Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia Part 11

_The alligator group._--The group of ware to which I give the above name is perhaps the most interesting in the collection, although numerically inferior to some of those already presented. Its decoration is of a very striking character and may serve to throw much light upon the origin and evolution of certain linear devices, as it ill.u.s.trates with more than usual clearness the processes of modification.

I will first present a representative series of the vessels, in order that they may in a measure tell their own story; yet it is not possible without the direct aid of a full series of the objects themselves to convey a clear and comprehensive notion of the metamorphoses through which the forms and decorations pa.s.s.

This group, like that last described, is composed chiefly of bottle shaped vases with globular bodies and short, wide necks; but there is no danger of confusion. By placing a series from each group side by side a number of marked differences may be noted. In the lost color group the neck is decided in form, the body is usually somewhat flattened above and is distinctly conical below, and the prevailing color is a rich dark red. In the alligator group the body is more nearly globular and the curves of the whole outline are more gentle; the prevailing color is a light yellowish gray. The reds and the blacks, which are used chiefly in the figures, are confined to rather limited areas.

Besides the bottle shaped vases, there is a limited series of the usual forms, and a few pieces exhibit unique features. The management of life forms is especially instructive. Handles are rare and legs are usually not of especial interest, as they are plain cones or at most but rude imitations of the legs of animals. Shallow vessels are invariably mounted upon tripods and a few of the deeper forms are so equipped.

Usually the sizes are rather small; but we occasionally observe a bottle having the capacity of a gallon or more. The materials do not differ greatly from those employed in other groups of ware. The paste is fine grained and light in color, sometimes reddish near the surface, and where quite thick is darker within the ma.s.s. A slip of light yellowish hue was in most cases applied to the entire surface. A red ochery pigment was in some instances used in finishing the lip and the base of the body, and occasionally the red pigment was applied as a base, a kind of sketch foundation for the decoration proper. For example, when the alligator was to appear upon the side of the vessel, the princ.i.p.al forms were traced in broad lines of the red color, and these were polished down with the slips. When the polishing process was complete, the details of the figure, were drawn in black and in cases partially in red. Black was the chief delineating color, the red having been confined to broad areas, to outlines, and to the enframing of panels. In execution, therefore, there is a decided contrast with the preceding group, and it may be added that there is an equally strong contrast in both treatment and subject matter of the ornament. The motives are derived almost wholly from life forms and retain for the most part features that suggest their origin. The subjects are chiefly reptilian, the alligator appearing in a majority of cases, and hence the name of the group.

I present first a few examples of plain bottles which have no extraneous plastic features. The decorations are arranged in two ways, in zones about the upper part of the body or in circular areas, generally four in number, equidistantly placed about the shoulder of the vessel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 195. Large bottle, with narrow zone containing figures of the alligator--?.]

An example of the first style is given in Fig. 195, which represents the largest piece in this group of ware. The form is symmetrical and very pleasing to the eye. The surface is not very highly polished and shows the marks of the polishing implement distinctly over the entire surface.

Two black lines encircle the flat upper surface of the rim and the outer margin is red. The neck and a narrow zone at the upper part of the body are finished in a cream colored slip and the body below this is red. The narrow band of ornament occupies the lower margin of the light colored zone and consists of five encircling lines in black, three of which are above and two below a band one-half an inch wide, in which five much simplified figures of alligators are drawn. Besides these figures there are two vertical septum-like bands. Each of these consists of three lines bordered by dots, which probably have some relationship with the alligator. The decorated zone of these vessels is divided in various ways into panels, some of which are triangular, while others are rectangular or arched. The latter form is seen in Fig. 196. Five arches, having no border line above, are occupied by abbreviated alligator devices. The number of compartments ranges in other specimens from two to a dozen or more. They are filled in with various devices, to be described in detail further on.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 196. Vase with decorated zone containing four arched panels--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 197. Vase with four round nodes upon which animal devices are painted--.]

A very peculiar form of decoration consists of circular or rosette-like ornaments, such as are shown in Fig. 197. Four slightly relieved nodes an inch or more in diameter are placed upon the shoulder of the vessel.

