Reed shaped instruments are furnished with passages and orifices corresponding to the other forms. The chamber is tubular and the lower end is open, and the finger holes, when present, are on the upper side of the cylinder. One example without finger holes has two notes nearly an octave apart, which are produced, the higher with the tube open and the lower with it closed. Perhaps the most satisfactory instrument in the whole collection, so far as range is concerned, is shown in Fig. 241, and a section is given in Fig. 242. It is capable of yielding the notes indicated in the accompanying scale: First, a normal series of eight sounds, produced as shown in the diagram, and, second, a series produced by blowing with greater force, one note two octaves above its radical and the others three octaves above. These notes are difficult to produce and hold and were probably not utilized by the native performer.

 
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Fig. 241. Tubular instrument with two finger holes, alligator group—1/1.

 
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Fig. 242. Section of whistle.

music notation

Play

Of a distinct type of form, although involving no new principle of construction, are two top-like or turnip shaped instruments, one of which is shown in Fig. 245. The form is symmetrical, the ornamentation tasteful, and the surface highly polished. The ware is of the alligator group and is decorated in red and black figures. A section is given in Fig. 246, a, and top and bottom views in b and c. By reference to these a clear conception of the object can be formed. The companion piece is identical in size, shape, and conformation, and, strange to say, in musical notes also. The tones are not fixed, as each can be made to vary two or three degrees by changing the force of the breath. The tones produced by a breath of average force are indicated as nearly as may be in the accompanying scale. They will be found to occur nearer the lower than the upper limit of their ranges. It should be observed that the capacity for variation possessed by each of these notes enables the skilled performer to glide from one to the other without interruption. This instrument is, therefore, within its limited range, as capable of adjusting itself to any succession of intervals as is the trombone or the violin. I do not imagine, however, that the aboriginal performer made any systematic use of this power or that the instrument was purposely so constructed. It will be seen by reference to the scale that stopping the orifice in the end opposite the mouthpiece changes the notes half a tone, or perhaps, if accurately measured, a little less than that.

 
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Fig. 245. Top shaped instrument, with three finger holes, alligator ware—1/1.

music notation

Play

Our collection contains several dozen three note whistles or pipes. Most of these represent animal forms, which are treated in a more or less realistic way, but with a decided tendency toward the grotesque. Nearly all are of small size, the largest, an alligator form, having a length of about eight inches. In the animal figures the air chamber is within the body, but does not conform closely to the exterior shape. The mouthpieces and the orifices are variously placed, to suit the fancy of the modeler, but the construction and the powers are pretty uniform throughout. There are two finger holes, placed in some cases at equal and in others at unequal distances from the mouthpiece, but they are always of equal size and produce identical notes. The capacity is therefore three notes. The lower is produced when all the orifices are open, the higher when all are closed, and the middle when one hole—no matter which—is closed.

One specimen is vase or pitcher shaped, with base prolonged for a mouthpiece and with a neat handle (Fig. 248). The ground color is a dull red, upon which are traces of painted figures. Its notes are as follows:

 
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Fig. 249. Crab shaped whistle, alligator ware—1/1.

The largest specimen in the collection, shown in Fig. 250, represents an alligator and is finished in the usual conventional style of the alligator group. The air chamber is large and the sounds emitted are full and melodious and are lower in pitch than those of any other instrument in the collection. The cavity in the mouth and head is separated from the body chamber, and, with the addition of earthern pellets, probably served as a rattle. The mouthpiece is in the tail and the finger holes are in the sides of the body.

 
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Fig. 250. Alligator shaped whistle, alligator ware—½.

Mammals are very often reproduced in these instruments. What appears to be the ocelot or jaguar is the favorite subject. A representative specimen is shown in Fig. 251. The mouthpiece is in the tail and one of the sound holes is in the left shoulder and the other beneath the body. The head is turned to one side and the face is decidedly cat-like in expression. The decoration is in black and red and may be taken as a typical example of the conventional treatment of the markings of the bodies of such animals. The tips of the ears, feet, and tail are red. Rows of red strokes, alternating with black, extend in a broad stripe from the point of the nose to the base of the neck. Red panels, inclosing rows of red dots and enframed by black lines, cross the back. On the sides we have oblong spaces filled in with the conventional devices so common in other animal representations. The legs are striped and dotted after the usual manner.

