Carancahua Bay
The “Carancahua Bay" motif (along with its sister motif “Steamboat Island”) consists simply of a black rim band that primarily circles the exterior and top portions of a vessel’s lip. At times the band may also occur on the interior edge of the lip. “Carancahua Bay” apparently represents the most common of all Rockport Black motifs, but, that may be more a reflection of sherd size than actual prominence.
The “Carancahua Bay" motif has been recognized for years as one of the prime decorative designs associated with Rockport ceramics, and it occurs quite commonly on most Rockport sites along the central Texas coast. It also is worth noting the occurrence of similar lip banding on the rims of several vessels typed as Goliad Red-on-buff and Goliad Black-on-buff from Mission Espíritu Santo at Goliad. This indicates that the idea of lip banding lasted into historic times in the region.