Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley / Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-83, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1886, pages 361-436

by William Henry Holmes

GULF PROVINCE.

Our museums contain but few pieces of pottery from the Lower Mississippi, and in the Davenport Academy collection there are probably not more than a dozen typical examples of the leading varieties of ware of the Gulf States. Louisiana and Mississippi have furnished some very fine specimens of the pottery of the middle province, more refined, perhaps, in form, material, and finish than the ware of Arkansas and Missouri, but still differing decidedly from the typical pottery of Alabama and Georgia. Not wishing at present to enter upon the detailed study of the latter class of ware, I shall present only the few examples contained in the Davenport collection. The southern ware is characterized by refinement of outline, color, finish and ornament, and is distinguished from that of the Middle Mississippi by its material, which is a fine-grained paste, tempered with very fine silicious matter instead of pulverized shells.

Fig. 459.—Cup: Alabama.—⅓.

The little cup given in Fig. 459 is from Mobile, Alabama. It is pointed at opposite ends and was probably modeled after or within some basket or fruit shell, the impressions from which are seen on the surface. The paste contains no perceptible tempering material.

The largest and most pleasing vessel of this class is from Alabama, and is shown in Fig. 460.

The aperture is ten and a half inches in diameter, and the height nine and one-half inches. The form is full above and somewhat conical below. The walls are thin and even and the surface well polished.

The color is dark and shows the usual fire mottlings. There is no admixture of shell material, finely pulverized micaceous matter appearing in its place. The ornamentation is simple, but is applied in a way to greatly enhance the beauty of the vessel. It consists of a single broad zone of incised figures. Three zigzag lines meander the middle of the band and the intervening triangles are filled in with groups of straight lines. All the lines are well drawn and appear to have been cut with a sharp point in the dry clay.

Fig. 460.—Bowl: Alabama.—⅓.

Bottle-shaped vases are not found to any great extent outside of the Mississippi Valley, and are quite rare in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

Fig. 461.—Bottle: Mississippi.—⅓.

The piece illustrated in Fig. 461 is from Mississippi, and in most respects is identical with the ware of the Gulf Province. The paste is silicious, fine-grained, and quite hard. The color is slightly ferruginous and clouded with fire stains from the baking. The body is ornamented with the engraved figure of a bird apparently intended for an eagle. The head, with its notched and strongly curved beak and conventionalized crest, occupies one side. The wings may be seen at the right and left, while the tail appears on the side opposite the head. The flattened base of the vessel occupies the place of the body. The lines have been scratched with a sharp point in the hardened clay. Certain spaces in the plumes, wings, and tail are filled in with reticulated lines.

Fig. 462.—Bottle: Alabama.—⅓.

The bottle presented in Fig. 462 is embellished with a rather remarkable design in color. The material is fine grained and without admixture of shell. The color of the paste is a pale, salmon gray. The surface is coated with a thick slip or enamel of whitish clay, very fine grained and smooth; upon this the design was painted, not in the thick earthy color employed farther north, but in what appears to be a dark purplish-gray stain. The design upon the body is wholly unlike anything yet described. It is developed in the light ground tint by filling in the interstices with the dark color. The peculiar character of this design inclines me to the view that it probably had an ideographic origin, although possibly treated here as pure decoration. The open hand is sometimes seen, in both the decorative and the symbolic work of the Gulf coast tribes, and is not unknown elsewhere. The figures alternating with the hands are suggestive of a highly conventionalized face, the eyes being indicated by the volutes and the mouth and teeth by the lower part of the figure, as will be seen in the fully projected design, Fig. 463. The neck has two indistinct bands of triangular dentate figures apparently painted in the dark color. The bottom is flattish and without the coating of light clay. Both paste and slip can be readily scratched with the finger nail. This vase was found in Franklin County, Alabama, near the Mississippi line.

Fig. 462.—Painted design.