 
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Fig. 251. Cat shaped whistle, alligator ware—1/1.

 
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Fig. 252. Whistle with four ocelot-like heads, alligator ware—1/1.

The prevalence of bird forms is due no doubt to the resemblance of the notes of primitive whistles to the notes of birds. The shape of the bird is also exceptionally convenient, as the body accommodates the air chamber, the tail serves as a mouthpiece, and the head is convenient for the attachment of a cord of suspension. A great variety of forms were modeled and range from the minute proportions of the smallest humming bird to those of a robin. The larger pieces represent birds of prey, such as hawks, eagles, and vultures, and the smaller are intended for parrots and song birds. The treatment is always highly conventional, yet in many cases the characteristic features of the species are forcibly presented. The painted devices have reference in most cases to the markings of the plumage, yet they partake of the geometric character of the designs used in ordinary vase painting. The ground is the usual yellowish gray of the slip, and nearly all the pieces belong to the lost color and alligator groups.

A characteristic example is illustrated in Fig. 253. The head is large and flat and the painted devices are in the red and black of the lost color group. The three notes are as follows:

 
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Fig. 253. Bird shaped whistle, with decoration in black, lost color ware—1/1.

The piece given in Fig. 254 has the shape and markings of a hawk or eagle. It belongs to the alligator ware and is elaborately finished in semigeometric devices in red and black. All of these devices refer more or less definitely to the markings of the plumage.

 
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Fig. 254. Bird shaped whistle, with conventional decoration in red and black, alligator ware—1/1.

The example shown in Fig. 255 represents a bird with two heads, the shape and markings of which suggest one of the smaller song birds.

 
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Fig. 255. Two headed, bird shaped whistle, with conventional decoration in black, lost color ware—1/1. 

I cannot say that the whistles were modeled and pitched with the idea of imitating the notes of particular birds, but it is possible for the practiced performer to reproduce the simpler songs and cries of birds with a good deal of accuracy.

 
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Fig. 256. Whistle in grotesque life form, with decorations in black and red, alligator ware—⅔.

The human figure was occasionally utilized. The treatment, however, is extremely rude and conventional, the features having the peculiar squirrel-like character shown in the figurines already given. The unique piece given in Fig. 256 represents a short, clumsy female figure with a squirrel face, carrying a vessel upon her back by means of a head strap, which is held in place by the hands. The mouthpiece of the whistle is in the right elbow and one sound hole is in the middle of the breast and the other in the left side. The costume and some of the details of anatomy are indicated by red and black lines in the original. Its notes are the same as those presented with Fig. 249.

LIFE FORMS IN VASE PAINTING.

This section is to be devoted to a short study of the decorative system of the ancient Chiriquians, and more especially to a consideration of the treatment of life forms in vase painting. Many of the finest examples of these designs, so far as execution and effect in embellishment are concerned, have already been given; but it is desirable now to select and arrange a series to illustrate origins and processes of growth or modification.

Elements of ornament flow into the ceramic art from a number of sources, but chiefly in two great currents: the one from art, and consisting chiefly of technical or mechanically produced phenomena, and hence geometric, and the other from nature, and carrying elements primarily delineative, and hence non-geometric. When once within the realm of decoration the various motives or elements are subject to modification by two classes of influences or conditioning forces: the technical restraints of the art and the esthetic forces of the human mind. Mechanical and geometric elements, although born within the art or its associated arts, are modified in the processes of adaptation to the changing requirements and conditions of the art and through the tendency towards elaboration under the guidance of the esthetic forces; left by themselves they remain, throughout all changes of use and modification of form, purely geometric. Imitative elements tend, under the same influences, to move in the direction of the unreal or geometric. In this way the realistic forms undergo marked changes, gradually assuming a geometric character and finally losing all semblance of nature.

