James Stevenson

“ Quite a number of animal representations, made hollow for use as drinking vessels, were obtained, displaying grotesquely imitative forms of deer, elk, sheep, big-horn, antelope, and other animals with which they are familiar. All of these objects have more color laid on them than is to be found on the pottery of their neighbors of Acoma, the birds and animals being painted in a light rufous fawn color not in use elsewhere, and the only instance of the employment of green is on a tinaja of this pueblo used in coloring some foliage. ”

“ The pigments from which the paints are derived for decorative purposes are also found in the vicinity of the mesas, and are employed by the Indians in the production of two colors, each of which varies slightly according to the intensity of heat in the process of baking, or the manner in which it is applied. One varies from a black to a blackish-brown, the other from a light brick red to a dark dull red color. The material which produces these colors is generally found in a hard, stony condition, and is ground in a small stone mortar, just as we reduce India ink for use. ”

“ Although the figures used have no symbolic characters connected with them in the mind of the modern artist, yet it is more than probable that at least some of them did have such a meaning to the ancient artists. For example, the little tadpole-shaped figure on the clay baskets used in their dances and sacred ceremonies by the Zuñians is understood by them to represent a little water articulate, which, as heretofore stated, is probably the larva of some insect or crustacean, very common in the pools and sluggish streams of the country inhabited by these Indians. ”

“ Although the rigid, angular, zigzag, and geometric figures are yet found in their decorations, they have largely given way to carved lines, rounded figures, and attempts to represent natural objects.
A few apparently conventional figures are still generally retained, as around the outside of the necks of the vases and on the outer surface of the bowls, probably suggested originally by the rigid outlines of their arid country, and in fact by their buildings. The figure of the elk or deer is a very marked feature in the ornamentation of their white ware, and is often found under an arch. ”

“ Contemporaneous and somewhat closely related tribes may use widely different figures in the decoration of their ware, and hence it is unsafe, in studying ancient specimens, to draw hasty conclusions from slight differences in this respect; and I think I may also safely add that a comparatively short period of time, a century or so at most, may suffice to bring about a great change in the same tribe in the form and manner of decorating their pottery. ”

“ The method practiced by the Zuñians in baking pottery differs somewhat from that employed by the tribes who make quantities of black and red ware. It seems to be a necessity on the part of the Zuñians to observe the greatest care in this operation. Their pottery is nearly all decorated and must be baked free from contact with the peculiar fuel used for that purpose. During the baking process it sometimes happens that a piece of the fuel, which is composed of dried manure carefully built up oven-shaped around the vessels to be baked, falls against the vessel. ”

“ The cream-white pottery decorated in colors. This extensive group, which includes fully two-thirds of the entire collection, embraces almost every known form of earthenware manufactured by the tribes from whom it was obtained. The paste of which it is formed is similar in character to that of the black ware. When broken the fracture shows very distinctly the effect of burning, the interior being of the natural leaden color, shading off to a dull grayish white as it approaches the outer surface. The opaque or creamy-white color of the surface is produced by a coating of opaque whitewash. ”

“ While it is of value in the study of ethnology, and as affording a means of comparison in the study of archaeology, there is nothing in the composition or ornamentation, or in the form of the vessels, that ceramic artists of the civilized races would desire to copy.
As a means of reference in the study of ancient American pottery, I consider the collection invaluable, as it can scarcely be possible that the forms and decorations contain nothing that has been handed down from a former age. ”

“ Zuñi, although lying on the line of travel of military expeditions, emigrant trains, and trade between the Pacific coast and the Rio Grande, the foreigners visiting them have seldom remained long in their village; 322 nor has the advancing wave of Caucasian settlement approached sufficiently near to exert any marked influence on their manners and customs; at least the form and decoration of their pottery bear no marked evidence of the influence of the more highly civilized races. ”

“ Although the checkered figure is common on bowls, the Zuñi artists have appreciated the fact that it would be out of place on the convex surface of the water vase. The elks or deer—for it is difficult to tell which are intended—are usually marked with a circular or crescent-shaped spot, in white, on the rump, and a red diamond placed over the region of the heart, with a line of the same color extending from it to the mouth, both margined with white; the head of the animal is always toward the right. ”

“ They are therefore well adapted to the uses of village Indians, who remain permanently in a place and prosecute agricultural pursuits. They are generally of rectangular shape, and from 10 to 20 inches in length by 6 to 12 in width, and are composed of various kinds of rock, the harder, coarse-grained kinds being preferable, though in some instances sandstone is employed; the most desirable stone is porous lava. These stones are sometimes carried with families of the Pueblos moving short distances to the valleys of streams in which they have farms in cultivation. ”

“ The only colors used in decorating pottery are black, red, and some shade of brown. But of this we will speak more fully when we come to describe the peculiar methods practiced by the different tribes in making and adorning pottery.
Although there is a strong general similarity in this colored ornamentation, the great variety of details renders it difficult to classify the figures so as to convey a correct idea of them to the reader. We shall therefore have to refer him to the numerous cuts and the colored plates which have been introduced for the purpose of illustrating the catalogue. ”

