128 



ANCIKNT ART 



tnVINCE OF CHIRIQUl 



and other nienilters of the hody upon otlier sides, two lieads, or two 

 complete creatures, are placed opposite each other. 



I present next (Fig. 191) a piece in which there is no recognizable 

 relationship between the painted and the plastic features. It is a 

 small tripod cup with upright walls, upon which two characteristic 

 Chiriquian human figures, male and female, are fixed. The painted 

 figures upon the sides of the vessel are geometric, but refer possibly 

 to some character or attribute of the modeled figures or are the sur- 

 vivals iif fiiiiu-fs bi'longiiii;- lo vessels of this shape or style before the 

 life forms wi'ic .issocia.ti-d with them. The legs, however, so far as 

 can be ilctiTiiiiiicd. art^ not ri'la-ted to the human motive, as tliey are 

 modeled and painted to imitate the heads of alligators. 



I shall now present a few shallow bowls or pans uKtunted ujjon 

 tripods. They vary in dimensions from a few inches in iliameter to 

 a foot or more and are strongly made, symmetiically formed, and 

 neatly finished. The polished surfaces are mainly red. The designs 

 were executed in the usual way in the lost color, upon a black ground, 

 and are confined chiefly to the exterior surface. The alligator is the 

 favorite motive, and in a number of cases is qiiite graphically, al- 

 though still conventionally, rendered. As in the preceding examples, 

 the animal heads represented in the legs do not always correspond 

 to the creatures eml)n'lii d in the jiaintcd decoration. 



In Fig. 192 we lia\ t i k pH st nl iti\c cKamjileof moderate size and 

 ordinary finish. Thi di i <ii i+i d b md is di\ ided into panels, three of 

 which are long and i cntain h<;uus,il thi a!lii;ator. The other three 



of thealliBator — J. 



are short and ai-e fillc(| with rcjin-ciitional devices, related perhaps to 

 that animal. The Ic-s aiv a]iiiaiviiily intended to resemble the heads 

 of alligators. A large i)ieci'. nearly t welve inches in diameter, is very 

 similar in shape and decoration, but tlie legs resemble puma heads. 