Now it must be noted that the decorations of any group of art products may embody both classes of elements or they may be restricted rather closely to either. This fact enables us to account for many of the strongly marked distinctions observed in the decorative systems of different communities, races, and times. In a recent study of ancient Pueblo art I traced the decoration to a mechanical origin, mainly in the art of basketry, and thus accounted for its highly geometric character. Chiriquian art presents a strong contrast to this, as the great body of elements are manifestly derived from nature by delineative imitation. It was further observed in Pueblo art that as time went on life forms were little by little introduced into its decoration and that in recent times they shared the honors equally with the primitive geometric forms. In Chiriquian art we find but meager traces of a primitive geometric system, and conclude that either the earliest art of the people did not give rise to such a system or that the graphic motives, entering gradually and steadily multiplying, supplanted the archaic forms, finally usurping nearly the entire field. As noticed in the preceding sections, there is always a certain amount of geometricity in the arrangement and the enframing of the designs, as well as a certain degree of convention in the treatment of even the most graphic motives; but these characters may be due to the restraining conditions of the art, rather than to the survival of original or ancestral features or characters.

In beginning the study of Chiriquian decorative art I found it impossible to approach the subject advantageously from the geometric side, as was done in the Pueblo study, since life elements so thoroughly permeate every part of it. I have, therefore, turned about, and in the following study present first the more realistic delineations of nature, arranging long series of derivative shapes which descend through increasing degrees of convention to purely geometric forms. These remarks relate wholly to the plan or linear arrangement of the motives.

As to method of realization, ceramic ornament may be arranged in two classes: the plastic or relieved and the non-plastic or flat. Life forms are freely rendered by both plastic and non-plastic methods, and in either style may range from the highly realistic to the purely geometric. As shown in a preceding section, plastic life forms in Chiriquian art appear to have been subject to two divergent lines of thought, the one trivial and the other serious. Through the one we have grotesque and perhaps even humorous representations of men and of animals. The figures are attached to the vessels for the purpose—perhaps for the exclusive purpose—of embellishment, and often with excellent success, as judged by our own standards of taste. The other deals with plastic representations apparently of a serious nature, although utilized also for embellishment. The animal forms employed are treated in a way to suggest that in the mind of the artist the creature bore a definite relation to the vessel or its use, a relationship originating in superstition and preserved throughout all changes of form. Their office was symbolic, and this office was probably not always lost sight of by the potter, even though, through the forces of convention, the animal shapes were reduced to mere knobs, ridges, or even to painted devices.

In color delineations, although the same subjects are to a great extent employed, there is necessarily greater constraint—there is less freedom as well as less vigor in the presentation of natural forms. There is apparently no attempt at the grotesque or amusing. The variants are practically infinite. The work is more purely decorative and is perhaps less subject to the restraints of associated ideas and of use with particular vessels or in definite relations to other features of the vessel. At the same time it is manifest that these painted figures are not all merely meaningless decorations, but that many, throughout all degrees of modification, refer with greater or less clearness to natural originals, to ideas associated with these originals, or to the relationship of these originals to the vessel and its uses.

It is clear, however, that a considerable body of nature-derived elements, plastic and painted, are employed as simple embellishments, having no other function. This suggests the separation of all decorations into two grand divisions, based upon the kind of thoughts associated with them. These divisions may be designated as significant and non-significant, the term significant referring not to the mere identification of a device with an original form or to its office as an ornament, but to its symbolism, to its mystic relation with the vessel and its uses. But I have to do here with the forms taken by motives, with their morphology rather than with their signification, as the latter must, with reference to archæologic material, remain greatly speculative.

In the application of life forms in vase painting several classes of modifying and constraining agencies of a technical nature are present, and the following examples are grouped with the idea of defining these classes of forces and keeping them in a measure distinct.

 
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Fig. 257. Graphic delineation of the alligator, from a vase of the lost color group.

Of all the animal forms utilized by the Chiriquians the alligator is the best suited to the purpose of this study, as it is presented most frequently and in the most varied forms. In Figs. 257 and 258 I reproduce drawings from the outer surface of a tripod bowl of the lost color group. Simple and formal as these figures are, the characteristic features of the creature—the sinuous body, the strong jaws, the upturned snout, the feet, and the scales—are forcibly expressed. It is not to be assumed that these examples represent the best delineative skill of the Chiriquian artist. The native painter must have executed very much superior work upon the more usual delineating surfaces, such as bark and skins. The examples here shown have already experienced decided changes through the constraints of the ceramic art, but are the most graphic delineations preserved to us. They are free hand products, executed by mere decorators, perhaps by women, who were servile copyists of the forms employed by those skilled in sacred art.

