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.]