Part 6 (1/2)

The vase shown in Fig. 438 has also the double body, the vessels copied having been somewhat more elaborately modeled than in the preceding cases. A bottle is set within the mouth of a pot. The neck is high, wide, and flaring and rests upon the back of a rudely modeled frog, which lies extended upon the upper surface of the body. The notched encircling ridge beneath the feet of the reptile represents the rim of the lower vessel, which is a pot with compressed globular body and short, wide neck. This vase is of the dark, dead-surfaced ware and is quite plain. Four vertical ridges take the place of handles. I have observed other examples in which two vessels, combined in this way, served as models for the potter; one, a sh.e.l.l set within a cup, is ill.u.s.trated in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology; another is given in Contributions to the Archaeology of Missouri.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 438.--Bottle: Arkansas.--1/3.]

Fig. 439 ill.u.s.trates a rather graceful form of bottle. It is furnished with a rather high perforated stand or foot, and the body is fluted vertically with narrow, widely separated channels. The neck is high and flaring and has a narrow notched collar at the base.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 439.--Fluted bottle: Arkansas.--1/3.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 440.--Engraved bottle: Arkansas.(?)--1/3.]

There are many good examples of engraved geometric designs upon bottle-shaped vessels. One of the most elaborate is presented in Fig.

440. This vessel has a full, wide neck, a heavy, flattened body, and a broad rudimentary foot. The color is quite dark, and the surface well polished. The engraved design consists of four elaborate, interlinked scrolls, comprising a number of lines, and bordered by wing-like, triangular figures, filled in with reticulated lines. This latter feature is often a.s.sociated with native delineations of mythic reptiles, and it is not impossible that this scroll work is a highly conventionalized form of some such conception. The four volute centers are slightly concave.

Three excellent examples of tripod bottles are ill.u.s.trated in the accompanying figures. The first, Fig. 441, is a large-necked, rather clumsy vessel of ordinary workmans.h.i.+p, which rests upon three globular legs. These are hollow and the cavities connect with that of the body of the vessel. The whole surface is well polished and very dark.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 441.--Tripod bottle: Arkansas.(?)--1/3.]

The vessel depicted in Fig. 442 has a number of noteworthy features.

In shape, it resembles the preceding with the exception of the legs, which are flat and have stepped or terraced margins. The whole surface of the vessel is decorated with characteristic designs in red and white upon a warm gray ground. A stepped figure, resembling the Pueblo emblematic ”rim of the sky,” encircles the neck, and semicircular figures in white appear on opposite sides at the top and base. The body is covered with scroll work in broad red lines, the s.p.a.ces being filled in with white in the form of a thick earthy paste. Each of the legs has one-half red and the other white.

The vessel ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 443 is of ordinary, dark, polished ware, and is entirely plain. It is peculiar in the shape of its extremities. The neck resembles a long truncated cone, and the legs are heavy and conical, being not unlike those of a common iron pot.

_Eccentric forms._--In this place I am able to give but one example of what I have denominated eccentric forms. Others have been indicated on preceding pages. The vase given in Fig. 444 has a flattish, ovoidal body from the opposite ends of which springs a hollow arch--a sort of double neck. This has been perforated at the highest point, and a low recurving rim, which serves as the mouth of the vessel, has been attached.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 442.--Tripod bottle: Arkansas.--1/3.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 443.--Tripod bottle: Arkansas.--1/3.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 444.--Bottle of eccentric form: Pecan Point, Arkansas.--1/3.]

Another example of this form has recently been received at the Davenport Museum. It is in fragments, but was originally nicely finished and painted. Ill.u.s.trations of others may be seen in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, and in Contributions to the Archaeology of Missouri. The specimen ill.u.s.trated was found at the foot of a skeleton in a grave at Pecan Point.

This shape is common to the art of many countries, and was a great favorite in ancient Peru.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 445.--Owl-shaped bottle: Arkansas.--1/3.]

_Life forms._--In the introduction to this section, I have indicated the many ways in which the human form is employed in the embellishment or the elaboration of bottles. Birds, beasts, fishes, and reptiles are treated in a similar manner.

The owl was a favorite subject with the potter, probably on account of the upright, compact figure of the body, or possibly because of some especial regard in which this bird was held.

A rather handsome specimen is shown in Fig. 445. The modeling is more than usually successful, and the surface is carefully finished. The wings are treated in a pleasing but highly conventional manner. The plumage is indicated by alternate bands of pale-red and yellow-gray, the latter being the ground color. These bands are outlined by fine incised lines. The remainder of the body is painted red. The vessel rests upon the feet and tail--a natural tripod. In many cases the head of the bird forms the top of the neck of the bottle--the body of the vessel itself being plain and globular.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 446.--Hale's Point, Tennessee.--1/3.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 447.--Arkansas (?).--1/3.]

The heads of animals are treated in the same manner, as may be seen by reference to Figs. 446 and 447.

The head shown in Fig. 446 is clearly that of a bear. The whole vessel is painted red. Fig. 447 ill.u.s.trates a small dark bottle, surmounted by a head of nondescript character. The aperture in these vessels is generally at the back of the head.

Fish and reptiles appear somewhat more rarely in connection with high-necked bottles. The Davenport Museum has recently acquired a fine example, painted in red and white, which has the head and other features of a fish, modeled in relief upon the sides and bottom of the body. A small, dark vessel of like character is ill.u.s.trated in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

In the example given in Figs. 448 and 449 the upper part of the neck has been modified in such a way as to accommodate a curious, medallion-like relievo of the human face, while in Figs. 450 and 451 the neck is replaced by grotesque heads, the latter being intended apparently for an owl.