DULL ORANGE "M DARK DULL ORANGE DARK RED

Fig. 21.

—

Yojoa Polychrome bowl, BoldAnimalistic type, Aguacate. (Specimen

inthe National

Museum

of Honduras at Tegucigalpa.)

plumed

serpents with spearlike flames

coming from

their nostrils (similar topi. 13, ^cf).

A

low, flat-bottomed vase with thickened lips

and

paneled walls is toobadly erodedto

make

out the design.

A

third piece of this general type has slighty flaring, straight walls

and

a dimpled base.

Around

the neck is a

band

of

skeuomorphic

glyphs, dark red

and

black on an orange background.

On

^{the orange}

body

of the vessel there are

two

conventionalized parrots ⁱⁿ dark red

and

black.

Tripod

dishes, the second type, are here represented

by

only one

example

(pi. 14,c). Thisis of

medium

^size withhollow,cylindri-

NO. I

HONDURAS

STRONG, KIDDER,

AND PAUL

83 cal legs containing rattles.

The body

coloris dark orange with panels of geometric

and

conventional designs in red

and

black.

The

third type, bowls with dimpled bases, includes five vessels

;

thefinest of these is of thin

ware

with a light orange

background and

elaborate design in dark red

and

black

on

^the outside.

Around

the neckisa seriesof

plumed Mayoid

faces conventionally but exquisitely executed; these are identical with those

on

a very similar vessel

from

Aguatal (pi. 12, c).

The body

has complex,

human

figures in the

same

elaborate style, but erosion prevents a clear understanding of the design.

A

smaller thicker

bowl

witha buff

background

has purple

around

the lips

and

on the body, enclosing buff circles in

which

are crude, conventionalized

Mayoid

faces.

Around

the neck is a buff

band

with black,

skeuomorphic

glyphs.

A heavy bowl

has awhite slip

with massive, dark red, dull orange

and

black panels, bands,

and

designs.

On

the sides are

two heavy monkeys

squatting in profile.

One

has a forward-sweeping

plume

similar to those

on

the priestly figures,the other has a

backward-sweeping plume and

a longtongue.

A

^thick but well-executed

bowl

is light orange with dark orange

and

black designs.

On

the rim, these are geometric, but ⁱⁿ

two

circular areas

on

the sideareornate birds, evidently the

Muscovy

duck, with strange,

wrapped

objects

on

theirbacks.

The

last

open bowl

is light orange with

two

extremely ornate black a:nd purple birds. It has iso- lated blacksteppedscrolls outsidethelip (like pi. i).

There

are

two

vessels of the fourthtype, ^i.e.,bowls with

two

verti- cal strap handles

and

dimpled bottoms.

One

of these is light orange with alowstraight neck

and

black

and

red geometricdesigns.

On

the sides these

form two

highly conventionalized

monkeys whose

raised faces with indented eyes project like lugs

(compare

^fig. 22

and

pi.

13. c).

The

second vessel of this type has a low neck

and more

swollen

body

^(likefig. 26). It is orangein color witha

band

of red

and

black geometric designs

around

the neck, a

band

of curvilinear designs

around

the shoulders,

and

three ornate concentric

diamond

designs

down

the

body

(fig. 26

had

similar but

more

elaborate designs).

The

three vessels of the fifth type,

monochrome

or bichrome pots with direct orslightly flaring rims

and two

or four vertical handles, suggest domestic or cooking ware.

The

largest of these has a

round

bottom, low lip,

and

four solid, vertical, loop handles. It is a dull, slightly polished red with

smoke

stains

on

thebottom.

A

smaller but heavier vessel is similar as tohandles

and

base. It is lower, however,

is dark red,

and

has

more

polish.

The

third vessel is dull buff with

vertical bands of dark red (like fig. 27). Unlike the above, it has a dimpled base

and

only

two

vertical loophandles.

A

verybriefanalysis of othervesselsreportedto be

from Aguacate and

Aguatal, probably including

some from La

Ceiba as well, will bring out the

major

types represented here.

The

majority of the straight-walled vases

from

these sites bear

Mayoid

designs, very often identical with those on similar vessels

from

the

Ulua

or Sal-

cm.

DULL BLACK RED BROWN

I I DULL BUFF

Fig.22.

—

Yojoa Polychrome pot, BoldAnimalistic type, Aguatal. (Specimen in the National

Museum

of Hondurasat Tegucigalpa.)

vador regions (see pis. 12, b; _{13, f,}

and

fig. 30). Since these vases are the ones mostly highly valued

by

collectors, they are apt to pre- ponderate in purchased collections, disproportionately to their actual occurrence in the field.

An

exceptionally fine vase of this type, said to

come from

Aguacate, is illustrated (fig. 30).

There

are three designunits^;

two

are seated priests,

and

the third is a

monkey shown

against a black medallion.

The two

priest designs are similar (fig. 30) exceptthat the one notillustrated holds a five-branched scepter. This

NO. I

HONDURAS —

STRONG, KIDDER,

AND PAUL

85 vessel

was

sketched

and

photographed ina private collection at Jaral.

The

tripod dish appearsto be ^rare, but tripodplates, with either high, hollow legs (like pi. 12, /) or low, hollow feet (pi. 14, c) containing rattles, are rather

common. The

majority of these have conventional designs of the

Bold

Animalistic type, but

Mayoid

designs do occur

(pi. 12, /), including

skeuomorphic

glyphs

and "dancing

figures"

associated with textile designs.

Yojoa

vessels of this sort appear to be

somewhat more

variable in size than are those

from

the Ulua.

Small, dull

brown

vessels, with orwithout low, solid, tripod feet

and

decorated in the imitation

Ulua

marble

bowl

technique of incising,

cm.