SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY. 

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

OF

FORM AND ORNAMENT IN CERAMIC ART. 

BY

WILLIAM H. HOLMES. 

CONTENTS. 

 Page. 

Introductory 443 Origin of form 445 By adventition 445 By imitation 445 By invention 450 Modification of form 450 By adventition 450 By intention 452 Origin of ornament 453 From natural objects 454 From artificial objects 455 Functional features 455 Constructional features 456 From accidents attending construction 457 From ideographic and pictorial subjects 457 Modification of ornament 457 Through material 458 Through form 458 Through methods of realization 459

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FIG. 464. --Form derived from a gourd 446 465. --Form derived from a conch, shell 447 466. --Form derived from a stone pot 448 467. --Form derived from a wooden tray 448 468. --Form derived from a horn spoon 448 469. --Form derived from a bark vessel 446 470. --Form derived from basketry 449 471. --Form derived from basketry 449 472. --Form derived from a wooden vessel 449 473. --Coincident forms 451 474. --Form produced by accident 451 475. --Scroll derived from the spire of a conch shell 454 476. --Theoretical development of current scroll 455 477. --Ornament derived through modification of handles 455 478. --Scroll derived from coil of clay 456 479. --Ornamental use of fillets of clay 456 480. --Variation through, the influence of form 459 481. --Theoretical development of the current scroll 460 482. --Forms of the same motive expressed in different arts 461 483. --Forms of the same motive expressed in different arts 461 484. --Forms of the same motive expressed in different arts 461 485. --Geometric form of textile ornament 462 486. --Loss of geometric accuracy in painting 462 487. --Design painted upon pottery 463 488. --Theoretical development of fret work 464 489. --Theoretical development of scroll work 465

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORM AND ORNAMENTIN CERAMIC ART. 

BY WILLIAM H. HOLMES. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

For the investigation of art in its early stages and in its widestsense--there is probably no fairer field than that afforded byaboriginal America, ancient and modern. 

At the period of discovery, art at a number of places on the Americancontinent seems to have been developing surely and steadily, through theforce of the innate genius of the race, and the more advanced nationswere already approaching the threshold of civilization; at the same timetheir methods were characterized by great simplicity, and their artproducts are, as a consequence, exceptionally homogeneous. 

The advent of European civilization checked the current of growth, andnew and conflicting elements were introduced necessarily disastrous tothe native development. 

There is much, however, in the art of living tribes, especially of thoseleast influenced by the whites, capable of throwing light upon theobscure passages of precolumbian art. By supplementing the study of theprehistoric by that of historic art, which is still in many cases in itsincipient stages, we may hope to penetrate deeply into the secrets ofthe past. 

The advantages of this field, as compared with Greece, Egypt, and theOrient, will be apparent when we remember that the dawn of art in thesecountries lies hidden in the shadow of unnumbered ages, while oursstands out in the light of the very present. This is well illustrated bya remark of Birch, who, in dwelling upon the antiquity of the fictileart, says that "the existence of earthen vessels in Egypt was at leastcoeval with the formation of a written language. "[1] Beyond this thereis acknowledged chaos. In strong contrast with this, is the fact thatall precolumbian American pottery _precedes_ the acquisition of writtenlanguage, and this contrast is emphasized by the additional fact that italso antedates the use of the wheel, that great perverter of the plastictendencies of clay. 

[Footnote 1: Birch: History of Ancient Pottery, 1873, p. 8. ]

The material presented in the following notes is derived chiefly fromthe native ceramic art of the United States, but the principles involvedare applicable to all times and to all art, as they are based upon thelaws of nature. 

Ceramic art presents two classes of phenomena of importance in the studyof the evolution of ęsthetic culture. These relate, first, to _form_, and second, to _ornament_. 

_Form_, as embodied in clay vessels, embraces, 1st, _useful shapes_, which may or may not be ornamental, and, 2d, _ęsthetic shapes_, whichare ornamental and may be useful. There are also _grotesque_ and_fanciful shapes_, which may or may not be either useful or ornamental. 

