Chapter 10

The pottery of the two groups already presented exhibits characters so uniform throughout that there need be no hesitation in placing them together as the work of one community and of one period of practice of the art; but between these groups and those that follow there is a wide gap. The differences are so marked that, if they had come from widely separated localities, very intimate relationships would not have been suggested.

_The maroon group._--For the want of a better name I have called the group first to be presented the maroon group, on account of its color. Our collection comprises not more than a dozen pieces of this ware. The locality from which they come is called Los Tenajos by Mr. McNiel, but he has not distinguished them in any way from the other varieties, and I am therefore unable to say whether or not they occur together with others or under identical conditions. In symmetry of outline, diversity of shape, and cleverness of modeling this ware takes a high rank, but there is no painted ornament. The surfaces are usually well polished, and all exposed parts have received a coat of purplish maroon colored paint. The paste contains a great deal of fine sand, and is yellowish upon the surface and generally quite dark within the mass. Considering the small number of pieces, the scale of form is remarkably varied. There are plain bowls with incurved rims and with flaring rims, vases with round bases, with annular stands, and with tripods, and life forms wholly unique. Perhaps the most usual form is that shown in Fig. 154, which represents a small cup with incurved rim and a narrow annular base. The shoulder is embellished with three groups of small nodes, of four each, which refer to some animal form. In other similar vases the form of the creature is given in more realistic guise. A larger vase, similar to this in most respects, has a rounded contour and incurved lip. The periphery is supplied with four plain nodes. Another, shown in Fig. 155, has a wide recurved rim, a character seen to equally good advantage in some of the following figures. In the small vase represented in Fig. 156 the treatment of animal forms in connection with the body of the vessel is shown to good advantage. The head, legs, and tail of what is probably intended to represent an alligator, modeled in the round, are attached to the periphery of the basin, and heads of some mammal are used for legs.

A most interesting tripod is shown in Fig. 157. The bowl is beautifully modeled, is symmetrical, and has a flaring rim, rounded and polished on the upper surface and drooping slightly at the outer margin. The body is hemispherical and is supported by three grotesque anthropomorphic figures that strongly remind us of the "mud head" masks used in one of the dances of the Zuñi Indians. The head is a rounded ball, upon which pellets of clay are stuck to represent the features. The arms are set against the sides of the body, as in other isthmian specimens, the hips are excessively large, the legs straight, and the feet small and united to form the foot of the vessel. Nearly the entire surface is finished in a dark purplish red paint, which appears to have been polished down as a slip. A companion piece is considerably smaller and the supporting figures are very grotesque and somewhat crouched, as if bearing a very heavy weight.

A number of large basins or caldrons, collected in Chiriqui, and fragments of vessels of extraordinary size resemble this ware in material, color, and finish. The rims of the larger pieces are upwards of an inch thick and the walls are in cases three-fourths of an inch thick. A number of large vessels of similar ware now in the National Museum were collected in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

_The red line group._--The group of vessels to which I have given this name is represented by about a dozen specimens, which indicate a wide range of form and exhibit a number of unique characters.

The localities from which they are derived extend from 8° 20´ to 8° 40´ north latitude and from 82° 40´ to 82° 50´ west longitude.

The paste is of about the usual composition, but takes a variety of tints on burning, a light gray orange prevailing. The finish of the surface is about the same as in other groups. The decoration consists of life forms and their conventional representatives in relief and of carelessly executed geometric designs, the pigment used being a bright, sienna-like red.

As will be seen by reference to the illustrations, the forms are varied and pleasing, but for the most part repeat outlines common to other groups. The handles, single or in twos, are upright loops, and the tripods are in nearly all cases looped or annular, an unusual feature in other groups.

I present three illustrations, two of which were given in outline in the introductory pages. The first (Fig. 158) has a well proportioned, somewhat globular body, supported by three legs formed of looped bands of clay. On the shoulder are two small animal forms, probably meant for frogs. The spaces between these are occupied by panel-like arrangements of red lines. The surface is yellowish gray in color, excepting where blackened in the baking. The paste has cracked in firing, a feature observed in a number of pieces belonging to this group.