 
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Fig. 258. Graphic delineation of the alligator, from a vase of the lost color group.

A third illustration from the same group of ware, given in Fig. 259, shows, in some respects, a higher degree of convention. The scales are here represented by triangular dentals, which occupy the entire length of the back. These dentals are filled with the round dots that stand singly in the preceding cases.

 
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Fig. 259. Conventional alligator, from the lost color ware.

In another class of ware—the alligator group—the treatment is quite different, being decidedly more clumsy and realized by distinct processes; but prominence is given to a number of corresponding features. The strong curve of the back, the dentals and dots, and the muzzle and mouth refer apparently to the same creature. The curiously marked panel in the body of the last example is a unique feature, which appears, however, in a few other cases.

 
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Fig. 260. Style of convention in the alligator group of ware.

These drawings occur upon the sides of vases, alternating with the plastic features, and are perhaps generally associated with such features in the expression of some mythical idea.

 
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Fig. 261. Style of convention in the alligator group of ware.

The modeled creature is often represented with two heads instead of with a head and a tail, and the painted forms, in many cases, exhibit the same peculiarity as shown in Fig. 262. I surmise that the employment of two heads arises from the need of securing perfect balance of parts rather than as an original product of the imagination.

 
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Fig. 262. Two headed form of the alligator.

It will be interesting, as additional examples are presented, to note the effect of modification upon particular features of the animal, to observe how some come into prominence, representing the creature and the idea, while others fall into disuse and disappear. In nature the line of the body is perhaps the most strongly characteristic feature, and it is in art the most persistent. It survives in the stems of many conventional devices from which all other suggestions of the animal have vanished.

 
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Fig. 263. Figure of the alligator much simplified.

The following examples depart still further from nature, approaching the border line between the distinctly imitative and the purely conventional or geometric phases. In the first (Fig. 263) all the leading features are recognizable, but are very much simplified. The jaws are without teeth, the head is without eyes, and the body without indication of scales. The other example (Fig. 264) is of a somewhat different type and may possibly refer to some other reptilian form, but many links connecting the two are found. The shape is more angular and is a step further removed from nature. From shapes as conventional as this we drop readily into purely geometric forms, as will be seen further on. These and the preceding drawings are all executed on broad surfaces, where fancy could have free play. The modifying or conventionalizing forces are, therefore, quite vague. Variation from natural forms is due partly to a lack of skill on the part of the painter, partly to the peculiar demands of ceramic embellishment, and partly to the traditional style of treatment acquired in still more primitive stages of culture and in other and unidentified branches of art.

 
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Fig. 264. The alligator much modified by ceramic influences.

I shall now call attention to some important individualized or well defined agencies of convention. First, and most potent, may be mentioned the enforced limits of the spaces to be decorated, which spaces take shape independently of the subject to be inserted. When the figures must occupy a narrow zone they are elongated, when they must occupy a square they are restricted longitudinally, and when they must occupy a circle they are of necessity coiled up. Fig. 265 illustrates the effect produced by crowding the oblong figure into a short rectangular space. The head is turned back over the body and the tail is thrown down along the side of the space. In Fig. 266 the figure occupies a circle, and is in consequence closely coiled up, giving the effect of a serpent rather than an alligator. In Fig. 267 the space is semicircular, and we observe peculiar conventional conditions, some of which may be due to other causes. For example, such spaces may originally have been filled with purely geometric figures, which tended to impart their own characters to the life forms that supplanted them.

 
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Fig. 268. Delineation retaining but slight traces of the life form.

 
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Fig. 269. Delineation retaining but slight traces of the life form.

 
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Fig. 270. Delineation retaining but slight traces of the life form.

