72 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



verais or glaze seems to have been made, although pottery vessels 

 of that description have a higher polish, a more uniformly applied 

 slip, and show evidence of more care in firing than do the vessels 

 of common ware. 



Effigy canteens and vases. — A bird figure canteen, " kwiou.'' 



(Tule) , fired to a dark brown color that has blotches of a darker stain- 

 ing from chicha, is one of the most interesting pottery objects from 

 Darien (Cat. No. 327367, U.S.N.M.; pi. 14, No. 4). This effigy can- 

 teen is 20.4 cm. (8 in.) in longitudinal, and 14 cm. (5.5 in.) in trans- 

 verse diameter. The general outline is that of a bird figure, with 

 longitudinal body axis, tail part, wing fillets, breast part, circular 

 neck constriction, and bird beak realistically represented. In simi- 

 lar effigy canteens and jars the figure itself constitutes an essential 

 part of the vessel, which is a step far in advance of the applied 

 ornamentation of incised lines and geometric designs. In this vessel 

 the oblong bird body terminates in a tail piece at one lateral end 

 with a rounded breast shaped shallow front at the other lateral 

 projection. The rounded neck orifice is an extension several centi- 

 meters long attached one-third the length of the figure from its 

 frontal end. A flattened projection of the flaring neck margin re- 

 presents the bird beak. "Wings are indicated by semicircular fillets 

 in low relief one centimeter high and 6.4 cm. (2.5 in.) in length, 

 at the sides and top of the figure. Considerable artistic ability and 

 care is manifested in its production. The paste shows a complete 

 pulverization of the paste and a thorough mixing of the tempering 

 ingredients. The application of the ornamental tail, beak, and wing 

 fillets is such as to make them homogeneous parts of the figure. 



A human effigy vase, " kwidu," (Tule), for storing chicha, 40.2 

 cm. (9.5 in.) high, 22.9 cm. (9 in.) in diameter is made of black 

 ware, heavily stained with chicha and uniformly blackened from 

 smoke, (Cat. No. 327368, U.S.N.M.; pi. 14, No. 5). The general 

 form of the vase is spherical with a constricted, tubular neck orifice 

 elongated to one-third the total height of the vessel. 



A combination of coiling with modeling by the potter's hand aided 

 with a calabash shell and a knife was the method employed in its 

 production. The human facial features stand out in low relief 

 filleted on the surface of the neck piece, as are also the arm represen- 

 tations on the walls of the body of the vessel, an ornamentation 

 technique reminiscent of ancient Chibcha ware from Colombia. 



An example of a black ware vase with symmetry of form un- 

 equalled in the collection is found in a Tule vessel (Cat. No. 327369, 

 U.S.N.M.; pi. 14, No. 6), 17.3 cm. (6.8 in.) in height and 16.5 cm. 

 (6.5 in.) in greatest breadth diameter. The vase is globose and 

 unornamented except for an encircling band filleted in low relief 



