BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVI
BOWLS AND POTSHERD WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVII
FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS, FROM SIKYATKI
From the pose of the figure and the various details of its symbolism there can be little doubt that the ancient Sikyatki artists intended to represent this monster, of which the modern Hopi rarely speak, and then only in awe. Probably several other bird figures likewise represent Kwataka, but in none of these do the symbols conform so closely to legends of this monster which are still repeated in the Tusayan villages. The home of Kwataka is reputed to be in the sky, and consequently figures of him are commonly associated with star and cloud emblems; he is a god of luck or chance, hence it is not exceptional to find figures of gaming implements[149] in certain elaborate figures of this monster.
By far the most beautiful of the many food bowls from Sikyatki, and, I believe, the finest piece of prehistoric aboriginal pottery from the United States, is that figured in [plate cxlvi], d. This remarkable object, found with others in the sands of the necropolis of this pueblo, several feet below the surface, is decorated with a highly conventional figure of a bird in profile, but so modified that it is difficult to determine the different parts. The four appendages to the left represent the tail; the two knobs at the right the head, but the remaining parts are not comprehensible. The delicacy of the detailed crosshatching on the body is astonishing, considering that it was drawn freehand and without pattern. The coloring is bright and the surface glossy.
The curved band from which this strange figure hangs is divided into sections by perpendicular incised lines, which are connected by zigzag diagonals. The signification of the figure in the upper part of the bowl is unknown. While this vessel is unique in the character of its decoration, there are others of equal fineness but less perfect in design. Competent students of ceramics have greatly admired this specimen, and so fresh are the colors that some have found it difficult to believe it of ancient aboriginal manufacture. The specimen itself, now on exhibition in the National Museum, gives a better idea of its excellence than any figure which could be made. This specimen, like all the others, is in exactly the same condition as when exhumed, save that it has been wiped with a moist cloth to clean the traces of food from its inner surface. All the pottery found in the same grave is of the finest character, and although no two specimens are alike in decoration, their general resemblances point to the same maker. This fact has been noticed in several instances, although there were many exceptional cases where the coarsest and most rudely painted vessels were associated with the finest and most elaborately decorated ware.
The ladle illustrated in [plate cxlii], e, is one of the most beautiful in the collection. It is decorated with a picture of an unknown animal with a single feather on the head. The eyes are double and the snout continued into a long stick or tube, on which the animal stands. While the appendage to the head is undoubtedly a feather and the animal recalls a bird, I am in doubt as to its true identification. The star emblems on the handle of the ladle are in harmony with known pictures of birds.
The feather decoration on the broken ladle shown in [plate cxxxi], f, is of more than usual interest, although it is not wholly comprehensible. The representations include rain-cloud symbols, birds, feathers, and falling rain. The medially placed design, with four parallel lines arising from a round spot, is interpreted as a feather design, and the two triangular figures, one on each side, are believed to represent birds.
The design on the food bowl depicted in [plate cxxxi], e, is obscure, but in it feather and star symbols predominate. On the inside of the ladle shown in [plate cxxxi], c, there is a rectangular design with a conventionalized bird at each angle. The reduction of the figure of a bird to head, body, and two or more tail-feathers occurs very constantly in decorations, and in many instances nothing remains save a crook with appended parallel lines representing feathers. Examples of this kind occur on several vessels, of which that shown in [plate cxlv], a, is an example.