278 



POTTERY OF THE ANCIENT PUEBLOS. 



we arrive at the use of the long, even rope or fillet. The imbrication or 

 overlapping of the coil practiced by the Pueblos may have originated 

 in the effort to secure a more stable union of the parts which had to be 

 welded together by pressure. It would also almost necessarily arise 

 from the attempt to lay the coil upon or within a mold or support. There 

 is a possibility that it may have been suggested by features of construc- 

 tion observed in other arts — the overlapping parts of a roof, of a plate 

 or scale garment, or of a coiled basket. The latter is especially sug- 

 gestive, since we must generally look for the origin of features of the 

 ceramic art in the features of closely associated arts. 



The Coil in Ornamentation. — Ordinarily the coil has not been ex- 

 pected to contribute to the beauty of the vessel, but the Pueblo tribes 

 made it a prominent feature in decoration. The primitive potter as he 

 laid his rude coils noticed that the ridges thus produced served to en- 

 hance the appearance of the vessel. He also observed that the series 

 of indentations left on the outer surface of the fillet in pressing it down 

 gave a pleasing effect, and made use of the suggestion. Improving 

 upon the accidents of manufacture, he worked out a variety of decora- 

 tive devices. 



In some cases the coiled ridges are confined to particular parts of the 

 vessel, the other parts having been worked down or originally con- 

 structed by plain modeling. Numerous examples have the body quite 

 plain, the collar alone retaining the spiral ridges of the coil. Fig. 251 

 illustrates a very good example of this peculiarity. 



*@k 



Fir.. 220.— Coiled and plain surface. 



S.TtiOII 



The fragment shown in Fig. 220 is from the neck of a pot-shaped 

 vase. The surface has been plain below and the fillets of the upper part 

 have been pressed down evenly with the thumb, leaving the extreme 

 edge of the overlapping band in sharp relief, as shown more clearly in 

 the section. 