Now, it often happens that, as in the last example given, the animal form, literally rendered, does not fill the panels satisfactorily. The head and the tail do not correspond and there is a lack of balance. In such cases two heads have been preferred. The body is given a uniform double curve and the heads are turned down, as shown in Figs. 268 and 269, or one may turn up and the other down, as seen in Fig. 270. The two headed form may also arise from imitation of plastic forms, as I have already shown. The example given in Fig. 268 is extremely interesting on account of its complexity and the novel treatment of the various features. The two feet are placed close together near the middle of the curved body, and on either side of these are the under jaws turned back and armed with dental projections for teeth. The characteristic scale symbols occur at intervals along the back; and very curiously at one place, where there is scant room, simple dots are employed, showing the identity of these two characters. Some curious auxiliary devices, the origin of which is obscure, are used to fill in marginal spaces. The shape given in Fig. 269 is so highly modified that it is not recognizable as an animal form, excepting through a series of links connecting it with more realistic delineations. It is perfectly symmetrical and consists of a compound curve for the body, with hooks at the extremities and two appended hooks for legs. The spots symbolizing the scales are here placed within the body, showing another step toward complete annihilation of the natural forms and relations. Three additional examples, showing still higher degrees of convention, are presented in Figs. 271, 272, and 273. The series could be filled up and continued indefinitely, connecting the whole family of devices in which dentals, hooks, spots, and circles occur with the alligator radical or with other reptilian forms confused with the alligator through the carelessness or ignorance of the decorator.

 
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Fig. 271. Highly conventionalized alligator derivative.

In looking over a large series of the vases it will be seen that the tendency of decoration is toward the zonal arrangement, the spaces being narrow and long, even when divided into the usual number of panels. As a consequence the motives tend to take linear forms. Parts are repeated or greatly drawn out to fill the spaces. This phase of conventional evolution may be illustrated by a multitude of examples.

Beginning with an ordinary form in Fig. 274, a, we advance under the restraint of parallel border lines through the series, ending in a simple meander, f, the spaces about which are, however, filled out with the conventional scale symbols, the triangles inclosing dots. Thus we witness the transformation of the life form into a linear device, in which the flexures of the body are emphasized and multiplied without reference to nature, and there is little doubt that the series continues further, ending with simple curved lines and even with straight lines unaccompanied by auxiliary devices.

 
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Fig. 275. Running ornaments composed of life elements.

Next to the body line the most important of the alligator derivatives is the notched or dotted hook, which in the lost color group stands sometimes for the whole creature, but more frequently for one or more of the members of its body, the snout, the tail, or the feet. It is employed singly or in various arrangements suited to the shape of the spaces to be filled or occurs in connection with the body line or stem, where, by systematic repetition, it serves to fill the triangular interspaces. Take, for example, an ornament (Fig. 275) which encircles the shoulder of a handsome vase of the lost color group. The space is neatly filled with groupings in which the simple life coil elements are joined one to another in such a way as to give somewhat the effect of an ordinary running ornament. The same motive takes a different form in Fig. 276, which is part of the decorated zone of an earthen drum (see Fig. 235). Here the body of the creature is represented by a wide meandered line, and to this the notched or scalloped hooks are attached with perfect regularity, one to each angle of the meandered body. In other examples the angular geometric character extends to every part of the detail and the curved hooks lose their last suggestion of nature and are entirely dropped or used separately.

 
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Fig. 276. Running ornaments composed of life motives.

The rings, strokes, spots, and dentate figures that serve to represent the markings and scales of the reptile are among the most important of the derivative devices and occur in varied relations to other classes of derivatives. They also occur independently, either singly or in groupings. Thus we see that the alligator, in Chiriquian vase painting, is represented by an endless list of devices, and it is interesting to note that among these are several figures familiar to the civilized world in both symbolism and ornament.

I present five series of figures designed to illustrate the stages through which life forms pass in descending from the realistic to highly specialized conventional shapes. In the first series (Fig. 277), we begin with a meager but graphic sketch of the alligator; the second figure is hardly less characteristic, but is much simplified; in the third we have still three leading features of the creature: the body line, the spots, and the stroke at the back of the head; and in the fourth nothing remains but a compound, yoke-like curve, standing for the body of the creature, and a single dot.

 
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Fig. 278. Series showing stages in the simplification of animal characters.