These are encircled by red lines which inclose two black lines each, and within these are peculiar devices in black. Other vessels furnish figures of greatly diversified characters, most of which evidently refer to life forms. A full series of these is given in a subsequent section of this paper, where the origin of the nodes and the manner in which the painted figures probably became a.s.sociated with them will be fully set forth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 198. Vases of varied form and decoration.]

In the series of outlines presented in Fig. 198, we have some of the varieties of form and decoration of both the ordinary bottles and the plainer tripod cups. Each example presents certain features of particular interest. The handsome little bottle (_d_) with the plastic ornament about the neck and the zone of geometric ornament in black and red lines is unique. The double necked bottle is an unusual form and its decoration consists of a strangely conceived representation of the alligator. The tripod vases are worthy of close attention: the piece ill.u.s.trated in _b_ has a zone of ornament separated into three parts by vertical s.p.a.ces, each part being enframed in black. The sections are divided by red lines into three panels, each of which contains a conventional figure of an alligator in black. The piece shown in _a_ is unique in its decoration. Four angular fret links in black are inclosed in as many panels, bordered by red and separated by blank s.p.a.ces. These fret links, as I shall show further on, probably refer to or symbolize the alligator. The legs of the cups are all conical and are marked with short transverse lines in black, which have a direct reference to the markings of the animal to which the vase was consecrated. A careful study of the preceding ill.u.s.trations leads to the conclusion that in the mind of the potters there was a close and important relationship between the vessel and the reptilian forms embodied in both plastic and surface embellishment. The series of examples which follow have a bearing upon this point. I shall begin with that in which the creature is most literally rendered.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 199. Alligator vase, with conventional markings--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 200. Alligator vase, with conventional figures of the alligator painted on the sides--.]

In Fig. 199 the whole conformation of the vessel is considerably modified through the attempt to perfect the likeness of the alligator, whose head, tail, and legs are graphically rendered. The body, head, and tail are covered with nodes, each of which is encircled by a black ring and has a black dot upon the apex. Dotted rings and short strokes of black occupy the inters.p.a.ces. These devices represent the spines and scales of the creature's skin. The legs are marked with horizontal stripes and oval s.p.a.ces at the top inclose three dots each. The general color of the vessel is a dark brown. This piece should be compared with the alligator whistle shown in Fig. 250.

A somewhat different treatment is shown in Fig. 200. Here the animal form has undergone considerable modification. There are but three legs--a concession to the conventional tripod--and the body exhibits, instead of the nodes and the markings of the creature's skin, two conventional drawings of the whole animal. Now, by higher and higher degrees of convention, we come to a long series of modified results which must be omitted for want of room. We find that the plastic features are gradually reduced until mere nodes appear where the head and the tail should be, and finally in the lower forms there remains but a blank panel or a painted device, as already shown in a preceding section. The painted devices are also reduced by degrees until all resemblance to nature is lost and geometric devices alone remain.

I observe in this a.s.sociation of plastic and painted features a lack of the perfect consistency I had learned to expect in the work of primitive peoples. It is easy to see how, from painting the markings of the creature's skin upon the body of the vessel, the painter should come gradually to delineate parts of the creature or even the whole creature, but we should not expect him to paint a creature distinct in kind from that modeled, thus confusing or entirely separating the conceptions; this has been done, apparently, in the vase ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 202, where the plastic form represents a puma and the painting upon the sides seems intended for an alligator. It will be seen from the figures given that the devices of the panels or sides do not necessarily represent the markings of the animal's body, as in Fig. 201, but that they may refer to the entire creature (Fig. 200) or even to what appears to be a totally distinct creature (Fig. 202).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 201. Vase having the head and tail of a serpent projecting from opposite sides of the body and connected by a meandered design which stands for the markings of the body--.]

If realistic or semirealistic delineations are confused in this way it is to be expected that highly conventional derivative figures, so numerous and varied, should be much less clearly distinguished; that indeed there should be no certainty whatever in the reference to originals. It is difficult to say of any particular conventional device that it originated in the figure of the animal as a whole rather than in some part or character of that animal or of some other animal.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 202. Vase representing a puma, with figures of the alligator painted upon the sides--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 203. Shallow vase with reptilian features in the round and designs in red and black representing the markings of the creature's body--.]

