76 A STUDY OF CIIIR1QUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



decorative motive is to be expressed. The motive derived from the dorsal view 

 of the alligator, for example, is employed extensively in both the alligator and 

 the lost color groups and likewise occurs in the white line group; but the artist's 

 expression of it is always consistent with the class in which he is working, and 

 it thus becomes not only a distinguishing badge but also one of kinship. The 

 same thing may be said for the motive derived from the profile view of the alli- 

 gator, its particular guise depending on whether it is intended for the polychrome 

 or the alligator ware. 



The various groups of painted ware differ among themselves, also, in respect 

 to the quality of the paste, the prevailing vase forms, the nature of the slip or 

 the ground color, the method of producing the designs and the number and kind 

 of colors thus employed. In groups with but a single ground color and no delineating 

 color, there is usually a supplementary incised or plastic ornamentation. The handled 

 ware owes its identity to the absence of legs and the form of lip and handles rather 

 than to the presence of a paint that is also employed on tripods of the fish group. 



Various shades of pale yellow and of red were the prevailing ground tints. 

 While the ground is generally uniform for a given vessel, in the lost color group 

 it often consists of two colors, the neck and bottom being red and the shoulder 

 a pale orange. The delineating colors include various shades of red, two kinds 

 of black, a white and a dull purple, the last two being particularly rare colors. 

 Red occurs in at least three hues and is always a permanent color, serving as a 

 ground and also as a delineating color. Black of two kinds was freely employed 

 both as a ground and as a delineating color, the latter permanent, the former 

 thin and fugitive. The rare and permanent purple probably comes from a non- 

 ferruginous metallic oxide. The ancient potters of Chiriqui were masters of the 

 brush in three distinct methods of painting: (1) The usual method of producing 

 a figure or pattern was by the direct application of one or more delineating 

 colors — red, black, white, and in one variety of ware, an additional color, purple. 

 The red and purple were frequently employed as mass colors outlined in black ; 

 (2) The lost color process was confined to a single large group. It consisted of 

 tracing the design in wax over the ground color, the application of a solid coat 

 of black over the area to be ornamented, and immersing the vessel in hot water 

 which melted the wax, removing with it the black from the design and thus 

 leaving the latter in the color of the original ground ; (3) Sparing the figure out 

 of the ground was seldom employed, occurring only in the alligator and the 

 kindred polychrome ware. The few examples of this technique evince much skill 

 and ingenuity. 



THE HANDLED GROUP OF PAINTED WARE. 



This is called the handled group by Holmes, and yet in the Yale collection 

 thirty out of the three hundred and ninety vessels belonging to it have no handles. 

 While all bear paint marks, the surface is never completely covered with paint. 

 With an ample brush, red paint is applied, usually in horizontal encircling bands, 

 from which two or three loops or triangles rise to the neck on each side of the 

 paired handles ; or the paint may be put on in a series of daubs or short streaks. 

 In rare instances it completely covers the exterior up to the level of the collar 



