332 COLLECTIONS OF 1879. 



figures and plates of this catalogue all the original conceptions of the 

 artists of the Pueblo Indians as depicted by them. 



While it is of value in the study of ethnology, and as affording a 

 means of comparison in the study of archreology, there is nothing in the 

 composition or ornamentation, or in the form of the vessels, that ceramic 

 artists of the ci\ilized races would desire to copy. 



As a means of reference in the study of ancient American pottery, I 

 consider the collection invaluable, as it can scarcely be possible that 

 the forms and decorations contain nothing that has been handed down 

 from a former age. Although the figures used have no symbolic char- 

 acters connected with them In the mind of the modern ai'tist, yet it is 

 more than probable that at least some of them did have such a meaning 

 to the ancient artists. For example, the little tadpole-shaped figure 

 on the clay baskets used in their dances and sacred ceremonies by the 

 Zuiiians is understood by them to represent a little water articulate, 

 which, as heretofore stated, is probably the larva of some insect or 

 crustacean, very common in the pools and sluggish streams of the 

 country inhabited by these Indians. Now, it is possible that this 

 figure has been used with the same meaning from time immemorial, 

 but I find, as pointed out to me by Prof. Cyi'us Thomas, that almost 

 exactly the same figure is on a vessel pictured on Plate VII of the man- 

 uscript Troano, where a religious ceremony of some kind is evidently 

 represented. The same figure is also found in Landa's character for 

 the Maya day Gib, a word signifying copal, a gum or resin formerly 

 used in religious ceremonies as incense. I find also on Plate XXXV of 

 the same manusciipt the figures of bowls or pots with legs similar to 

 those of the Zuui. I do not point out these resemblances as proof of any 

 relation between the two races, but as mere illustrations of what possibly 

 may be learned by a careful study of the forms and decorations of this 

 pottery. It may also be well to add here another fact to which Professor 

 Thomas calls my attention, viz., the similarity between the manner of 

 wearing the hair by the Shinumo women, i. e., in knots at the side, as rep- 

 resented by the female images, and that of the ancient Maya women, as 

 shown in numerous figures on the manuscript Troano. Any one familiar 

 with General Cesnola's collection from Cyprus cannot fail to be reminded 

 of it when he examines this collection of Indian pottery; especially the 

 colors used and the general character of the specimens ; but an inspec- 

 tion of the two collections is necessary in order to have this general re- 

 semblance brought to mind, as it does not appear so distinctly on a 

 comparison of the published figures only. The figures on Plata XLIV 

 of his " Cyprus" bear quite a striking resemblance to those on some 

 specimens of Cochiti ware. The quadruple cup, Fig. 25, page 406, is 

 almost exactly like the ZuDi quadruple cups, and was probably used 

 for the same purpose. The same type of multiple cups is also shown 

 in Plate IX of the same work. The two tea-pot like vessels repre- 

 sented on Plate VIII, as well as the two bird-shaped pieces on the same 



