112 A STUDY OF CH1RIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



These bands are repeated in groups of two ; triangular spaces alternating with 

 each group. This recalls the prevailing motive in the serpent ware. In figure e 

 a similar serpent motive is also seen decorating the arched panels as well as the 

 alternating fields. 



The cream zone in figure / does not reach quite to the neck. Above and 

 below this ornamented zone the ground is red. A single vertical handle unites 

 rim and shoulder. Meeting the latter at a point within the light area, it is also 

 light instead of red. Of the four panels formed by series of vertical lines, two 

 are narrow and two wide. The decorative motive for the latter is in the shape 

 of a labret or spool. It is distributed in such a way as to make both horizontal 

 and vertical rows. There is a certain system in the irregularity of the everywhere 

 connecting black interstices, that causes the eye to be fixed upon them rather 

 than upon the rows of labret-shaped figures forming the real design. The figure 

 in the upper left-hand corner of one of the panels is just half the size of the 

 others, the space left over when finishing the decoration being too small to 

 accommodate one of the regular size, and too large to be left unbroken. A like 

 attempt to utilize the left-over space occurs on the opposite panel, where half the 

 motive is employed instead of a whole one reduced in size (see also fig. 196). The 

 spool or labret ornament is found on other vases, sometimes being the center 

 toward which radiating bands converge (see fig. 195). 



Thus far the oft-recurring framework of bands, peripheral as well as tangent 

 to the neck on either side, has been in the color of the original through which 

 they pass. Where the whole ground was red these bands were red also (Pis. XXVII 

 and XXVIII), and where the upper half was light the bands cutting it tangent to 

 the neck were light (PL XXX). In Plate XLII (fig. a) all the original ground is 

 red with the exception of the peripheral band and those tangent to the neck, 

 which are white. They were painted on first; then the bottom and the upper 

 panels were colored red ; finally came the waxing process and the coat of black, 

 which was eventually removed from the design by melting the wax. This specimen 

 is from Divala, and is not only beautifully modeled and painted but also one of 

 the best preserved of the entire group. 



The outline is softly angular, due to the sloping shoulders and slightly pointed 

 bottom. The equatorial band cuts the body into two almost identical halves, the 

 upper being surmounted by a narrow neck and projecting but well-formed lip. 

 The framework of bands is a thick white paste that has received a high polish. 

 The red field encroaches somewhat on the margins of the bands, and the black, 

 the last to be applied, narrows them still more. The lower half of the vessel is 

 in two zones, the nether of red and the upper of black, with groups of narrow 

 longitudinal bands. The neck and lip are also banded. Of the four panels 

 surrounding the neck, the vertical ones are decorated with triangles. The design 

 on the arched panels, alike on both sides, may or may not be construed as a 

 life form. The diamond-shaped center may represent the body, and the six 

 appendages, the head, tail and legs. These are all composed of the same ele- 

 ments — a short straight band accompanied by two longer curving parallel bands. 

 The four short appendages are attached to the center of the four sides of the 

 square ; the two long ones, at opposite corners. The whole is a piece of decorative 



