Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 151. Fragment of a tripod vase embellished with the figure of an alligator.]

The alligator, rarely employed in this group of ware, is freely used in other groups and was probably a creature of importance in the mythology of Chiriqui.

In one case only, so far as I have seen, is the human form employed in the supports of these vessels, and in that case, as will be seen in Fig. 152, the result is extremely grotesque. The shape of the basin is good and the thick, rounded lip and most of the surface are carefully polished. A disconnected meander of incised lines encircles the rather high neck, and parts of the body and its attached features are painted red. As usual this color was applied along with the slip and in polishing has become much mixed up with it, giving a mottled effect. The handles take the form of curious human-appearing figures which sit against the constricted neck, their heads supporting the rim and their feet resting upon the shoulder of the vessel. In one case the hands are held tightly against the lower part of the face and in the other they are bound together against the chin by a serpent-like cord of clay. The hollow figures forming the legs of the vase are as grotesque as could well be imagined. There is no head whatever, and the outlandish features are placed upon the front of the upper part of the body. The arms and hands take the conventional position characteristic of the statuary of the isthmian states and the only traces of costume are bands about the wrists and a girdle encircling the lower part of the body.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 152. Vase supported by grotesque human figures--?.]

I add, in Fig. 153, one more example, a large, full bodied vase, which, more decidedly perhaps than any of the foregoing, proclaims its relationship to the preceding group. If the three rather clumsy legs were knocked off there would remain a large beautifully shaped and finished vase, with a constricted but flaring rim not in any way distinguishable from those of the preceding group. The legs in this case are less perfectly adapted to the vessel than in the other examples, as if the potter, skillful in modeling the vessel, had only recently undertaken to add the tripod. The slit in the outer face of the leg is unusually wide and the inclosed ball is three-fourths of an inch in diameter. The most remarkable feature of this vessel is the pair of unique figures affixed to the upper surface of the body near the lip, and which would seem to be intended to represent semihuman monsters. The arms and legs are contorted and serpent-like in appearance and terminate in most cases in heads of serpents instead of in hands and feet. The att.i.tude is expressive of agony or horror. It seems to me probable that, contrary to the rule in primitive art, these strange figures do not embody any well defined or serious conception, but are rather exhibitions of the fancy of the potter. They occupy small unpainted panels, which are finished in neat incised patterns. The remaining surface is a bright red.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 153. Round bodied vase embellished with figures of monsters--?.]

It may be noted, in recapitulation, that these vases, although elaborately modeled and often well finished, are rudely decorated and very generally show use over fire; that the legs, though often graceful and well proportioned, are in many cases clumsily adjusted to the body, giving a decidedly unsatisfactory result as a whole. This ware was devoted to domestic uses, or, if otherwise, in all probability to the burning of incense. Animal forms are freely employed, but in a rather rude way. The fish form is more generally used than any other, and is in all cases embodied in the legs of the vessel, the head joining the body of the vessel and the tail resting upon the ground. These representations exhibit all grades of elaboration from the fairly well modeled to the merest suggestion of animal character--any one feature, as the mouth, the eye, the fins, or the tail, being alone a sufficient suggestion of the creature to satisfy the potter and keep alive the idea of the fish. Other animal forms are employed in modeling the legs, and exhibit equally varying degrees of elaboration, and it is worthy of especial note that creatures are not confused or confounded, so far as I can discover, at any stage of the simplifying process--that a fish is still purely a fish if nothing is left to represent it but a node or an incision. There is no apparent relationship between the animal forms forming the legs and those attached to the body or to the rim of the vessel.

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 154. Cup with incurved rim and life form ornamentation--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 155. Cup with widely expanded rim and constricted neck--.]

_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 ma.s.s. 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 156. Small tripod cup with animal features in high relief--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 157. Handsome vase supported by three grotesque figures--.]

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 Zuni 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 lat.i.tude 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 ill.u.s.trations, 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 ill.u.s.trations, 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 s.p.a.ces 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 158. Vase decorated with figures of frogs and devices in red--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 159. Vase of unique shape and life form ornamentation--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 160. Two handled vase with life form and linear decoration--.]

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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s, 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 ill.u.s.trated 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 s.p.a.ce refer to other features of the animal suggested. Upon the shoulder and collar of the vessel are carelessly drawn geometric patterns in red lines.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 161. Small tripod vase with animal figures in white--.]

_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 cla.s.s 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 lat.i.tude 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 ill.u.s.tration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 162. Shapely vase with designs in white paint--.]

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 sc.r.a.ped 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 cla.s.sed 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 a.s.sociated with all cla.s.ses of vessels. Tripod supports are limited to rather modest proportions, and handles, although often present and greatly varied in style, do not const.i.tute 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 interst.i.tial 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. Cla.s.sic 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 a.s.sociated 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 ill.u.s.tration 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 inters.p.a.ces, although they appear at first glance to have been intended for the design proper.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 163. Small red bottle with horizontal bands of ornament consisting of plain and scalloped lines--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 164. Small red bottle with encircling geometric devices--.]

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

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 165. Bottle with zone occupied by geometric devices--.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 166. Bottle with broad zone containing geometric figures--.]

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 princ.i.p.al zone is expanded to cover the whole upper surface of the vase, which was finished in the light colored slip to receive it. The princ.i.p.al 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 inters.p.a.ces or by modifying the number and relationship of the lines, dots, and figures.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 167. Bottle with decoration of meandered lines--.]