It is to be regretted that, among the Indians, this art, like that of basketry, is passing. The coming of civilisation has brought iron and tin cooking-vessels and ordinary tableware to take the place of the bowls, platters, and cups, the jars and bottles of clay, so full of individual charm. Not only to the collector and the student of ethnology is Indian pottery of value; the potter of to-day finds much that is helpful and suggestive in primitive processes, as well as in the forms and decoration.
A study of the range of shapes and designs in Indian pottery is a revelation to many who have thought of the Indian as an ignorant savage. Aside from its beauty and decorative value, the uses to which Indian pottery can be put in our homes are many. The great bowl shown in the plate suggests one delightful way of utilising this ware. Foliage plants of any size, from a tiny cactus, which seems to find a bowl with a rounded base the most comfortable of abiding places, to a great spreading fern, harmonise with the Indian colours. So will flowering plants, except those which have red, pink, or purple blossoms; and what a relief these plant-bowls are to the eye after some of the jardinières one sees!
On the right is a piece of pottery in terra-cotta and black, made by a Pima Indian. Beside it is a dish with a handle, moulded by a Zia Indian of New Mexico. The bowl is also of Zia ware. On the left is a water-jug such as the Maricopa Indians make.
Large bowls are useful, too, for holding fruit on the porch of a country house, while smaller ones serve as nut-bowls. Low plaque-shaped pieces make excellent card-trays, and the small bowls hold matches. There are curious little pieces in the form of shoes made by the Indians of New Mexico. These also are useful for matches or cigar ashes (see [Fig. 63]). Last and least, though only in size, is the toy pottery—money-banks in the form of well-fed pigs, whistles, and toy dishes, cups, jugs, and plates—bewitching alike to little girls and big. A few of them are shown in Figs. 64 and 65. They are Indian red and creamy yellow in colour, with designs of black, and rarely are two of them alike.