‘ofc Et) i. 
Rae 
454 The Ancient Pottery of Colorado, ete. [ August, 
not the slightest indication that this method had been followed ; 
some of the vessels, however, may have been molded over gourds, 
which will account for their symmetrical appearance, especially 
on the interior. 
The figures of ornamentation in the glazed ware are usually 
geometrical combinations of straight and curved lines, or fanciful 
designs, which, in some cases, exhibit a great degree of profi- 
ciency in the art. From the first rude attempts of the beginner, 
in which the end of the finger has simply been dipped into the 
pigment and pressed in places on the object, to the finished 
patterns of the “ walls of Troy,” or even more intricate designs, 
we can trace a gradual but steady advancement. It has been 
said that few or no representations of animals are to be found 
through this ancient pottery. In Eastern Utah, however, near a 
stream called Epsom Creek, a northern tributary arroyo of the 
San Juan, one of our party picked up a fragment of ancient 
pottery having on its convex surface a painted representation of 
an animal,! which was most probably intended for an elk. (Fig- 
ure 21, Plate X.) This is reduced to one third of the original. 
Such specimens of ancient production are exceedingly rare, al- 
though the modern ware of the Moquis, Zuñis, and Pueblos is 
profusely decorated with such pictures. One of the most notice- 
able facts in connection with these ancient clay utensils is to be 
observed in the manner of ornamentation ; for in some fragments 
we observe the painted figures on one side only, and in others on 
both. I have observed that in those pieces of vessels which, 
from the general contour or curve, are seen to have originally 
been such as possess a small neck or mouth, as a jug or jal, 
whose exterior surface alone would be exposed to view, the 
painted designs are worked only upon the convex side ; on the 
other hand, those vessels which originally were open and shallow, 
as a bowl or dipper, were ornamented on the concave surface, 
as the under side would not be exposed. Again, it is noticeable 
that those vessels, such as vases and pots, whose sides, 
entire, would have been upright, but whose mout 
been broad and open, exposing equally the interior and exterior 
surfaces, were invariably painted on both sides. 
In many pieces which lie scattered over the desert (perhaps 
when 
hs would have 3 
