14(5 ANCIENT ART OF THE PROVINCE OF CHIRI^UI. 



by De Zeltner and illustrated by pliotograjilis accdinjiaiiying his 

 pamphlet. They are now, I believe, in the ]in--, ,-,si.iii of Prof. 0. C. 

 Marsh. The sketches given herewith are copii^d tVdiii De Zeltner's 

 photographs and are probably somewhat defective in details of draw- 

 ing. The piece illustrated in Fig. 213 is not described by the author, 

 but is evidently a handsome vessel and is decorated in a very simple 

 manner. A band of devices symbolizing the body of an animal en- 

 circles the middle portion of the vase. The height is about a foot. 



Fig. 214. Va.'Je with pxti-aordinary decorative designs. From Dp Zeltner— about }. 



A second piece (Fig. 314), of which two views are given by the 

 same author, corresponds closely in many respects with the vase illus- 

 trated in Fig. 311 and is described in the following language: 



My collection includes a cup (or chalice) of baked clay 35 centimeters in diameter, 

 mounted on a hollow stand wh'ch gives it a height of 18 centimeters, and the de- 

 signs of which are very rich and in perfect taste. The base is hollow and colored 

 red, white, black, and purple ; it has fom- narrow openings or slits, and the design 

 represents plaits spirally arranged. The under side of tlie cup is divided into four 

 compartments, each of which incloses a dragon painted in black and red on a white 

 ground ; the borders are sometimes red, sometimes puri^le. The body of the dragon 

 might have been painted in China, so neat and intricate is the drawing. 



The design upon the inside of the cup seems to resemble Egyptian art. The body 

 of a man is seen, painted in red, the arms and legs separated, and the shoulders 

 bearing the head of the dragon with teeth and crest. The color is similar to the 

 rest of the piece — purple, white, and black. The intermediate spaces are filled 

 with very int' icate designs. 



This extraordinary design is shown in Fig. 215, and it will be seen 

 that it agrees in many respects with figures presented in the lost 

 color and alligator groups. It is compound in character, however. 

 the head referring to the alligator, the body and extremities perhaps 

 to a man or to a monkey. The suggestion of the oriental dragon in 

 this, as in other examples, is at once ajiparent, and the resemblance 

 to certain conventional forms that come down to us from the earliest 



