HOLMES.I HANDLED GROUP OF WARE. 91 



They are obtained from a pretty wide district to the north and west 

 of David and occur in connection witli other groups. They are nota- 

 ble for uniformity in size, shape, and finisli and for the unmistaka- 

 ble evidences of use over fire which at least three-fourths of them 

 show. With the exception of a few large caldrons, not yet assigned 

 to a particular group, the,f are more like ordinary cooking vessels 

 than any other group of Chiriquian ware. The size, however, is re- 

 markably small, the average capacity being about a pint. Larger 

 pieces contain a quart or three pints. 



The body is usually much compressed vertically and is fiattish 

 above and more or less conical below, giving a very graceful contour. 

 The surface is rather rudely polished and the painting is done with 

 notable carelessness, as if the intended use were not favorable to the 

 preservation of the ornament. By means of a heavy brush, red 

 figures, consisting of splotches, stripes, arches, and encircling bands, 

 were applied to the yellowish gray surface and sometimes, as indi. 

 cated by a smeared appearance, were polished down with an imple- 

 ment. It does not seem that a slip of ordinary white clay was very 

 generally used. In a few cases a grayish blue tint appears upcjn 

 some of the wider spaces. 



The handles are perhaps the most notable feature of this ware, and 

 usually occur two to a vessel; rarely there is biit one handle and in a 

 few cases there are four. This group may be separated into at least 

 fnur srctidiis b\ till ^1\1( s of handles Ve&selsof the two nini-i- impor- 

 tant srdi 11^ lii\t tw h mdles each, ■whuh aie placrd \ otirally in 

 (lue varii t> lud lidU/dut dl> m the othei, leteience l)eing had in the 

 position oi the points ot attachment These differences of position 

 have given use to a maiked diffeience m the shape of the orifice and 



^t^^J 



Fin. 128. Vase with houz(jntall> pUml haiidksaiid nule designs in rod — J. 



of the lip. The handle is a simple loop, which in the one variety is placed 

 as seen in Fig. 138 and in the other as in Fig. 132. In the latter 

 case one end of the loop is fixed to the shoulder and the other end 



