320 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTirROPOLOGY. 



Spurious objects arc executed ju wood, stone, and metal, and experts 

 of no mean order of talent ply their trade within tlie valley of Mexico. 

 One iepr<)dH<U!S ancient instinments of music, tlie curious tepoimztli, 

 for exaniple, in worm eaten wood and with surprisini;" cleverness; an- 

 other forges articles of bronze and coi)por in divers wcll-knowrj, as well 

 perhaps as heretofore unknown, forms ; whilst many carve in stone, 

 liviiling the iincient la])idaries in shaping even the harder forms of 

 quartz. Names of a number of makers could be given and illustrations 

 of their work could be obt;iimMl from scores of collections. Three-fourths 

 of th(^ objects of co[)per and pei]iai)s one- third of those of stone now found 

 n American collections are frauds. 



Of all the materials, however, clay is the most extensively used, and 

 on account of the ease with which it is mnnipn]ate<l some very curious 

 and remarkable developments have talccn j)lac(\ The enterprising 

 potters Imve not confined themselves to the copying of actual antiqui- 

 ties, but, following the natural bentot; their genius, new forms have been 

 invented and repeated until a family of frauds exhibiting a separate life 

 and development has come into existence. 



In Science, of February 19, 1880, 1 called attention to some examples 

 of this class of work, but not wishing to hurt the feelings of tliose who 

 had given it a place in their collections, or who had published speci- 

 mens under the belief that they were important relics of ancient art, I 

 (lid not trim closely; but the hint did not make the impression I had 

 int<Muled, and I propose now to push the matter a little further, and to 

 exti nd the range of illustrations of dangerous specimens. Tliis work 

 is not undeilnken in thesi)irit of a nu'ie critic. On the contrary, fncts 

 hav<'. been sui>pressed au<l statenu'uts and forms of expression h;ive been 

 iiiodilied in order that, in the correction of ra])i(lly growing errors, all 

 ])<'rsonal friction should be avoided. 



In classifying the ceramic products of Mexico m the TJ. S. National 

 Museum, 1 found it necessary at the outset to eliminate this class of 

 (^xci-escences, but not caring to make innovations about which there re- 

 iiKiined a doubt, I concluded to wait until I could pay a visit to Mexico, 

 and in 1883 J had the good fortune to spend a short time in that country. 

 1 found the class of works here referred to given an important place in 

 the National Museum there, and 1 was much perplexed thereby. It is 

 iu)t surprising that the archaeologists in the United States or in Europe 

 shonhl mak(^ mistakes in interprciting this work, as they have to take 

 the woi'd of unscientific collectors who rely upon the statements of na- 

 tive dealers ; but it is. strange that Mexican scholars should so long 

 have i)assed the work by without remark. Professor Mendoza is said 

 to have expressed the opinion that it should be classed as ordinary do- 

 nu\stic Aztec ware, * thus imjilying that it probably constituted a nor- 

 mal feature of Mexican art originating in the distant past, and extend- 

 ing down to the present. This was a rather easy way of dealing with 



* J'.rocklclnirst, Mexico T(i-(l;iy. liOiKioii, 1SH:5, i):ii;<' 178. 



