It is said that among the Cochiti, Santa Clara, and some other Pueblos a vegetable matter is employed to produce some of their decorative designs; this, however, I was unable to verify, though some of the Indians assured me of the fact, and furnished me a bunch of the plant, which Dr. Vasey, of the Agricultural Department, found to be Cleome integrifolia, a plant common throughout the Western Territories. A few specimens of the ware, some burnt and some unburnt, said to be decorated with the oil or juice of this plant were secured.
As heretofore remarked, notwithstanding the variety in ornamentation, there are really but few different figures, and these are mostly quite simple. Any one interested in the study of Indian art can find in the
figures and plates of this catalogue all the original conceptions of the artists of the Pueblo Indians as depicted by them.
While it is of value in the study of ethnology, and as affording a means of comparison in the study of archaeology, there is nothing in the composition or ornamentation, or in the form of the vessels, that ceramic artists of the civilized races would desire to copy.
As a means of reference in the study of ancient American pottery, I consider the collection invaluable, as it can scarcely be possible that the forms and decorations contain nothing that has been handed down from a former age. Although the figures used have no symbolic characters connected with them in the mind of the modern artist, yet it is more than probable that at least some of them did have such a meaning to the ancient artists. For example, the little tadpole-shaped figure on the clay baskets used in their dances and sacred ceremonies by the Zuñians is understood by them to represent a little water articulate, which, as heretofore stated, is probably the larva of some insect or crustacean, very common in the pools and sluggish streams of the country inhabited by these Indians. Now, it is possible that this figure has been used with the same meaning from time immemorial, but I find, as pointed out to me by Prof. Cyrus Thomas, that almost exactly the same figure is on a vessel pictured on Plate VII of the manuscript Troano, where a religious ceremony of some kind is evidently represented. The same figure is also found in Landa’s character for the Maya day Cib, a word signifying copal, a gum or resin formerly used in religious ceremonies as incense. I find also on Plate XXXV of the same manuscript the figures of bowls or pots with legs similar to those of the Zuñi. I do not point out these resemblances as proof of any relation between the two races, but as mere illustrations of what possibly may be learned by a careful study of the forms and decorations of this pottery. It may also be well to add here another fact to which Professor Thomas calls my attention, viz., the similarity between the manner of wearing the hair by the Shinumo women, i.e., in knots at the side, as represented by the female images, and that of the ancient Maya women, as shown in numerous figures on the manuscript Troano. Any one familiar with General Cesnola’s collection from Cyprus cannot fail to be reminded of it when he examines this collection of Indian pottery; especially the colors used and the general character of the specimens; but an inspection of the two collections is necessary in order to have this general resemblance brought to mind, as it does not appear so distinctly on a comparison of the published figures only. The figures on Plate XLIV of his “Cyprus” bear quite a striking resemblance to those on some specimens of Cochiti ware. The quadruple cup, Fig. 25, page 406, is almost exactly like the Zuñi quadruple cups, and was probably used for the same purpose. The same type of multiple cups is also shown in Plate IX of the same work. The two tea-pot-like vessels represented on Plate VIII, as well as the two bird-shaped pieces on the same
plate, are much, like the similar vessels of Cochiti pottery, several of which are figured in this catalogue.
The resemblance of this Indian ware, in the form of the vessels, to that found in the ancient mounds of this country is so marked that it is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of the fact, but it may be well to call attention to the much, larger proportion of water vessels among the Indian pottery than is seen in collections from the mounds. This, however, may perhaps be accounted for by the scarcity of water in the western region.
The custom of the Zuñi artists of making a diamond or triangle over the region of the heart of the elk and deer figures with a line running to the mouth, although somewhat singular, is quite consistent with the Indian practice of symbolic writing. I was informed by the Zuñi Indians that it was intended to denote that “the mouth speaks from the heart.” A similar mark occurs in the decoration of the vase figured in Cesnola’s “Cyprus,” page 268.
Contemporaneous and somewhat closely related tribes may use widely different figures in the decoration of their ware, and hence it is unsafe, in studying ancient specimens, to draw hasty conclusions from slight differences in this respect; and I think I may also safely add that a comparatively short period of time, a century or so at most, may suffice to bring about a great change in the same tribe in the form and manner of decorating their pottery. It also shows us that the ware of a given tribe, which does not bear the impress of civilized influence, can, by a careful study, be distinguished in nearly all cases from that of any other tribe. I feel so confident of the truth of this statement, that I would not hesitate to undertake to pick out all pieces of Zuñi ornamented ware from a collection of thousands of specimens of modern Pueblo Indian pottery if indiscriminately mixed together.
The Shinumo pottery in general appearance and form bears a strong resemblance to that of Zuñi; in fact it is almost impossible to separate the ornamented bowls and water vases of the two if mingled together. There are certain figures found in the one which never occur in the other, but there are a number of designs, especially of those most generally seen, that are quite common to the pottery of both tribes.