No form or class of forms can be said to characterize a particular ageor stage of culture. In a general way, of course, the vessels ofprimitive peoples will be simple in form, while those of more advancedraces will be more varied and highly specialized. 

The shapes first assumed by vessels in clay depend upon the shape of thevessels employed at the time of the introduction of the art, and thesedepend, to a great extent, upon the kind and grade of culture of thepeople acquiring the art and upon the resources of the country in whichthey live. To illustrate: If, for instance, some of the highly advancedAlaskan tribes which do not make pottery should migrate to anotherhabitat, less suitable to the practice of their old arts and welladapted to art in clay, and should there acquire the art of pottery, they would doubtless, to a great extent, copy their highly developedutensils of wood, bone, ivory, and basketry, and thus reach a high gradeof ceramic achievement in the first century of the practice of the art;but, on the other hand, if certain tribes, very low in intelligence andhaving no vessel-making arts, should undergo a corresponding change ofhabitat and acquire the art of pottery, they might not reach in athousand years, if left to themselves, a grade in the art equal to thatof the hypothetical Alaskan potters in the first decade. It is, therefore, not the age of the art itself that determines its forms, butthe grade and kind of art with which it originates and coexists. 

_Ornament_ is subject to similar laws. Where pottery is employed bypeoples in very low stages of culture, its ornamentation will be of thesimple archaic kind. Being a conservative art and much hampered by therestraints of convention, the elementary forms of ornament are carried along way into the succeeding periods and have a very decided effect uponthe higher stages. Pottery brought into use for the first time by moreadvanced races will never pass through the elementary stage ofdecoration, but will take its ornament greatly from existing art andcarry this up in its own peculiar way through succeeding generations. The character of the ornamentation does not therefore depend upon theage of the art so much as upon the acquirements of the potter and hispeople in other arts. 

ORIGIN OF FORM

In order to convey a clear idea of the bearing of the precedingstatements upon the history of form and ornament, it will be necessaryto present a number of points in greater detail. 

The following synopsis will give a connected view of various possibleorigins of form. 

 / By adventition. Origin of form--| By imitation--------/ Of natural models. \ By invention. \ Of artificial models

+FORMS SUGGESTED BY ADVENTITION. +

The suggestions of accident, especially in the early stages of art, areoften adopted, and become fruitful sources of improvement and progress. By such means the use of clay was discovered and the ceramic art cameinto existence. The accidental indentation of a mass of clay by thefoot, or hand, or by a fruit-shell, or stone, while serving as anauxiliary in some simple art, may have suggested the making of a cup, the simplest form of vessel. 

The use of clay as a cement in repairing utensils, in protectingcombustible vessels from injury by fire, or in building up the walls ofshallow vessels, may also have led to the formation of disks or cups, afterwards independently constructed. In any case the objects orutensils with which the clay was associated in its earliest use wouldimpress their forms upon it. Thus, if clay were used in deepening ormending vessels of stone by a given people, it would, when usedindependently by that people, tend to assume shapes suggested by stonevessels. The same may be said of its use in connection with wood andwicker, or with vessels of other materials. Forms of vessels so derivedmay be said to have an adventitious origin, yet they are essentiallycopies, although not so by design, and may as readily be placed underthe succeeding head. 

+FORMS DERIVED BY IMITATION. +

Clay has no inherent qualities of a nature to impose a given form orclass of forms upon its products, as have wood, bark, bone, or stone. Itis so mobile as to be quite free to take form from surroundings, andwhere extensively used will record or echo a vast deal of nature and ofcoexistent art. 

In this observation we have a key that will unlock many of the mysteriesof form. 

In the investigation of this point it will be necessary to consider theprocesses by which an art inherits or acquires the forms of another artor of nature, and how one material imposes its peculiarities uponanother material. In early stages of culture the processes of art areclosely akin to those of nature, the human agent hardly ranking as morethan a part of the environment. The primitive artist does not proceedby methods identical with our own. He does not deliberately and freelyexamine all departments of nature or art and select for models thosethings most convenient or most agreeable to fancy; neither does heexperiment with the view of inventing new forms. What he attemptsdepends almost absolutely upon what happens to be suggested by precedingforms, and so narrow and so direct are the processes of his mind that, knowing his resources, we could closely predict his results. 