A very instructive example bearing upon this subject is shown in Fig. 203. Attached to one side of the basin is a pendent head resembling that of a serpent or a turtle. A kind of hood overhangs the head and extends in a ridge around the sides of the vessel, connecting with the tail of the creature, which is also pendent and hooded. Four legs support the vessel and are marked with transverse stripes of red and black paint. The upper surface of the head is covered with reticulated lines in black, and bands of conventional ornament in the same color extend around the sides of the vessel, uniting the head with the tail of the animal. A single band of ornament pa.s.ses beneath the body, also connecting those members. It is plain that these painted bands serve to complete the representation of the reptile. But, as I have just shown, they are as likely to stand for the whole creature or to be the abbreviated representative of the whole creature as to represent merely the markings of the body. These devices, as arranged in the zone, resemble in a remarkable degree the conventional running scroll.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 204. Vase with funnel shaped mouth and square body, supported by two grotesque figures and decorated with figures of alligators and monkeys--.]

I have but one more example of the alligator vases to present, but it is perhaps the most remarkable piece in the collection (Fig. 204). It ill.u.s.trates to good advantage both the skill and the strange fancy of these archaic potters. A large vase, having a high flaring rim and a subcubical body, is supported by two grotesque human appearing figures, whose backs are set against opposite ends of the vessel. The legs are placed wide apart, thus affording a firm support. The heads of the two figures project forward from the shoulder of the vase and are flattened in such a way as to give long oval outlines to the crowns which are truncated and furnished with long slit-like openings that connect through the head with the main chamber of the vessel. The openings are about two and a half inches long and one-eighth of an inch wide and are surrounded by a shallow channel in the flat, well polished upper surface. The extraordinary conformation of this part of the vessel recalls the well known whistling vases of South America; but this piece is too badly broken to admit of experiment to test its powers. It is generally likened to a money box. In order to convey a clear conception of the shape of the upper surface, I present a top view of the vessel (Fig. 205).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 205. Top view of vase in Fig. 204, showing the main orifice and the oblong openings.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 206. End view of vase in Fig. 204, showing front view of grotesque figure. The red portions of the painted figures are outlined with dots.]

A front view of one of the supporting figures is shown in Fig. 206.

Although certainly not intended to represent a human figure with accuracy, it is furnished with a crown, as are the figures in gold and stone, and is covered with devices that seem to refer to costume. The features are extremely grotesque, the nose resembling the beak of a bird and the mouth being a mere ridge, without indications of the lips. The face and the chest are painted with curious devices in red. The funnel and body of the vase are decorated with subjects that seem to have no connection with the plastic features and no relation to one another in subject matter. The upper panel, surrounded by a framework of black and red lines, contains the figure of an alligator much simplified and taking a peculiar position on account of the shape of the s.p.a.ce into which it is crowded. The figure occupying the body panel is that of a very strangely conventionalized two tailed monkey and is enframed by a wide red line. On the shoulder of the vessel is an ornament consisting of a number of angular hooks attached to a straight line. The effect is like that of fretwork, but the figure is probably derived from a modified animal form. The paste of this vase is sandy and is reddish gray near the surface and quite dark within the ma.s.s. The modeling is thoroughly well done, and the surface, which is of a somber, yellowish gray tint, is highly polished. The figures are drawn chiefly in black, red being confined to broad lines and areas. De Zeltner published photographic ill.u.s.trations of a similar vase with his pamphlet on the graves of Chiriqui. That specimen is now, I believe, in the hands of Prof. O. C. Marsh, of New Haven. It corresponds very closely in nearly every respect with the example here described.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 207. Large vase with decorations in red and black--.]