A unique piece is represented in Fig. 159. The single handle is a high projecting loop and connects with the margin of the orifice, which rises to meet it, and with the lower part of the shoulder. An animal form, apparently anthropomorphic, is embodied in this vessel. The upper part of the vessel, separated by a slight constriction from the body proper, represents the head of the creature, the nose, mouth, and eyes appearing on the front and the ears at the sides. A few incised lines seen upon the inner surface of the handle stand for the hair. Upon the shoulder are two sharp nodes, standing for the breasts, and between these are markings that represent a necklace. A rude design in red lines covers the upper surface of the body.

A graceful shape is illustrated in Fig. 160. The paste is a grayish orange on the surface and is rather dark within the thicker portions of the walls. The under surface is much blackened by use over fire. An interesting feature is seen upon the handles at the highest point of the loop. Instead of the single indented transverse fillet observed in similar forms in other groups, we have two such features, set about an inch apart, and between them are two indented nodes which stand for eyes, and a number of indentations within the space refer to other features of the animal suggested. Upon the shoulder and collar of the vessel are carelessly drawn geometric patterns in red lines.

_The white line group._--One group of vases, of which we have but four pieces, is characterized by the use of a whitish pigment in decoration. Not one of the collections that I have seen is well supplied with this class of ware, and hence little can be said of its varieties of form and ornament. All are tripods, but the shapes of the vessels vary considerably. Two small pieces are from latitude 8° 40´ north and longitude 82° 32´ west. One of these is shown in Fig. 161. They are small, rather carelessly finished tripods, with narrow necks and flattened bodies. The inner surface of the orifice and the under side of the body are painted a dull red. The remainder of the surface is a warm reddish gray, the color of the slip and the paste. The legs in the piece figured represent some small creature with a rabbit-like face and a body which tapers gradually to the base. Two feet are placed near the middle of the body, which is striped transversely with white lines. A white collar crosses the neck and the eyes are white dots. The upper surface of the vase is embellished with two animal figures, executed in a white earthy pigment. They may refer to the alligator, but the drawing is too conventional to admit of full identification. The companion piece is a little larger, and the upper surface is decorated with three groups of broad white stripes, bordered by rows of dots, which extend from the base of the neck to the periphery of the body. The legs are similar to those of the other piece. The little animal figure fixed to the upper end or hip is identical with that seen in the following illustration.

The large tripod vase presented in Fig. 162 is distinct in many ways from anything in the collection and is remarkable for symmetry of form and neatness of finish. The body is a long, symmetrical cone and the legs are long, straight cylinders, neatly rounded off to a point below. A thick rim projects at a sharp angle and is rounded up toward the margin. The legs are hollow, and through two pairs of lateral slits a number of small pellets can be seen, which rattle when the vase is moved. Rudely modeled little animals, with erect ears, large feet, and conical tails, are fixed to the upper end of the legs. The ground color, the slip, and the paste are of a reddish gray cast. The greater part of the surface seems to have been painted red, but the vase has been used over fire to such an extent that little of the original color remains. The body and the legs have been decorated with geometric patterns in a whitish pigment that can be scraped off like indurated clay. The little animal figures were also painted white. A vase very similar to this, from which the legs have been removed, and the surface smoothed down, has a longer and more graceful body and a similar rim. Another piece, exhibiting similar yet even more strongly marked characteristics of shape, belongs to the collection of Mr. J. B. Stearns.

_The lost color group._--In number of specimens this group is second to none, excepting perhaps that given under the head of terra cotta ware. Nine-tenths of the pieces may be classed as bottles, which have rather short, wide necks and globular bodies, slightly conical below and in cases flattened above. They range in size from one inch to nearly a foot in height, but the average capacity is not above a pint. Aside from the bottles there is a wide range of shapes. There are shallow bowls and various complex and compound forms. Animal forms are associated with all classes of vessels. Tripod supports are limited to rather modest proportions, and handles, although often present and greatly varied in style, do not constitute an important feature. These vessels are remarkably well preserved and exhibit few traces of abrasion by use or of blackening over fire. The paste is fine grained and usually of a light yellow gray tint throughout.

