166 



A STUDY OF CHIRIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



mouth is hidden beneath the overhanging nose and the chin is wanting. This 

 type of profile is repeated over and over again. 



The hair, represented by black stripes, reaches to the shoulders. This character 

 together with the sitting posture and spreading legs is common to all the 

 female figurines. The base in each of these is pierced by three holes or slits that 

 communicate with the hollow interior of both legs and body. These seated 

 figurines may all be images of one and the same mother goddess. They 

 have their counterpart not only in Isis and Horus, but also in Bachue and 



her son of the Chibchas ; in the Mexican 

 Goddess of Flowers, Xochiquetzal, with 

 Macuilxochitl-Xochipilli on her arm; and in 

 Ciuacouatl of the Valley of Mexico. 



A similar statuette is shown in figure 266, 

 evidently the same mythical character with- 

 out the infant. Both hands rest on the 

 thighs, the fingers being indicated by black 

 lines. The usual conelike termination of 

 tlie legs is here recurved to represent feet. 

 In addition to the neck perforation, there 

 is another marking the external auditory 

 opening. 



In the case of figure 267 a, it would be 

 difficult to determine which sex is intended. 

 The image holds in its hands a shallow 

 bowl, which is also securely attached to 

 it at three points, the abdomen and the 

 knees. The painted decoration is an im- 

 portant feature; representations of the alli- 

 gator in black cover both arms and fill a 

 panel that extends the length of the two 

 legs from ankle to ankle, passing across 

 the rump. Of the alligators that can not 

 be seen in the general view, three are 

 selected as samples. The one with a 

 double head (fig. 2675) is from the right 

 arm. The artist has contrived to show both 



nuchal appendages, but the feet of only one alligator. In the figure (267 d) 

 at the end of the panel, a different technique is employed. Here it is the field left 

 unpainted that makes up the figure of the alligator; in other words, with the 

 single exception of the eye, the black determines the form represented without 

 being a part of it. It is the double-headed form of the alligator and evinces a 

 high degree of imaginative skill, the head on the right being inverted. Two such 

 seated figurines holding bowls are in the collection of Dr. W. J. Lamson of 

 Summit, N. J. They also belong to the alligator group, but are not ornamented 

 with figures of that animal. 



In figure 268, is shown what appears to be a human form seated on a stool or 



Fig. 267; a. Seated human image holding a shallow 

 bowl. Alligator ware. '/ ; b. Detail of double- 

 headed alligator decorating the right arm ; c, 

 d. Detail of one end of the panel decorating 

 the legs. '/' 