_The polychrome group._--The National Museum collection contains but three examples of this most artistic of the wares of Chiriqui. Its claim to superiority rests upon a certain boldness and refinement of execution, combined with n.o.bleness of outline and a type of design much in advance of other isthmian decoration. It is probably most nearly allied to the ware of the alligator group, and it possesses some of the characteristics of the best Central American work. Unlike the other wares of Chiriqui, this pottery has a bright salmon red paste and the slip proper is a delicate shade of the same color. In nearly all cases undecorated portions of the surface are finished in red, which appears to have been polished down as a slip. The designs are in three colors--black, a strong red, and a fine gray purple--which, in combination with the bright reddish ground, give a very rich effect. The first example, shown in Fig. 207, is a large, nearly symmetrical bottle with a short neck and a thick, flaring lip. The inner surface of the orifice and the lower half of the body are finished in red and the neck and shoulder in the salmon colored slip. A wide zone of ornament encircles the upper surface of the body. The designs are executed with great skill in red and black colors and include two highly conventional figures, probably of reptilian origin. The manner of their introduction into the zone is shown in Fig. 208. The oval faces are placed on opposite sides, taking the positions usually occupied by modeled heads.

Each face is supplemented by a pair of arms which terminate in curiously conventional hands, and the two caudal appendages are placed midway between the faces, filling triangular areas. The body of the vase serves as a body for both creatures. In the ill.u.s.tration, the red of the design, which is carried over all of one face save the eyes and mouth and serves to emphasize the features of the other face, is indicated in vertical tint lines and the black is given in solid color. This vase is twelve inches in height.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 208. Devices of the decorated zone of vase shown in Fig. 207.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 209. Handsome vase with four handles and decorations in black, red, and purple--?.]

A second example, ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 209, is a fine piece of somewhat unusual shape. The orifice is trumpet shaped and rather too wide for good proportion. The body is flattened above and conical below and is supported by a rather meager annular foot. The paste is of a light brick red color, and the slip, as seen in the ground of the decorated belt, is a pale gray orange. Undecorated portions of the surface are painted red.

The ornamented zone is interrupted by two pairs of handle-like appendages set upon the outer part of the shoulder. These projections may possibly have served as handles, as they are perforated both horizontally and vertically, but they are at the same time undoubtedly conventionalized animal forms, the creature being represented by the four flattened, transversely marked arms or rays and an eye-like device painted upon the top of each figure. The painted devices are seen in plan in Fig. 210, where the relations of the relieved features to the zone of painted decoration are clearly shown. This zone is divided into panels of unequal dimensions, and within these a number of extraordinary devices are drawn in three colors, red, black, and purple. These are distinguished in the plan by peculiar tint lines. The designs are of such a character as to leave little doubt that they are ideographic, although at present it is impossible to guess the nature of the a.s.sociated ideas. The annular foot observed in this specimen ill.u.s.trates the first step in the development of a feature the final stage of which is shown in Fig. 211. The latter shape is such as would result from inverting the preceding form, removing the conical base of the body, and using the funnel shaped orifice as a stand. This highly developed shape implies a long practice of the art. The form is a usual one in Mexico and in Central America. The bowl is shallow and is set gracefully upon the stand, the whole shape closely resembling simple conditions of the cla.s.sic kylix. The color of the paste is a pale brick red and that of the slip approaches orange. The walls are thick and even and the surface is very carefully polished.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 210. The painted designs of vase in Fig. 209 viewed from above.]

The painted decoration is of unusual interest. The colors are so rich, the execution is so superior, and the conception so strange that we dwell upon it with surprise and wonder. The central portion of the bowl is occupied by what would seem to represent a fish painted in strong, firm, marvelously turned lines, and in a style of convention wholly unique. The outlines are in black and the s.p.a.ces are filled in with red and purple or are left in the orange hue of the ground. An idea of the superior style of execution can be gained from Fig. 212. It will be impossible to characterize the details of the drawing in words. The strange position and shape of the head, the oddly placed eyes and mouth, and the totally incomprehensible treatment of the body can be appreciated, however, by referring to the ill.u.s.tration. A careful study leads inevitably to the conclusion that this was no ordinary decoration, no playing with lines, but a serious working out of a conception every part of which had its significance or its raison d'etre.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 211. Vase of unusual shape, with decoration in black, red, and purple--?.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 212. Ornament occupying the interior surface of the basin of vase shown in Fig. 211.]

The figures occupying the border zone of the bowl are worthy of careful inspection. It will be seen that the potter, even in this highly specialized condition of the utensil, has not lost sight of the conception that the vessel is the body of an animal, as we have seen so often in simpler forms, and that the symbols of the creature should appear upon it and encircle it. The zone is divided into two equal sections by small k.n.o.bs, painted, as are the handle-like appendages in the preceding specimen, to represent some animal feature. The lateral sections are occupied by eye-like figures that stand for the markings of the body of the creature symbolized. They really occupy the s.p.a.ces left by a continuous waved body or life line, which they serve to define.

