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

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 is shown by the cuts and plates, that triangles with an elongate acuminate apex and the zigzag are very common in the black-brown decorations. The checkered figure also is not uncommon. The animals most frequently represented are the elk or deer and birds. The floral decorations are chiefly vines well drawn, and rude attempts at representing trees, and the flowers of various species of Helianthus.
5. Red ware with color decorations. This ware is represented by but