The range of models in the ceramic art is at first very limited, andincludes only those utensils devoted to the particular use to which theclay vessels are to be applied; later, closely-associated objects andutensils are copied. In the first stages of art, when the savage makes aweapon, he modifies or copies a weapon; when he makes a vessel, hemodifies or copies a vessel. 

This law holds good in an inverse ratio to culture, varying to a certainextent with the character of the material used. 

_Natural originals_. --Natural originals, both animal and vegetable, necessarily differ with the country and the climate, thus giving rise toindividual characters in art forms often extremely persistent andsurviving decided changes of environment. 

The gourd is probably the most varied and suggestive natural vessel. Wefind that the primitive potter has often copied it in the most literalmanner. One example only, out of the many available ones, is necessary. This is from a mound in southeastern Missouri. 

In Fig. 464, _a_ illustrates a common form of the gourd, while _b_represents the imitation in clay. 

[Illustration: _a_, Gourd. _b_, Clay vessel. FIG. 464. --Formderived from a gourd. ]

All nations situated upon the sea or upon large rivers use shells ofmollusks, which, without modification, make excellent receptacles forwater and food. Imitations of these are often found among the productsof the potter's art. A good example from the Mississippi Valley is shownin Fig. 465, _a_ being the original and _b_ the copy in clay. 

In Africa, and in other countries, such natural objects as cocoanutshells, and ostrich eggs are used in like manner. 

Another class of vessels, those made from the skins, bladders, andstomachs of animals, should also be mentioned in this connection, as itis certain that their influence has frequently been felt in theconformation of earthen utensils. 

In searching nature, therefore, for originals of primitive ceramic formswe have little need of going outside of objects that in their natural orslightly altered state are available for vessels. 

[Illustration: _a_, Shell. _b_, Clay. FIG. 465. --Form derivedfrom a conch shell. ]

True, other objects have been copied. We find a multitude of the highernatural forms, both animal and vegetable, embodied in vessels of clay, but their presence is indicative of a somewhat advanced stage of art, when the copying of vessels that were functionally proper antecedentshad given rise to a familiarity with the use of clay and a capacity inhandling it that, with advancing culture, brought all nature within thereach of the potter and made it assist in the processes of variation anddevelopment. 

_Artificial originals_. --There is no doubt that among most peoples arthad produced vessels in other materials antecedent to the utilization ofclay. These would be legitimate models for the potter and we maytherefore expect to find them repeated in earthenware. In this way theart has acquired a multitude of new forms, some of which may be naturalforms at second hand, that is to say, with modifications imposed uponthem by the material in which they were first shaped. But all materialsother than clay are exceedingly intractable, and impress their owncharacters so decidedly upon forms produced in them that ultimateoriginals, where there are such, cannot often be traced through them. 

It will be most interesting to note the influence of these peculiaritiesof originals upon the ceramic art. 

A nation having stone vessels, like those of California, on acquiringthe art of pottery would use the stone vessels as models, and such formsas that given in Fig. 466 would arise, _a_ being in stone and _b_ inclay, the former from California and the latter from Arizona. 

Similar forms would just as readily come from gourds, baskets, or otherglobular utensils. 

Nations having wooden vessels would copy them in clay on acquiring theart of pottery. This would give rise to a distinct group of forms, theresult primarily of the peculiarities of the woody structure. Thus inFig. 467, _a_, we have a form of wooden vessel, a sort of winged troughthat I have frequently found copied in clay. The earthen vessel given inFig. 467, _b_, was obtained from an ancient grave in Arkansas. 

[Illustration: _a_, stone. _b_, clay. FIG. 466. --Form derivedfrom a stone pot. ]

[Illustration: _a_, wood. _b_, clay. FIG. 467. --Form derivedfrom a wooden tray. ]

[Illustration: _a_, Horn. _b_, Clay. FIG. 468. --Form derivedfrom a horn spoon. ]

[Illustration: _a_, Bark. _b_, Clay. FIG. 469. --Form derivedfrom a bark vessel. ]

The carapace of some species of turtles, and perhaps even the hard caseof the armadillo, could be utilized in a similar way. The shaping of aknot of wood often gives rise to a dipper-shaped vessel, such as may befound in use by many tribes, and is as likely an original for the dipperform in clay as is the gourd or the conch shell; the familiar hornvessel of the western tribes, Fig. 468, _a_, would have served equallywell. The specimen given in _b_ is from Arkansas. As a rule, however, such vessels cannot be traced to their originals, since by copying andrecopying they have varied from the parent form, tending always towarduniform conventional shapes. 