The figures of the second series (Fig. 278) are nearly all painted upon low round nodes placed about the body of the alligator vases and hence are inclosed in circles (see Fig. 197). The animal figure in the first example is coiled up like a serpent, but still preserves some of the well known characters of the alligator. In the second example we have a double hook near the center of the space which takes the place of the body, but the dotted triangles are placed separately against the encircling line. In the next figure the body symbol is omitted and the three triangles remain to represent the animal. In the fourth there are four triangles, and the body device, being restored in red, takes the form of a cross. In the fifth two of the inclosing triangles are omitted and the idea is preserved by the simple dots. In the sixth the dots are placed within the bars of the cross, the triangles becoming mere interspaces; and in the seventh the dots form a line between the two encircling lines. This series could be filled up by other examples, thus showing by what infinitesimal steps the transformations take place. The round nodes upon which these medallion-like figures are drawn are survivals of the heads or other parts of animals originally modeled in the round, but in the processes of manufacture partially or wholly atrophied. It was sought to preserve the idea of the creature by the use of painted details, but these, as we have seen, were also in time reduced to formal marks, symbols doubtless in many cases of the conception to which the original plastic form referred.

The derivation of the fret and scroll—most admired of the decorative motives of numerous races—has been a fruitful source of discussion. The vase painting of Chiriqui serves to throw new light upon the subject. We learn by the series of steps illustrated in the annexed cuts that the alligator radical, under peculiar restraints and influences, assumes conventional forms that merge imperceptibly into these classic devices. In the third series given (Fig. 279) the first figure is far removed from the realistic stage of representation, but it is one of the ordinary conventional guises of the alligator. Other still more conventional forms are seen in the three succeeding figures, the last of which is a typical rectangular fret link known and used by most nations of moderate culture. The derivatives in nearly all the preceding figures can be traced back to the body of the creature as a root, but there are many examples which seem to have come from the delineation of a part of the creature, as the head, foot, eye, or scales—abbreviated representatives of the whole creature. Such parts, assuming the role of radicals, pass also through a series of modifications, ending in purely geometric devices in the manner indicated in the following or fourth series of examples (Fig. 280). In the first cut we have what appears to be the leg and foot of the favorite reptile, and following this are other forms that seem to refer to the same feature. Additional examples are shown in Figs. 281 and 282, which, while they doubtless arose more or less directly from the life form, are not so readily traceable through less conventional antecedents. The first forms part of the incised ornament of a small vase or needlecase and the second is a section of the zonal ornament of the tripod cup illustrated in Fig. 203, by reference to which it will be seen that the zone of devices serves to connect the head and the tail of the reptile, which are modeled as a part of the vase; the devices therefore represent the markings of the creature’s body, although they may originally have been derived from the figure of the whole or a part of the animal rather than from the markings of the skin. In other examples still more highly conventional figures are found to hold the same relation to the plastic representation of the extremities of the creature. They include the meander, the scroll, the fret, and the guilloche. We find that in the stone metates of many parts of Central America, nearly all of which are carved to imitate the puma, the head and tail of the creature are connected by bands of similar devices that encircle the margin of the mealing plate (see Fig. 9). The alligator form is therefore not necessarily the originator of all such devices. It is probable that any animal form extensively used by such lovers of decoration as the ancient inhabitants of Central America would be found thus interwoven with decoration. These considerations will serve to widen our views upon the origin and development of especial devices. As it now stands we are absolutely certain that no race, no art, no motive or element in nature or in art can claim the exclusive origination of any one of the well known or standard conventional devices, and that any race, art, or individual motive is capable of giving rise to any and to all such devices. Nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that the signification or symbolism attaching to a given form is uniform the world over, as the ideas associated with each must vary with the channels through which they were developed.

Other classes of geometric figures, derived chiefly from scale or skin markings, are given in the fifth series. In more realistic phases of representation the dentate and dotted devices are ranged along the body of the creature, as in nature, but as convention progresses they are used independently to fill up spaces, to form the septa of panels, &c. Many illustrations appear in the preceding pages and additional examples are given in Fig. 283. It is possible that these devices come from delineations of a number of distinct animal forms; but in the higher stages of convention confusion cannot be avoided, and must have existed to some extent in the mind of the decorator; they serve, however, to illustrate the stages of simplification through which all forms extensively used for a long period must pass. The laws of derivation, modification, and application in art are the same in all.

