Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia: Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-1885, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 3-188Holmes, William Henry
History
Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia: Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-1885, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 3-188
Holmes, William Henry
Chiriquí (Panama : Province) -- Antiquities; Indian pottery -- Panama; Indians of Central America -- Panama
I will now pass over the many hundreds of pieces with designs too
conventional to furnish a clew to the original animal forms, yet still
suggesting their existence, to those in which the life forms can be
traced with ease or in which they are delineated with a much nearer
approach to nature. The manner of introducing life forms into the panels
of the encircling zones is illustrated in the following figures. In the
vase shown in Fig. 176 there are four panels, two short and two long,
separated by vertical bands. The short panels are black, but the long
ones are occupied by rudely drawn figures of alligators, some of which
are very curiously abbreviated. At the right hand in the cut we have
simply the head with its strong recurved jaws and notched crest. The
principal figure at the left is a two headed alligator, the body being
straight and supplied with two feet. The ground finish of the decorated
band is in the light gray tint and the alligator figures and vertical
septa now appear in that color. The ground of the remainder of the
surface is red. It will be seen that in this case the panel outlines are
rather elaborate and that the neck and base are striped in a way to
enhance considerably the beauty of the vessel. Additional examples of
animal devices are given in Figs. 177 and 178. The significance of the
curious figure seen in the first is not easily determined, although we
do not hesitate to assign to it an animal origin. There is a suggestion
of two sitting figures placed back to back between the upright serrate
lines. In the second piece, which is from another vessel, the space
between the serrate lines is occupied by a sketchy figure which, in the
phraseology of heraldry, may be likened to a monkey rampant.
[Illustration: Fig. 179_a_. Design from vase shown in Fig. 179.]
[Illustration: Fig. 180. Vase decorated with highly conventional
life forms--½.]
In Figs. 179 and 180 I present very interesting examples in which the
arched panels are used. In the first the compartments are occupied by a
favorite Chiriquian motive, which consists of groups of lines curled up
at one end like unfolding fronds. The whole group represents a very
highly conventionalized animal figure (Fig. 179_a_). The devices
occupying the upright panels take the place of the animal heads shown in
several preceding figures. In the arched panels shown in Fig. 180 we
have the frond-like motive treated in a manner to make it pretty certain
that a reptilian form is intended. These figures are fully and
systematically presented in a succeeding section.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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