Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona in 187 | Page 8

of this is coarse and rough, and in this case always more
than ordinarily thick; but the larger portion has the surface smooth and
often polished. The color varies from the natural dull leaden hue of the
clay, to a bright brick red, the latter largely predominating.
2. The brown ware, or that which shows an admixture of mica. This,
although uniformly without color decorations, is occasionally marked
with impressed figures and lines. Although inferior in quality, being
coarse and fragile, it presents more symmetrical though less varied
forms than are usually found in the preceding group. The influence of
contact with the European races is here very apparent, as, for example,
in the true pitcher and other common utensils and an apparent attempt
at glazing.

3. The black ware which is without ornamentation. This variety in
quality and character is precisely like the polished red of the first group;
but is slightly in advance of that in regard to finish, and perhaps, as
heretofore remarked, may be classed as lustrous, while the red may be
classed as semi-lustrous. The paste of which this black ware is formed
appears to have been better prepared than that of the preceding varieties,
and is the hardest and firmest in the collection.
4. The cream-white pottery decorated in colors. This extensive group,
which includes fully two-thirds of the entire collection, embraces
almost every known form of earthenware manufactured by the tribes
from whom it was obtained. The paste of which it is formed is similar
in character to that of the black ware. When broken the fracture shows
very distinctly the effect of burning, the interior being of the natural
leaden color, shading off to a dull grayish white as it approaches the
outer surface. The opaque or creamy-white color of the surface is
produced by a coating of opaque whitewash. Upon this white surface
the figures are afterwards drawn.
The only colors used in decorating pottery are black, red, and some
shade of brown. But of this we will speak more fully when we come to
describe the peculiar methods practiced by the different tribes in
making and adorning pottery.
Although there is a strong general similarity in this colored
ornamentation, the great variety of details renders it difficult to classify
the figures so as to convey a correct idea of them to the reader. We
shall therefore have to refer him to the numerous cuts and the colored
plates which have been introduced for the purpose of illustrating the
catalogue.
The following general statement is about all that can be said in
reference to them before descending to specific details.
So far as the coloring is concerned they are of two kinds, those having
the figures wholly black, and those which are partly black and partly
brown or red. The differences in the decorated pottery appear to be
always accompanied by certain other variations sufficient to warrant

speaking of them as different varieties or groups. The former (those
having the figures wholly black), which are made of the ordinary
plastic blue clay, have only the upper half or two-thirds of the body of
the vessel overlaid with the white coating for receiving the decorations,
the lower part being uncoated, and of the natural pale red or salmon
color produced by burning, but usually well polished. As additional
distinguishing features of this group we notice that the shape is more
generally globular, the workmanship rather superior, and the pottery
somewhat harder and less friable than that of the other group; the
angular and geometrical figures formed by straight lines are more
common in this group; here we also find the meander or Greek fret
correctly drawn, the vine, and several other designs rarely or never
found in the other group. The figures of animals, which are common to
both varieties, are in the former more usually distributed in zones or
groups, while in the latter they are generally placed singly in inclosed
spaces. The latter variety, in which we see the curve freely used, shows
an evident advance over the ornamentation of the older pottery of this
region; and while the figures must be classed as rude, and the outlines
are less sharp, and not so well defined as in the older specimens, yet
they indicate clearly a mental advance in the greater variety of
conception.
The figures of this entire class, as regards forms, may be grouped under
three general headings: first, the geometrical, which is the most
common; second, the figures of animals; and, third, rude attempts at
floral decorations, which forms are rather rare. Strange to say, in but
few instances can any attempt at representing the human form or any
part of it be discovered in these color decorations.
The geometric figures present an endless variety; but we notice, as