49 f) REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



ouglily into the subject of the pottery of this country, and reference is 

 made to the numerous papers he has published.^ Anyone desiring to 

 examine the subject in detail is respectfully referred thereto. This 

 paper deals only with art, and consequently only with form and designs 

 of decoration. 



In his paper on "The ancient pottery of the Mississippi Valley^"' he 

 epitomizes the propositions, thus: 



Ii'orm. — This ware exhibits a great variety of form, many of which are extremely 

 pleasing. In this respect it is far superior to the other prehistoric groups of the east- 

 ern United States. The shapes .are as varied and elegant as those of the ancient Pueblo 

 jiottery, but are inferior to those of Mexico, Central America, and Peru. * * * 



Finish. — The finish, as compared with the work of civilized nations, is rude. The 

 surface is often simply hand or trowel smoothed. Generally, howev^er, it was more 

 or less carefully polished by rubbing with an implement of stone, shell, bone, or 

 other suitable substance, the markings of these tools being distinctly visible. Noth- 

 ing resembling a glaze has been found on pieces known to be ancient. The surface 

 was sometimes washed or coated with a slip or film of fine clay, which facilitated 

 the polishing, and in very many cases a coat of thick red ocher was applied. 



Ornament. — The ancient potter of the middle province has taken especial delight 

 in the embellishment of his wares, and the devices used are various and interesting. 

 They include, first, fanciful modifications of form; second, relief ornament; third, 

 intaglio figures, and fourth, designs in color. 



Modificaiion of shape. — It can hardly be claimed that the ancient peoples of this 

 region had a very refined appreciation of elegance of outline, yet the simple, essen- 

 tial forms of cups and pots were by no means satisfactory to them. There are many 

 modifications of shape that indicate a taste for higher types of beauty and a con- 

 stant attempt to realize them. The aesthetic sentiment was considerably developed. 



There is also a decided tendency toward the grotesque. To such an extreme have 

 the dictates of fanc3^ been followed in this respect, that utility, the true office of the 

 utensil, has often taken a secondary place, although it is never lost sight of entirely. 

 Bowls have been fashioned into the shapes of birds, fishes, and reptiles, and vases 

 and bottles into a multitude of animal and vegetable forms without apparent regard 

 to convenience. All of these modifications of essential forms were doubtless looked 

 upon as in a sense ornamental. So far as I can determine they were in no case 

 intended to be humorous. 



Itelief ornament. — Decorative ideas of a purely conventional character are often 

 worked out in both low and salient relief. This is generally accomplished by the 

 addition of nodes and fillets of clay to the plain surface of the vessel. Fillets are 

 applied in various ways over the body, forming horizontal, oblique, and vertical 



' Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley. (Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci ., IV, 1884. ) 



Origin and development of Form and Ornament in Ceramic Art. (Fourth Annual 

 Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1886.) 



Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley. (Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau 

 of Ethnology, 1886.) 



Pottery of the Ancient Pueblos. (Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnol- 

 ogy, 1886.) 



Earthenware of Florida. (Certain Sand Mounds of the St. .Johns River, Pt. i. By 

 Clarence B. Moore. 1894.) 



Ceranuc Art of the Eastern United' States. (Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 

 not yet published.) 



Caribbean Influence on the Prehistoric Ceramic Art of the Southern States. 

 (Amer. Anthrop., January, 1894.) 



Order of Development of the Primal Shaping Arts. (Proc. A. A. A. S., 1894.) 



^Fourth Anuuiil Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 373, 



