The
surface was sometimes washed or coated with a slip or film of fine
clay which facilitated the polishing, and in very many cases a coat of
thick red ocher was applied.

ORNAMENT.--The ancient potter of the middle province has taken
especial delight in the embellishment of his wares, and the devices
used are varied and interesting. They include, first, fanciful
modifications of form; second, relief ornament; third, intaglio
figures; and, fourth, designs in color.

_Modification of shape_.--It can hardly be claimed that the ancient
peoples of this region had a very refined appreciation of elegance of
outline, yet the simple, essential forms of cups and pots were by no
means satisfactory to them. There are many modifications of shape that
indicate a taste for higher types of beauty, and a constant attempt to
realize them. The aesthetic sentiment was considerably developed.

There is also a decided tendency toward the grotesque. To such an
extreme have the dictates of fancy been followed, in this respect,
that utility, the true office of the utensil, has often taken a
secondary place, although it is never lost sight of entirely. Bowls
have been fashioned into the shapes of birds, fishes, and reptiles,
and vases and bottles into a multitude of animal and vegetable forms
without apparent regard to convenience. All of these modifications of
essential forms were doubtless looked upon as, in a sense, ornamental.
So far as I can determine they were in no case intended to be
humorous.

_Relief ornament._--Decorative ideas of a purely conventional
character are often worked out in both low and salient relief. This is
generally accomplished by the addition of nodes and fillets of clay to
the plain surfaces of the vessel. Fillets are applied in various ways
over the body, forming horizontal, oblique, and vertical bands or
ribs. When placed about the rim or base, these fillets are often
indented with the finger or an implement in a way to imitate, rudely,
a heavy twisted cord--a feature evidently borrowed from basketry.
Nodes are likewise attached in various ways to the neck and body of
the vessel. In some cases the entire surface of the larger vessels is
varied by pinching up small bits of the clay between the nails of the
fingers and thumb. An implement is sometimes used to produce a similar
result.

_Intaglio designs._--The aesthetic tendencies of these potters are well
shown by their essays in engraving. They worked with