It has now been shown that life forms and their varied derivatives constitute the great body of Chiriquian decorative motives; that when first introduced the delineations are more or less realistic, according to the skill of the artist or the demands of the art; but that in time, by a long series of abbreviations and alterations, they descend to simple geometric forms in which all visible connection with the originals is lost. The agencies through which this result is accomplished are chiefly the mechanical restraints of the art acting independently of voluntary modification and without direct exercise of esthetic desire.

There may be forces at work of which we find no clear indications. Some of the conventional forms into which life forms are found to grade may be survivals of forms originating in other regions and belonging to other cultures which have through accidents of contact imposed themselves upon Chiriquian art; such are the scroll, the fret, and the guilloche; but the thorough manner in which such forms are interwoven with purely Chiriquian conceptions makes it impossible to substantiate such a theory. The conclusion most easily and most naturally reached is that all are probably indigenous to Chiriqui, and hence the striking deduction that the processes of modification inherent in the art are of such a nature that any animal form extensively used in decoration may give rise to any or all of the highly conventional forms of ornament.

During the progress of this study a question has frequently been raised as to the extent to which the memory of the creature original or of its symbolism in first use was kept alive in the mind of the decorator. It is a well established fact that primitive peoples habitually invest inanimate objects with the attributes of living creatures. Thus the vessel, from the time it assumes individual shape and is fitted to perform a function, is thought of as a living being, and by the addition of plastic or painted details it becomes a particular creature, an alligator, a fish, or a puma, each of which is in most cases the symbol of some mythologic concept. When, through the changes of convention in infinite repetition, all resemblance to individual creatures was lost and mere knobs or simple geometric figures occupied the surface of the vessel, there is little doubt that many of these features still recalled to the mind of the potter the ultimate originals and the conceptions of which they were the representatives, and that others represented ideas, the outgrowth of or a development from primary ideas, while still others had acquired entirely new ideas from without. It cannot be denied, however, that there does come a time in the history of vase painting at which such associated ideas become vague and are lost and elements formerly significant are added and combinations of them are made for embellishment alone, without reference to meaning or appropriateness; but I am inclined to place this period a very long way from the initiatory stages of the art. It may not be possible to find evidence of the arrival of this period, as it is not necessarily marked by any loss of unity or consistency—striking characteristics of ancient American art; for such is the conservatism of indigenous methods that, unless there be forcible intrusion of exotic art, original forms and groupings may be perpetuated indefinitely and remain much the same in appearance after the associated ideas are modified or lost.

 
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Fig. 284. Vase with decorated zone containing remarkable devices—⅓.

 
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Fig. 285. Series of twelve conventional devices from the decorated zone of a vase.

In our study of the forms and meanings of these devices it should not be forgotten that collateral branches of art are also simultaneously employing the same motives and reducing them through other similar classes of conventionalizing forces to corresponding forms. Recording arts—pictography, hieroglyphic and phonetic writing—carry life forms through all degrees of abbreviation and change, and all ceremonial and all domestic arts with which such forms are associated do the same; and it is not impossible that many conventional forms found upon pottery are borrowed outright from the other arts. It will be impossible to detect these borrowed elements unless very literally transferred from some art the style of which is well known. It would be comparatively easy to identify literal borrowings from phonetic art or even from hieroglyphic art, as the form and arrangement of the devices are quite unlike those observed in pure decoration. We do not know that Chiriquian culture had achieved a hieroglyphic or a phonetic system of writing, but it is worth while to call attention to the form and the manner of employment of some of the devices found upon the pottery. In Fig. 284 I present an outline drawing of a vase, the shoulder of which is encircled by a broad zone of decoration. This zone is divided into panels by oblique lines. A row of rectangular compartments extends along the middle of the band and rows of triangular spaces occur at the sides. Each space is occupied by a device having one or more features suggesting a pictorial original and doubtless derived from one. In the main row there are twelve figures, no two of which are identical. Although we are unable to show that any of these characters had other than a purely decorative use, we see how richly the ancient peoples were supplied, through the conventionalizing agencies of the art, with devices that could have been employed as ideograms and letters where such were needed, and devices, too, that, from their derivation and use in the art, must in most cases have had ideas associated with them.

