ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



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shown in Fig. 12. It has been called a brasier and a censer, and 

 is thought to have been employed in religious ceremonies, but its 



Fig. 12. — Ceremonial vase, in Mexican National Museum. 



true use is probably unknown. The shape is, however, suggestive 

 of some especial ceremonial office. It resembles a short, upright 

 cylinder, encircled midway by a groove. There are two massive, 

 horizontally-looped handles attached to the sides a little below the 

 middle. The bowl is rather shallow. The lower third of the vessel 

 consists of a hollow foot resembling the bowl above, but open at 

 the sides beneath the handles. The conformation is such that a 

 heavy cord could be passed through the handles and across the 

 doubly cloven foot for suspension as a swinging censer. The ex- 

 posed surfaces are usually highly polished and the colors embrace 

 black and many rich tones of red. 



It should be noted that no traces were found of the dark, highly 

 ornate pottery so often seen in modern times and so frequently 

 brought away by tourists. This ware may have a legitimate place 

 in Aztec art, but does not occur among the ancient productions in 

 any locality visited by me. It is absolutely certain that all the speci- 

 mens now seen in the shops of Mexico and offered for sale by hawk- 

 ers on the streets and at the stations — especially at San Juan — are 

 modern products. They are, however, wonderfully well executed, 

 and the appearance of antiquity given them is truly remarkable. 



