THE LOST COLOR GROUP. 105 



The secret was unknown to Holmes when he so aptly named the group. He 

 supposed that " the actual patterns, so varied and interesting, were worked out 

 in a pigment or fluid now totally lost, but which has left traces of its former 

 existence through its effect upon the ground colors. In beginning the decoration, 

 a thin black color, probably of vegetal character, was carried over the area to. be 

 treated, and upon this the figures were traced in the lost color. When this color 

 (if it was indeed a pigment, and not merely an acid or 'taking out' medium) 

 disappeared, it carried with it the black tint beneath, exposing the light gray and 

 red tints of the ground and leaving the interstices in black. The interstitial 

 figures thus formed are often of such a character as to be taken for the true 

 design. In examining the decoration of this ware, it is essential that this fact 

 should be kept in mind, as otherwise great confusion will result." 



Holmes declared that the nature of the materials employed could not be de- 

 termined. The foregoing quotation is given to show what a really good guess 

 Holmes made. His errors were only two. The black was not applied before the 

 ' taking out ' medium, and his so-called ' taking out ' medium was neither a pigment 

 nor an acid. 



While on an expedition to Central America in 1896 and 1897, Professor C. V. 

 Hartman l visited the Aztec village of Izalco, Salvador. There he was able to 

 observe a method of ornamenting calabash vessels by means of what has been 

 called ' negative painting." The work is done by women only. The shell is 

 opened with a knife and the seeds and soft interior removed. The skin is taken 

 off by means of a bivalve (Area) shell. When sufficiently dry, the outer surface 

 is decorated in the following manner : The designs are traced with a small paint 

 brush, the medium being beeswax blackened by smoke and kept in a fluid con- 

 dition by heating in a clay vessel over a charcoal fire. The second step begins 

 with the preparation of a black adhesive solution, consisting of sugar or honey, 

 powdered charcoal and the pod of a leguminous plant (Papilionaceae). The mix- 

 ture is placed in a large earthen vessel and allowed to boil over a fire. Its 

 adhesiveness comes from the sugar, its color from the charcoal, and the pulverized 

 pods give the varnish-like finish. The solution is rubbed on the outer surface of 

 the calabash vessel with a rag and left to dry. The vessel is finally immersed in 

 a bath of hot water, which melts the wax and removes with it the color from the 

 waxed portions, leaving the pattern in the color of the original ground. The hot 

 water does not injure in the slightest the black that remains ; so that instead of 

 a white vessel with dark ornamentation there results a black surface with designs 

 in white. 2 



What explanation could be more simple, effective and plausible? The so-called 

 'taking out' medium used by the ancient Chiriquian was therefore evidently wax, 

 and it was applied before instead of after the coating of black, portions of which 



1 Die Baumkalabasse im tropischen Amerika. Boas anniversary volume, 1906. New era 

 printing company, Lancaster, Pa. 



* Professor Pittier, who quite recently visited Salvador and bought various calabash 

 vessels at Izalco, states that the ancient negative method of decorating is no longer practised 

 there. (Note to Professor Hartman.) 



MEMOIRS CONN. ACAD., Vol. III. 14 