RÉSUMÉ.

A brief summary of the more salient points of interest dwelt upon in this paper may very appropriately be given in this place. We find that a limited area—a small and obscure province of the isthmian region—possesses a wonderful wealth of art products the character of which indicates a long period of occupation by peoples of considerable culture. The art remains are perhaps as a whole inferior to those of the districts to the north and south, but they possess many features in common with the art of neighboring provinces. There is, however, at the same time, a well marked individuality. In conception and execution these works are purely aboriginal, and, so far as can be determined by the data at hand, are pre-Columbian, and possibly to a great extent remotely pre-Columbian. The discovery of articles of bronze, which metal we cannot prove to be of indigenous production, is the only internal evidence pointing toward the continuance of the ancient epoch of culture into post-Columbian times. The relics are obtained from tombs from which nearly all traces of human remains have disappeared.

Art in stone covers the ground usually occupied by works in this material in other Central American countries, save in the matter of architecture, of which art there are but meager traces. There are rock inscriptions, statuettes and statues of rather rude character, shapely mealing stones, elaborately carved seats or stools, many celts of extremely neat workmanship, spear and arrow points of unique shape, and a very few beads and pendent ornaments. There are apparently no traces of implements of war.

In metal there are numerous and somewhat remarkable works. They are of gold, gold-copper alloy, copper, and bronze. The objects are of small size, rarely reaching a pound in weight, and they are almost exclusively pendent ornaments. They were, for the most part, cast in molds, and in nine cases out of ten represent animal forms. A few bells are found, all of which are of bronze. Pieces formed of alloyed metal are usually washed or plated with pure gold.

The great body of relics are in clay, and the workmanship displayed is often admirable. Vases are found in great numbers, and as a rule are small and shapely, and are so carefully and elaborately decorated as to lead to the inference that their office was in a great measure ceremonial. They take a high place among American fictile products for grace of form and beauty of decoration. There is neither glaze nor evidence of the use of a wheel. Besides vases we have several other classes of objects, which include grotesque, toy-like statuettes, small, covered receptacles resembling needlecases, seat-like objects elaborately modeled, spindle whorls, and musical instruments. The occurrence of numerous specimens of the two latter classes indicates that the arts of weaving and music were assiduously practiced.

An examination of the esthetic features of the ceramic art has proved exceptionally instructive. We find much that is worthy of attention in the forms of vases as well as in the plastic or relieved features of embellishment, and a still richer field is opened by the study of the incised and painted—the flat—decorations.

I have shown that the elements of decoration flow into the ceramic art chiefly through two channels, the one from art and the other from nature. Elements from art are mainly of mechanical origin, and are, therefore, non-imitative and geometric. Elements from nature imitate natural forms, and hence are primarily non-geometric. Elements from art, being mechanical, are meaningless or non-ideographic; those from nature are in early stages of art usually associated with mythologic conceptions, and hence are ideographic. All decorations may therefore have four dual classifications, as follows: First, with reference to method of realization, as plastic and flat; second, with reference to derivation, as mechanical and imitative; third, with reference to plan of manifestation, as geometric and non-geometric; and, fourth, with reference to the association of ideas, as significant and non-significant.

I have found that the ceramic art, having acquired the various elements of ornament, carries them by methods of its own through many strange mutations of form. The effect upon life forms is of paramount importance, as is indicated by the following broad and striking generalization: The agencies of modification inherent in the art in its practice are such that any particular animal form extensively employed in decoration is capable of changing into or giving rise to any or to all of the highly conventional decorative devices upon which our leading ornaments, such as the meander, the scroll, the fret, the chevron, and the guilloche, are based. It is further seen, however, that ideographic elements are not necessarily restricted to decorative or symbolic functions, for the processes of simplification reduce them to forms well suited to employment in hieroglyphic and even in phonetic systems of expression. Such systems are probably made up to a great extent of characters the conformation of which is due to the unthinking—the mechanical—agencies of the various arts.