Fig. 127. Heavy red vase with four mouths—⅓.
[ The handled group.—]
The series of vessels to which this name is given comprises a large number of pieces of unusually even characters.
They are obtained from a pretty wide district to the north and west of David and occur in connection with other groups. They are notable for uniformity in size, shape, and finish and for the unmistakable evidences of use over fire which at least three-fourths of them show. With the exception of a few large caldrons, not yet assigned to a particular group, they are more like ordinary cooking vessels than any other group of Chiriquian ware. The size, however, is remarkably small, the average capacity being about a pint. Larger pieces contain a quart or three pints.
The body is usually much compressed vertically and is flattish above and more or less conical below, giving a very graceful contour. The surface is rather rudely polished and the painting is done with notable carelessness, as if the intended use were not favorable to the preservation of the ornament. By means of a heavy brush, red figures, consisting of splotches, stripes, arches, and encircling bands, were applied to the yellowish gray surface and sometimes, as indicated by a smeared appearance, were polished down with an implement. It does not seem that a slip of ordinary white clay was very generally used. In a few cases a grayish blue tint appears upon some of the wider spaces.
The handles are perhaps the most notable feature of this ware, and usually occur two to a vessel; rarely there is but one handle and in a few cases there are four. This group may be separated into at least four sections by the styles of handles. Vessels of the two more important sections have two handles each, which are placed vertically in one variety and horizontally in the other, reference being had to the position of the points of attachment. These differences of position have given rise to a marked difference in the shape of the orifice and of the lip. The handle is a simple loop, which in the one variety is placed as seen in Fig. 128 and in the other as in [Fig. 132]. In the latter case one end of the loop is fixed to the shoulder and the other end
to the lip, which is uniformly prolonged at the contact and is also widened all around; the result is the curious winged outline shown in [Fig. 133].
Fig. 128. Vase with horizontally placed handles and rude designs in red—½.