The surface was finished either in a light colored slip or in a strong red pigment. In some cases the light tint was used exclusively and again the red covered the entire surface, but more frequently the two were used together, occupying distinct areas of the same vessel and forming the groundwork for decorative patterns in other colors. They were usually polished down with very great care, giving a glistening surface, upon which the markings of the tool can still be seen.

I have already described the methods of decoration, but may review them briefly here. The bright red color, which forms such a prominent and pleasing feature, is, as stated above, only a ground tint and is not used in any case in the delineation of design. The actual patterns, so varied and interesting, were worked out in a pigment or fluid now totally lost, but which has left traces of its former existence through its effect upon the ground colors. In beginning the decoration, a thin black color, probably of vegetal character, was carried over the area to be treated, and upon this the figures were traced in the lost color. When this color (if it was indeed a pigment, and not merely an acid or "taking out" medium) disappeared, it carried with it the black tint beneath, exposing the light gray and red tints of the ground and leaving the interstices in black. The interstitial figures thus formed are often of such a character as to be taken for the true design. In examining the decoration of this ware it is essential that this fact should be kept in mind, as otherwise great confusion will result.

The nature of the materials employed cannot be determined. Applied to the polished surface, they were easily removed. The black ground tint is now easily rubbed off and in most cases is much injured by handling or by contact with the soil. The lost color may have been similar to the white, argillaceous pigment used by the Aztecs, which has in many cases partially or wholly disappeared, leaving its marks upon the ground either by deadening the polish or by removing portions of the slip and the paste upon which it was laid, presenting the ornament in intaglio.

The designs are infinitely varied in appearance and arrangement, yet are far from having a mixed or heterogeneous character. It is probably our lack of knowledge of the origin and history of the elements and their derivations that causes confusion. Both geometric and imitative elements abound and are blended in perfectly graded series. The treatment of geometric figures is peculiar to Chiriqui and in many respects is peculiar to this group of ware. Classic forms, such as the meander, the scroll, and the fret, rarely occur and are barely recognizable. It appears from a close study of all the work that motives derived from nature have greatly leavened the whole body of decoration. This matter will receive attention as the examples are presented and will be treated with greater care in a succeeding section.

Plastic decoration, aside from the life forms so commonly associated with the body of the vase and with the handles and legs, is not of importance. The high degree of polish required in this ware tended to simplify all relieved features.

The presence of life forms in relief has produced important modifications in the appearance and the arrangement of the painted devices, and in many cases there is a manifest correlation between the plastic and the painted forms: as, for example, when the body of the vase was thought of as the body of the animal, the extremities of which were placed upon its sides, the colored figures carried out the idea of the creature by imitating in a more or less conventional way the markings of the body. This will be understood through reference to the examples presented in the following pages.

I will present, first, a series of bottles, selecting at the beginning those decorated in the more purely geometric style and gradually approaching those upon which animal forms are treated in a literal manner. The few pieces selected for illustration are totally inadequate to the proper representation of the group and must be regarded only as average specimens, more or less typical in character.

I give first a number of examples in which the decorative devices are arranged in horizontal zones. In Fig. 163 broad bands of ornament, consisting of scalloped and plain lines, encircle the neck and the body of the vessel. In finishing this piece the whole surface was painted a rich red and highly polished; then a black coat was applied, covering the body from the lip to the base of the design; and finally the delineating fluid was applied, removing the black, as shown in the narrow lines, the sharply dentate bands, and the broad, plain band between. The second example (Fig. 164) varies somewhat in shape and design, but is identical in color and manipulation. The dark figures are merely the interspaces, although they appear at first glance to have been intended for the design proper.

In a numerous series of vessels the decorated bands are divided into compartments or panels, often four in number, which spaces are occupied by lines and figures of greatly diversified characters. In the example shown in Fig. 165 the ground color of the principal zone is in the light yellow gray tint of the slip, the remainder being red. This lends brilliancy to the effect.

