Pottery of the ancient Pueblos Part 9

The vessel ill.u.s.trated 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 s.p.a.ce 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 Zuni and ill.u.s.trated 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 346.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 345.--Painted ornament.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 s.p.a.ces 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 348.--Vase: Province of Tusayan.--1/3.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 349.--Bottle: Province of Tusayan.--1/2.]

In the bottle ill.u.s.trated 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 s.p.a.ces for decoration, the one above and the other about the middle of the body. The latter s.p.a.ce is occupied by a very slender, meandered line in white, the inters.p.a.ces 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 s.p.a.ce on one side black. There are two low, k.n.o.b-like, vertically perforated handles on the shoulder of the vessel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 350.--Bottle: Province of Tusayan.--1/2.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 351.--Bottle: Province of Tusayan.--1/2.]

The vessel shown in Fig. 351 is interesting on account of the peculiar k.n.o.bs 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 a.s.sociated with some superst.i.tion of the ancients.

The neck of the bottle is unusually high. The shape is quite graceful and the painted decoration is simple and effective.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.trated 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 ill.u.s.trated 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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?

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.trated 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 357.--Vase of eccentric form: Tusayan.--1/2.]

A fine specimen of these novel vessels is ill.u.s.trated 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 pa.s.sing 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.tration, 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 359.--Bird-shaped vase: Arizona.--1/3.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ident.i.ty 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 a.s.sociation of the two groups in nearly every locality indicates close ident.i.ty in time. It cannot be said that the other cla.s.ses 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 sh.e.l.l, wood, and stone.

I do not wish in this place to dwell upon the details of pueblo ornament. A single example will serve to ill.u.s.trate the origin and character of the leading decorative conceptions. Glancing through the series of vases ill.u.s.trated 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 pa.s.s 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 aesthetic destiny.