The Ageniae 



merely semicylinders whose circular con- 

 tour is accentuated only at the mouth; while 

 those of the Ageniae, which are almost 

 isolated from one another and take hold of 

 their support only at a restricted spot, re- 

 tain from end to end a regular convexity, 

 suggesting the tiny pots of a miniature set 

 of crockery. If any one deserves the 

 epithet of spirifex, or turner, it is the 

 Agenia rather than the Pelopaeus. No other 

 manipulator of potter's clay possesses her 

 dexterity. 



The pots of A. punctum are shaped like 

 oval jars, each smaller than a cherry-stone. 

 Those of A. hyalipennis affect a conoid 

 form, narrow at the base and wider at the 

 mouth, like the primitive drinking-cup, the 

 cyathus of the ancients. Both have a pol- 

 ished interior and a very much granulated 

 exterior, the maker allowing the little 

 mouthful of mortar which she has brought 

 to project outside, without seeking to level 

 it, as she does so carefully upon the inner 

 wall. These granulations are the equiva- 

 lent of the slanting fillets left by the Pelo- 

 paeus. No rough-cast, no plaster is applied 

 to conceal the pretty bit of earthenware; no 

 reinforcement of casing is added. Such as it 

 was when the potter moulded the neck, such 

 85 



