382 OBNAMElsTTATION OF PUEBLO POTTEBY. 



thin wash of clay,' containing a large proportion of the ochre, was applied 

 before baking, which resulted in a deep red color, and in these the black 

 ornamental lines were burnt in with the ochre-clay wash. The same method 

 is probably followed by the present pueblo tribes, but as their pottery is not 

 so well baked the colors are not as permanent, and the vessels made are 

 generally far inferior in construction, as they are thicker and more porous 

 than the ancient specimens. 



Among the many fragments of ancient pottery that I have examined 

 from the region named above, I have not seen a piece in which more than 

 a single color was employed in its ornamentation. With very few excep- 

 tions, in which the ornamental lines are. of a brownish color with a metallic 

 lustre, the pattern consists of black lines and figures on either the red or 

 the gray ground-color. In the modern vessels from the pueblos on the Rio 

 Grande, the prevailing colors are white and black over a red clay. In 

 some, however, the black figures are painted directly upon the red or pri- 

 mary, color of the vessel. 



It is a little remarkable that, both among the ancient and present 

 pueblo tribes, the ornamentation on the vessels of clay should be so con- 

 fined to figures expressed in color. I do not remember having seen a 

 specimen of this class of smooth red or gray pottery on which incised work 

 appears, and I may further remark that, so far as my examination has 

 extended, I have seen, on pottery of this character, only expressions of geo- 

 metrical figures. On the recent pueblo pottery there is now and then an 

 attempt to represent natural forms, such as leaves, birds, and deer, but 

 this realistic ornamentation is poorly executed, so far as I can judge from 

 the limited material at my command. It is also worthy of remark that 

 while the present pueblo tribes, particularly the Zuni, often model vessels 

 and other objects in clay, to represent men, birds, and other natural forms, 

 so far as my knowledge extends only a single fragment of such a form 

 has been found under circumstances indicating antiquity. This single 

 exception consists of a portion of a small vessel which was made to 

 represent some quadruped. It was presented to the Peabody Museum 

 by Prof. N. S. Shaler, and is marked as having been found on the Rio 

 Gila, in New Mexico. The gray clay of which it is made and the char- 