Devices of this cla.s.s are most frequently met with in connection with representations of the alligator. They may, however, symbolize the serpent, as occasionally seen in the alligator group. Decorative conceptions so remarkable as these could arise only through one channel: the channel of mythology. The superst.i.tions of men have imposed upon the art a series of conceptions fixed in character and limited to especial positions, relations, and forms of expression. It is useless to speculate upon the nature of the mythologic conceptions with an idea of arriving at any understanding of the religion of the people; but we do learn something of the stage of development, something of the condition of philosophy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 213. Large vase of fine shape and simple decorations. From De Zeltner--about .]

I must not close this section without referring to some fine vases that belong apparently to this group and which were collected by De Zeltner and ill.u.s.trated by photographs accompanying his pamphlet. They are now, I believe, in the possession of Prof. O. C. Marsh. The sketches given herewith are copied from De Zeltner's photographs and are probably somewhat defective in details of drawing. The piece ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 213 is not described by the author, but is evidently a handsome vessel and is decorated in a very simple manner. A band of devices symbolizing the body of an animal encircles the middle portion of the vase. The height is about a foot.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 214. Vase with extraordinary decorative designs.

From De Zeltner--about .]

A second piece (Fig. 214), of which two views are given by the same author, corresponds closely in many respects with the vase ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 211 and is described in the following language:

My collection includes a cup (or chalice) of baked clay 25 centimeters in diameter, mounted on a hollow stand which gives it a height of 18 centimeters, and the designs of which are very rich and in perfect taste. The base is hollow and colored red, white, black, and purple; it has four narrow openings or slits, and the design represents plaits spirally arranged. The under side of the cup is divided into four compartments, each of which incloses a dragon painted in black and red on a white ground; the borders are sometimes red, sometimes purple. The body of the dragon might have been painted in China, so neat and intricate is the drawing.

The design upon the inside of the cup seems to resemble Egyptian art. The body of a man is seen, painted in red, the arms and legs separated, and the shoulders bearing the head of the dragon with teeth and crest. The color is similar to the rest of the piece--purple, white, and black. The intermediate s.p.a.ces are filled with very intricate designs.

This extraordinary design is shown in Fig. 215, and it will be seen that it agrees in many respects with figures presented in the lost color and alligator groups. It is compound in character, however, the head referring to the alligator, the body and extremities perhaps to a man or to a monkey. The suggestion of the oriental dragon in this, as in other examples, is at once apparent, and the resemblance to certain conventional forms that come down to us from the earliest known period of Chinese art is truly remarkable. We cannot, of course, predicate ident.i.ty of origin even upon absolute ident.i.ty of appearances, but such correspondences are worthy of note, as they may in time acc.u.mulate to such an extent that the belief in a common origin will force itself upon us.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 215. Painted design of vase in Fig. 214, viewed from above, thought to represent a dragon by De Zeltner; probably a composite of the alligator and the monkey or man.]

_Uncla.s.sified._--A small number of vases do not admit of cla.s.sification under any of the preceding heads. In most cases, however, they are not of especial interest and may be pa.s.sed over. They represent a number of varieties of ware and are possibly not all Chiriquian, their affinities being rather with the pottery of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. One remarkable piece, of which a sketch is given in Fig. 50, _c_, is of large size and is shaped somewhat like an hour gla.s.s, and on account of its peculiar form and markings may be said to resemble a corset. The upper end is somewhat the smaller, and the septum, which forms the bottom of the vessel, is placed about an inch above the base of the foot. The interior surface is smoothly polished and painted a dark dull red. The exterior is uncolored and neatly fluted. The series of vertical ribs of the upper end is separated from those of the base by a belt of horizontal flutings, and a wide smooth s.p.a.ce extends from the top to the base, the lower section of which is occupied by a row of b.u.t.ton-like, indented k.n.o.bs. The use of this utensil may not have been peculiar, but its shape is wholly unique. It resembles most nearly the ware of the maroon group. Its height is twelve inches.