“ The makers, who are always females, depend entirely on memory and skill derived from practice to accomplish their work. The vessels when completely formed are laid in some convenient place to sun-dry. A paint or solution is then made, either of a fine white calcareous earth, consisting mainly of carbonate of lime, or of a milk-white indurated clay, almost wholly insoluble in acids, and apparently derived from decomposed feldspar with a small proportion of mica. This solution is applied to 330 the surface of the vessel and allowed to dry; it is then ready for the decorations. ”

“ Red ware, with white lines on the lower globe and decorations in black on the upper, with orifice in each globe.
PITCHERS.
These are of the usual form, of such vessels, except that they are generally without the lip. It is possible that to a certain extent they have been patterned after those observed in use among the Europeans or white races with whom these Indians have come in contact. But we shall presently find specimens similar in form among the ancient pottery found in the ruins of the cliff houses. We are inclined to believe that the form is original and not borrowed. ”

“ The mode of manufacturing pottery adopted at the pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley is quite similar to that described as practiced by the Zuñi, Shinumo, Acoma, and Laguna Indians, but there is considerable difference in the method of decorating and polishing. Polishing is practiced chiefly by the Indians of the eastern pueblos, and but little by those of the more western region. ”

“ The pueblos of Santa Clara, Cochiti, San Juan, Tesuke, &c., manufacture large quantities of pottery for sale in addition to that made for their own use. It is in these eastern pueblos that the black polished ware is chiefly found, and it is in the production of this class of ware that the chief difference in the ceramic art between the two sections exists. ”

“ The clay images or statuettes obtained from the Shinumo pueblos are not objects of worship as supposed by many persons, but appear to be used to adorn their dwellings just as similar articles are used by civilized races. This is evident from their form and ornamentation which rudely represent the ordinary clothing worn by these Indians, and in the female figures the usual mode of wearing the hair either in a bunch at the back of the head or in two wheel-shaped knots at the sides. ”

“ The grinders and mortars are frequently found composed of softer 321 rock, either ferruginous sandstone or gritty clays. For a more complete knowledge of these stone implements we must depend on a comparative study of large collections from different localities, and such information as the circumstances attending their discovery may impart, rather than upon their present condition or the uses for which they are now employed.
Metates or grain-grinders, pestles and rubbing stones belong to the milling industry among the Indians. ”

“ Among the examples of this ware, obtained at Wolpi, is a large number of the flat or saucer-shaped kind; these vary both in size and character of construction as well as decoration. The manner of making one form of this class is quite interesting as well as curious. A rope-like withe of the fiber of the yucca, made quite fine, is wrapped with flat strips of the same plant. In forming the basket with this rope the workman commences at the center, or bottom, and coils the rope round, attaching it by a method of weaving, until, by successive layers of the rope, it attains the desired dimensions. ”

“ It is proper to add here that the clays used by the Santa Clara Indians are of a brick-red color, containing an admixture of very fine sand, which, no doubt, prevents cracking in burning, and hence dispenses with the necessity of using lava or pottery fragments, as is the custom of the Indians of the western pueblos. The burning is carried on until a sufficient degree of heat is obtained properly to bake the vessels, which still retain their original red brick color. ”

“ There are certain figures found in the one which never occur in the other, but there are a number of designs, especially of those most generally seen, that are quite common to the pottery of both tribes.
The different varieties of ware, the red or brown without decorations, the white with decorations, and the black are in general use with the tribe, and specimens of each are contained in the collection. But few specimens of the purely micaceous ware are found, either in Zuñi or Wolpi. ”

“ In this manner all the decorations on the pottery are produced.
The substance used in producing the black ware is a clayey brown hematite, or ferruginous indurated clay, quite hard. The material used to produce the red or brown colors is a yellowish impure clay, colored from oxide of iron; indeed it is mainly clay, but contains some sand and a very small amount of carbonate of lime. These are the principal ingredients and methods involved in the manufacture of Zuñi pottery. ”

“ To General Edward Hatch, commanding the district of New Mexico, we are indebted for valuable information and material assistance, which were liberally granted, and to which in great part our success was due. The party also received valuable aid from Gen. George P. Buell, U. S. A., who was in command at Fort Wingate during our work at Zuñi, for which I am pleased to extend thanks. ”

“ These vessels, which vary in size from four to eight inches in diameter and from two to five in depth, are in the form of bowls, sometimes with a handle over the top like a basket handle, sometimes without. The margin is either scalloped, as in Fig. 452, or terraced so as to resemble the section of a pyramid or pueblo, being cut in this form with a horse-hair while soft. They are always of white ware decorated with black. The margin is uniformly black, and there is often an inner and outer submarginal narrow band following the undulations or terraces. ”

“ They are generally of white ware, decorated with colors. Often these decorations are arbitrary, but as a general rule there has been an evident attempt to imitate nature so far as it could be done with the various shades of brown and black.
Some of the larger pieces, especially the owls, have an opening at the top or on the back, as though designed for water vessels.
The objects most commonly represented are owls (which largely predominate) , antelope, elk, ducks, and chickens. The human form, the pig, sheep, horse, &c., are occasionally represented.
Owls, mū-hū-que and mū-hū-que-tsān-nā. ”