Fig. 115. Vase with flaring rim and legs, imitating animal heads—½.
To this class belongs also a small dark vase of peculiar shape and interesting decoration, which is illustrated in Fig. 116. The neck is large and the lip widely flaring, and the body is modeled in imitation
of the head of some animal, possibly a peccary. The side representing the face is prolonged, giving an unsymmetric profile, as seen in the second figure. The eyes are set midway between the ears (which are placed at the sides) and the nostrils, and are inclosed by curious engraved figures, probably suggested by the markings of the animal portrayed. An arched ridge, representing the brows, connects the bridge of the nose with the ears. The most novel feature of this piece is the band of incised ornament that crosses the back of the head and serves probably to carry out the idea of the complete creature. As will be seen by reference to the figure, it is a guilloche-like interlacing of fillets, bordered and apparently held in place by longitudinal bands, beyond which the angles of the ornament project. The pattern is a modified form of one commonly seen upon the margins of the larger stone metates, and, although rarely met with in the pottery of Chiriqui, was a favorite motive with the potters of Costa Rica. This vessel comes from 30 miles north-northwest of David.
Fig. 116. Vase modeled to resemble the head of an animal—½.
