452 FORM AND ORNAMENT IN CEKAMIC ART. 



b, there is a decided change; we are struck by the resemblance to a 

 frog or toad. The original legs, having dark concentric lines painted 

 around them, look like large protruding eyes, and the mouth gapes in the 

 most realistic manner, while the two short broken ends of the handle 

 resemble legs and serve to support the vessel in an upright position, 

 completing the illusion. The fetich-hunting Pueblo Indian, picking 

 up this little vessel in its mutilated condition, would probably at once 

 give to it the sacred character of the water animal which it resembles, 

 and it might readily transmit its peculiarities of form to other genera- 

 tions of vessels. 



It is not necessary in this study to refer at length to the influence of 

 metallic vessels upon ceramic forms. They do not usually appear until 

 the ceramic art is far advanced and often receive a heritage of shape 

 from earthen forms. Afterwards, when the inherent qualities of the 

 metal have stamped their individuality upon utensils, the debt is paid 

 back to clay with interest, as will be seen by reference to later forms in 

 many parts of the world. 



MODIFICATION BY INTENTION. 



To enhance usefulness. — There can be no doubt that the desire upon 

 the part of the archaic potter to increase the usefulness and convenience 

 of his utensils has been an important agent in the modification of form. 

 The earliest vessels employed were often clumsy and difficult to handle. 

 The favorite conch shell would hold water for him who wished to drink, 

 but the breaking away of spines and the extraction of the interior whorl 

 improved it immeasurably. The clumsy mortar of stone, with its thick 

 walls and great weight, served a useful purpose, but it needed a very 

 little intelligent thought to show that thin walls and neatly-trimmed 

 margins were much preferable. 



Vessels of clay, aside from the forms imposed upon them by their 

 antecedents and associates," would necessarily be subject to changes sug- 

 gested by the growing needs of man. These would be worked out with 

 ever-increasing ease by his unfolding genius for invention. Further 

 investigation of this phase of development would carry me beyond the 

 limits set for this paper. 



To please fancy. — The skill acquired by the handling of clay in con- 

 structing vessels and in efforts to increase their usefulness would open 

 an expansive field for the play of fancy. The potter would no sooner 

 succeed in copying vessels having life form than he would be placed 

 in a position to realize his capacity to imitate forms not peculiar to ves- 

 sels. His ambition would in time lead him even beyond the limits of 

 nature and he would invade the realm of imagination, embodying the 

 conceptions of superstition in the plastic clay. This tendency would 

 be encouraged and perpetuated by the relegation of vessels of particular 

 forms to particular ceremonies. 