In the vase shown in Fig. 166 the treatment is in a general way the same, but the compartments are triangular and are separated by lines that form a disconnected meander. An additional example is given in Fig. 167. Here the principal zone is expanded to cover the whole upper surface of the vase, which was finished in the light colored slip to receive it. The principal lines are arranged to give the effect of rays when viewed from above, but as seen in the cut they give the effect of a carelessly connected meander. The groups of lines are bordered by series of dots. A great number of pieces are painted in this style. The effect is varied by altering the shape of the interspaces or by modifying the number and relationship of the lines, dots, and figures.

Somewhat similar also in general effect to the last example is the work upon another important series of vases. Instead of the simple meandered or zigzag arrangement of parts, two of the dividing lines of the zone run tangent to the neck of the vase on opposite sides, forming arched panels and leaving upright panels between. In the example presented in Fig. 168 the arched areas are filled in with lattice-like arrangements of lines. In others we have dots, checkers, and varied geometric combinations, and in very many cases the figures are derived from life forms. The same may be said of the devices that occupy the spaces between the arches. The piece shown in Fig. 169 exhibits a somewhat more elaborate treatment, but the motives and arrangements are much the same. These vessels are peculiar in the treatment of the ground. The entire surface is red, with the exception of narrow bands of light ground color, which outline the arches and encircle the periphery. In other cases these bands are red, the remainder of the ground being light. Series of lines are drawn from the lower border of the zone to the center of the base of the body.

In a small group of vases we have a radiate ornament within the arches and in a few cases the arched lines are continued down around the base of the vessel, forming vertical circles in which rosette-like designs are formed by repeating the radiate figures in an inverted position below the peripheral line. The elaboration in these circular inclosures is very remarkable, as will be seen by reference to the three examples given in Figs. 170, 171, and 172. In the first case the peripheral line is a red band nearly one-half an inch wide and the rays appear in groups above and below it. Within the four broader black rays (Fig. 170_a_), which are the interspaces or remnants of the ground, groups of lines have been drawn, in most cases curved at the inner ends like an opening frond and accompanied in all cases by series of dots. An examination of a number of vessels shows various degrees of convention. It is clear, however, that these devices, showing curves, hooks, and dots, are not of technical or mechanical origin, but that they refer to delineative originals of which they are survivals; but we must remain in the dark as to what the originals were or what was the precise nature of the idea associated with them in the mind of the decorator. Another question refers to the arrangement of the parts of the design in the five preceding figures. The distribution of the designs is a matter of great interest, and much may be learned from a close study of these specimens.

Horizontal zones appear in the ceramic decoration of all countries, and result, no doubt, from technical causes; but the division of zones into compartments of peculiar shape is due to other influences. I believe the peculiar arched arrangement here seen results from the employment of plastic features, such as handles or life forms. The ancient races were accustomed to conceive of the vessel as the body of an animal, an idea originating in the association of mythologic conceptions with art. The head and the tail of the particular creature thought of were attached to opposite sides of the vase and consequently interfered with the original zonal arrangement of the design where it existed, or where it did not exist the sides were filled with devices representing the markings of the creature's body. The decoration now consisted of four parts, two in the round or in relief and two in color, the former occupying small areas and the latter wide areas, as seen in Fig. 173. The same result would spring from the use of two handles, such a common feature in this ware. The lateral spaces reached from the periphery to the base of the neck and were most readily and naturally separated from the plastic features by lines extending across the shoulder tangent to the neck and forming arches (Fig. 174). In time the plastic features, being difficult to manage, would gradually decrease in boldness of modeling and finally disappear, leaving a space upon which the life form could be symbolized in color (Fig. 175). Now it happens that in this collection we have a series of examples illustrating all stages of this change, the first, the middle, and the final steps being shown in the above figures.

In multiplying these vessels the original forms and associations of decorative features are necessarily to some extent lost sight of; the panels change in shape, number, and relationships; and devices originally appropriate to particular spaces are employed indiscriminately, so that the uninitiated see nothing but confusion. All devices are delineations of or have more or less definite reference to the creature or spirit associated with the vessel.