64 A STUDY OF CHIRIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



A study of the foregoing illustrations will bring out the interesting fact that 

 where either the neck or the collar is decorated there is always a flange or lip 

 at the mouth opening. On the other hand, where the neck (or collar) is unadorned 

 there is almost never a flange (see PI. X). The latter seems to be a necessary 

 accompaniment of the ornamented neck or collar to satisfy the sense not only 

 of protection for the ornament but also of appropriateness in outline. 



Reference has been made to tripods with features peculiar to vases, viz., shoulder 

 ornaments consisting either of the armadillo head (see fig. 83) or of the entire 

 animal. Examples of the latter are given in figure / (see also fig. 65). In one 

 instance the nose and tail are long and slender; in the other, owing to the 

 exposed position of the head, the nose is almost eliminated to avoid breaking. 



It has been shown how the simple tripod support may be transformed into the 

 armadillo, conventional as well as realistic ; also how the armadillo, as a whole 

 or in part, was used as a shoulder ornament, and the tail-, foot-, eye- and carapace- 

 symbols, as ornamental motives for the necks of the handles of vases. 



The handles of the armadillo group are always placed vertically, and are usually 

 paired, connecting the lip with the shoulder. Of single handle there are two 

 types; (1) connecting the lip with the shoulder, as in the paired handles, and 

 (2) the handle starting from opposite points on the lip and forming an arch over 

 the mouth opening. 



These handles are generally ornamented, as illustrated in Plate XIII. The paired 

 handles shown in figure a are not only adorned with three horizontally applied 

 incised fillets representing the three sections of the armadillo carapace, but are 

 also surmounted each by a pair of ears to heighten the zoomorphic effect. Those 

 in figure b are entirely covered with carapace motives, leaving no doubt as to 

 the significance of the decoration. Along the zone of union between the pro- 

 longed lip and the ascending ramus of the handles in figure c, nodes and fillets 

 are applied representing the ears, feet and carapace of the armadillo. One has 

 but to refer back to figure a (PL XI) in order to arrive at the artist's point of 

 view, namely, that the handles illustrated in figures a to e are, to all intents and 

 purposes, armadillos facing each other and peeping into the mouth of the vase. 

 The armadillo motive in figure d is similar to that in figure c, except that it is 

 much more simplified. 



Instead of applied incised fillets, the handle itself may be simply incised to 

 represent the armadillo carapace, as in figure e. From the horizontally applied 

 fillets and the horizontally incised handles, it is but a step to fillets and incisions 

 running obliquely ; and a second step to the twisted handle so common in the 

 tripod group, so-called, as will be seen by comparing figures b and e with sub- 

 sequent illustrations (see fig. 125). In figure 145, the eyes are actually represented, 

 so that the twisted handle evidently means a life form, probably the armadillo. 



An example of one type of single handle is given in figure /. A well-developed 

 flange protects the applied tail- and eye-symbols about the neck of the vase, 

 illustrating again the sense of protection for the decorations in relief and of ap- 

 propriateness in outline. On the crest of the handle, three eye ornaments in a 

 row occupy a field bounded on two sides by carapace motives. 



The armadillo motive in figure 93 is limited to a pair of incised fillets applied 



