170 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
ANCIENT PERUVIAN POTTERY 
[From the Pottery Gazette.] 
There was dispersed under the auctioneer's hammer, a 
short time since, a very valuable and interesting collection of 
ancient Peruvian pottery, acquired by Sir Spenser St. John, 
formerly her Majesty's Minister in Peru, of which the following 
are among the more noteworthy items: — A tigress suckling its 
young, the four little ones lying in parallel lines. The canopy 
over it, surmounted by a human head, is also very curious. 
Its place of origin is unknown, but it is understood to have 
come from the Temple of the Sun, near Trujillo. Some rep- 
resent people in a diseased state, and one with a hare-lip, 
while others represent hunters carrying home their game. No. 
97 is supposed to represent the Buddhist Trinity, though how 
Buddhist ideas reached South America is, perhaps, difficult 
to explain, though many hold that both Chinese and Japanese 
swarmed into America during the dark ages. There is every 
variety and form to be found among these ancient vases and 
water-bottles, no two being exactly alike. The Indians en- 
deavoured to represent the human form as well as every 
variety of animal, fish, and fruit, while some of the human 
faces are very remarkable. There are also double bottles 
with heads of animals or men; when you blow into one hole, 
the other emits a sound supposed to resemble the cry of a 
bird or animal, or the human voice. The use of the vases and 
bottles was that the latter should contain liquors, and the 
former Indian corn or maize, for the use of the spirit in his 
journey to the other world. In some of the vases the maize 
still remains in good condition. The collection which was 
offered for sale in September last, was commenced by Mr. 
Gibbs, the American Minister in Lima, who sold it, when it 
amounted to 176 pieces, to Sir Spencer St. John, who added 
thereto, till the number is now over 400. 
The collection is unique, and it is the first time such a 
representative lot of ancient Peruvian pottery has been 
offered to the public. 
FINE COLLECTIONS ON EXHIBITION IN FIELD 
COLUMBIAN MUSEUM 
[From Chicago News.] 
After having lain undisturbed for 350 years in the Indian 
ruins and tombs of northern Arizona, over 5,000 pieces of pot- 
tery have been exhumed, and now, arranged neatly in sombre 
black cases, are on exhibition in the Halls of the Field Colum- 
bian Museum, making one of the finest collections of pot- 
tery in existence to-day. 
The display comprises two collections, both obtained for 
the museum through the generosity of Stanley McCormick. 
One was collected by the McCormick expedition, which spent 
six months among the ruins last summer; the other was pur- 
chased by Mr. McCormick from Sheriff Wattron, of Hol- 
brook, Ariz. The ruins represented are Sikyatki, Homolobi, 
San Cosmos, Round Valley, Mesa Rodonda, Huawikua, 
Chevealon, Chevos Pass, Bitto-Ho-Chee and others within a 
radius of forty miles of the head of the Little Colorado River. 
Those from the first four named ruins contain some of the 
rarest specimens ever collected. 
From Homolobi came rare vases decorated in black and 
red. In the Sikyatki group may be seen some of the most 
highly conventionalized forms of decorations. Among these 
are the horned toad, the bird design, the dragon shape, and 
the human body, or the Kutcina, which was the name of the 
deity. 
Two bird jars in the group are unique in that they are 
not only highly decorated, but are in the shape of a bird. 
Another remarkable piece is a small ladle, which has a handle 
in the form of a cradle and inside the cradle is a tiny repre- 
sentation of a baby. The cradle is said to be a true represen- 
tation of those used by the Walpi tribe before the advent of 
the Spaniards, about 1540. 
Some of these specimens represent the highest develop- 
ment to which the production of pottery has ever been 
brought," said C. L. Owen, who was in charge of the McCor- 
mick expedition of 1900. They were all made by hand, with 
only the rudest tools, and yet modern methods fail to produce 
their equal, either in composition or decoration. 
Indian motifs for decoration are very effective and inter- 
esting. Keramists have here a source of inspiration truly 
American and as yet little exploited. The Rookwood people 
have done some, fine things in. this line, not confining them- 
selves to the simple, almost monochromatic colorings of old 
Indian pottery, but keeping to the general characteristics of 
Indian coloring, both ancient and modern. We recommend 
this field of design to all decorators. The medallion designs 
in black and white are suggestions for belt buckles by one of 
our contributors, Miss Gibson, of New York. — Ed. 
DESIGNS FOR UMBRELLA HANDLES, BELT BUCKLES, ETC.— MARY GIBSON 
These designs are adapted from old Indian pottery and are to be carried out in three colors, deep cream, a dark red and black. 
