Fig. 304.—Painted design.
Fig. 305.—Unit of the design drawn in black.
Bowls heretofore referred to as heart-shaped are of frequent occurrence in the valley of the Little Colorado. A number have been obtained by the Bureau of Ethnology directly from the Pueblo Indians, while a few very superior specimens are in the collection of Mr. Keam. A somewhat globular example is represented in Fig. 306.
Fig. 306.—Heart-shaped bowl: Province of Tusayan.—1/2.
It is remarkable in having four zones of devices. The narrow belt next the lip contains a single line of bird-track figures. The others exhibit simple forms of the meander. It is interesting to notice the variety of treatment. In the upper band we have a chain of units imperfectly connected. In the others there are series of triangular links quite disconnected from each other. All are defined in white by painting in a ground of black.
This district has furnished few vessels of more exquisite form and decoration than that shown in Fig. 307. It is from the Keam collection. The outlines are exceptionally symmetrical, and the design, developed in the white of the ground, is drawn with more than usual care. The figures are severely simple, however, and comprise but one motive—the typical scroll, which is arranged in three zones, separated by parallel lines. The spaces are filled in with serrate lines, parallel with the connecting fillets or stems of the volutes, as in the case given in Fig. 290.
Another smaller vessel from the same collection is simple and unpretentious, but so thoroughly satisfactory in every respect that one could hardly suggest an improvement. The surface is well polished. The ground color is whitish, and the design—a chain of classic scrolls—is produced in white by filling up the interstices with black. It is a noteworthy fact that the base of this cup has been perforated, apparently for use as a strainer. Nearly a hundred small round holes have been made while the clay was still soft. A pottery ladle from this region, now in the National collection, exhibits the same feature.
