420 



ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



not impossible that tbis scroll work is a highly conventionalized form 

 of some such conception. The four volute centers are slightly concave. 

 Three excellent examples of tripod bottles are illustrated iu the ac- 

 companying figures. The first, Fig. Ml, is a large-necked, rather clumsy 

 vessel of ordinary workmanship, which rests upon three globular legs. 



Fig. 441.— Tripod uottle: Arkansas.)?)— J. 



These are hollow and the cavities connect with that of the body of the 

 vessel. The whole surface is well polished and very dark. 



The vessel depicted in Fig. 442 has a number of noteworthy features. 

 In shape, it resembles the preceding with the exception of the legs, which 

 are flat and have stepped or terraced margins. The whole surface of the 

 vessel is decorated with characteristic designs in red and white upon a 

 warm gray ground. A stepped figure, resembling the Pueblo emblem 

 atic "rim of the sky," encircles the neck, and semicircular figures in white 

 appear on opposite sides at the top and base. The body is covered with 

 scroll work in broad red lines, the spaces being filled in with white in 

 the form of a thick earthy paste. Each of the legs has one-half red 

 and the other white. 



The vessel illustrated in Fig. 443 is of ordinary, dark, polished ware, 

 and is entirely plain. It is peculiar in the shape of its extremities. 

 The neck resembles a long truncated cone, and the legs are heavy and 

 conical, being not unlike those of a common iron pot. 



Eccentric forms. — In this place I am able to give but one example of 

 what I have denominated eccentric forms. Others have been indicated 



