See_ Saint George and
Springerville) 279, 286-291, 300
Ute pottery 276-277
Vases 301, 335-351
Vegetable forms copied in pottery 270
Village site mound or tumulus 287
Water, Pottery for transportation and storage of 284
White ware 269, 304, 305-358
and coiled ware, Relative antiquity of 358-359
Yarrow, Dr. H. C., obtained pottery in Utah 292
Yuma, Pottery of 300
Zuñi pottery 290, 293, 300, 333, 344
* * * * *
Transcriber's Note:
Italics denoted by underscores.
Alternative spellings retained.
Punctuation normalized without comment.
Minor typos corrected without comment.
Image scaling factors (1/2 etc.) only usful for comparing relative sizes
between objects, not actual sizes.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pottery of the ancient Pueblos. (1886
N 04 / 1882-1883 (pages 257-360)), by William Henry Holmes
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