[Illustration: Fig. 128. Vase with horizontally placed handles and rude designs in red--½.]
The handles are perhaps the most notable feature of this ware, and usually occur two to a vessel; rarely there is but one handle and in a few cases there are four. This group may be separated into at least four sections by the styles of handles. Vessels of the two more important sections have two handles each, which are placed vertically in one variety and horizontally in the other, reference being had to the position of the points of attachment. These differences of position have given rise to a marked difference in the shape of the orifice and of the lip. The handle is a simple loop, which in the one variety is placed as seen in Fig. 128 and in the other as in Fig. 132. In the latter case one end of the loop is fixed to the shoulder and the other end to the lip, which is uniformly prolonged at the contact and is also widened all around; the result is the curious winged outline shown in Fig. 133.
A third variety of handle is a single arch, which spans the orifice and is attached to opposite sides of the expanded lip. In a fourth variety the looped handles are replaced by the heads of animals, which are set upon the shoulder of the vase, as are similar features in other groups of ware.
[Illustration: Fig. 129. Unpolished vase with heavy handles and coated with soot--½.]
[Illustration: Fig. 130. Round bodied red vase with unique handles and incised ornament--½.]
A type specimen with the horizontal loop is shown in Fig. 128. The lip and a wide belt about the body are painted red and the shoulder is occupied by rudely executed arched strokes of the same color. A much less usual shape is given in Fig. 129, which exhibits some characters of contour that remind us of well known Grecian forms. Another novel variation from the type is seen in Fig. 130, in which the arch of each loop is divided by an upright piece. A neat incised ornament occupies the shoulder of this vessel and the remainder of the body is finished in pale red.
It will be observed that the handles are rarely wholly plain. Each loop is supplied with one or more rings or ring-like fillets, or with small nodes, generally near the most prominent part of the curve or arch. By the study of a large number of specimens I am able to trace these puzzling features to their origin. They are the representatives of life forms which were originally modeled in full detail and which are still so modeled in many cases. The nodes and like features are atrophied heads, hands, or feet, and in some cases are marked with indentations that refer to the eyes or to the fingers or toes, and the round fillets stand for the arms and legs of animals, or, if notched in peculiar ways, may be referred to other originals, such as the mouths of fishes or the spines of crabs. Examples could be given showing all stages of the progress of simplification.
