70 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



forms which culminates in the areas of the higher cultures begins 

 to be practised in Darien, where calabash forms, shells, birds, rep- 

 tiles, and other life forms are represented. The globose bowl, which 

 is a gourd or calabash form, often has a conical base. Many of these 

 vessels have pottery lugs or supports attached. A series of shallow 

 bowls of varied design is mounted in part on flaring pedestals of 

 various technique. 



A two-handled bowl, "mette," (Tule), hemispherical in outline, 

 15.5 cm. (6.1 in.) in marginal diameter and 6.9 cm. (2.7 in.) high, 

 (Cat. No. 327334, U.S.N.M.; pi. 15, No. 5), with a smoky black 

 color on its outer and a chocolate brown inner surface, is modeled 

 by the hand of the potter on a calabash shell from one lump of clay. 

 A similarly shaped hemispherical two-handled bowl has a much 

 higher polish and the use of a wash or slip is apparent (Cat. No. 

 327335, U.S.N.M.; pi. 15, No. 6). 



A hemispherical bowl, 17 cm. (6.7 in.) in marginal diameter and 

 8.2 cm. (3.2 in.) in height, rests on a low annular foot and presents 

 a decorative design consisting of an incised marginal pattern in the 

 form of notched frets (Cat. No. 327332, U.S.N.M.: pi. 15, No. 7). 

 The bowl is of a chocolate brown color and was shaped by modeling 

 with a calabash shell, which also served as a polishing instrument. 



A simple form of hemispherical bowl without handles or decora- 

 tive design and embodying in pottery those utilitarian qualities of 

 form and size that enhance the value of the calabash, is frequently 

 modeled, by the San Bias coast Tule from a single lump of clay, 

 using a section of the oval shell of a calabash as a form. One of 

 these simple hemispherical bowls, oval in contour, with vertical sides, 

 and of a mottled brown color, is 17.5 cm. (6.9 in.) in langitudinal 

 axis, 12.5 cm. (4.9 in.) in transverse diameter, and only 5.4 cm. 

 (2.1 in.) in height (Cat. No. 327327, U.S.N.M.; pi. 15, No. 8). 



There are several examples of globose bowls that rest upon bases 

 variously formed. Every one of these bases or supports are of 

 pottery and have been joined to the bottom of the bowl with suf- 

 ficient care to obliterate the lines of juncture. As the bowl with 

 foot is usually oblong in shape, the opportunity is taken by the na- 

 tive potter to depart from the characteristic foot design, which is 

 annular in form, flat on its under surface, and on its upper sur- 

 face convexty tapered to the line of juncture with the bottom of the 

 bowl (Cat. No. 327321, U.S.N.M.; pi. 16, No. 1). The departure 

 from this style of foot consists of four leg supports, each approxi- 

 mately 2 cm. in length and projecting obliquely from the bottom of 

 the bowl, giving the appearance of some animal form with legs braced 

 (Cat. No. 327333, U.S.N.M.; pi. 16, No. 2). This bowl, 18.4 cm. (7.2 

 in.) in length, with a breadth diameter of 17.4 cm. (6.8 in.) and a height 

 of 6 cm. (2.4 in.), is unique in that the sides are upright and not 