A vessel of rectangular outline might originate in wood or bark. In Fig. 469, _a_, we have a usual form of bark tray, which is possibly theprototype of the square-rimmed earthen vessel given in _b_. 

[Illustration: _a_, Wicker. _b_, Clay. FIG. 470. --Formoriginating in basketry. ]

[Illustration: _a_, Wicker. _b_, Clay. FIG. 471. --Formoriginating in basketry. ]

[Illustration: _a_, Net. _b_, Clay. FIG. 472. --Form originatingin basketry. ]

Basketry and other classes of woven vessels take a great variety offorms and, being generally antecedent to the potter's art and constantlypresent with it, have left an indelible impression upon ceramic forms. This is traceable in the earthenware of nearly all nations. The clayvessel is an intruder, and usurps the place and appropriates the dressof its predecessor in wicker. The form illustrated in Fig. 470, _a_, isa common one with the Pueblo peoples, and their earthen vessels oftenresemble it very closely, as shown in _b_. Another variety is given inFig. 471, _a_ and _b_. These specimens are from southwestern Utah. Fig. 472, _b_, illustrates a form quite common in the Southern States, asection in which pouch-like nets and baskets, _a_, were formerly in useand in which the pots were often modeled. 

+INVENTION OF FORM. +

In the early stages of art, forms are rarely invented outright and Ishall not stop to consider the subject here. 

+MODIFICATION OF FORM. +

The acquisition of new materials, the development of new uses, theemployment of new processes of manufacture, and many other agencies leadto the multiplication of forms through modification. The processes bywhich highly differentiated forms are reached are interesting throughoutand repay the closest study. 

A preliminary classification of the various causes that lead tomodification is given in the following synopsis:

 / / /To assume form. | |Incapacity of material--\To retain form. | |Incapacity of the artisan. | |Changes in method of manufacture. |By adventition--|Changes in environment. |Changes of use. Modification of form--| |Lack of use. | \Influence of new or exotic forms, etc. | | /To enhance usefulness. |By intention--| | \To please fancy. --/For the beautiful. \ \For the grotesque. 

+MODIFICATION BY ADVENTITION. +

_Incapacity of material. _--It is evident at a glance that clay lacks thecapacity to assume and to retain many of the details of form found inantecedent vessels. This necessarily results in the alteration oromission of these features, and hence arise many modifications oforiginal forms. 

The simple lack of capacity on the part of the potter who undertook toreproduce a model would lead to the modification of all but the mostsimple shapes. 

The acquisition of the art by a superior or an inferior race, or one ofdifferent habits would lead to decided changes. A people accustomed tocarrying objects upon the head, on acquiring earthen vessels would shapethe bases and the handles to facilitate this use. 

Improvements in the methods of manufacture are of the greatestimportance in the progress of an art. The introduction of the lathe, forexample, might almost revolutionize form in clay. 

As arts multiply, clay is applied to new uses. Its employment in themanufacture of lamps, whistles, or toys would lead to a multitude ofdistinct and unique forms. 

The acquisition of a new vessel-making material by a nation of pottersand the association of the forms developed through its inherentqualities or structure would often lead ceramic shapes into newchannels. 

[Illustration: _a_, wood. _b_, clay. FIG. 473. --Coincident forms. ]

The contact of a nation of potters with a nation of carvers in woodwould tend very decidedly to modify the utensils of the former. Oneexample may be given which will illustrate the possibilities of suchexotic influences upon form. In Fig. 473, _a_, we have an Alaskan vesselcarved in wood. It represents a beaver grasping a stick in its hands andteeth. The conception is so unusual and the style of vessel socharacteristic of the people that we should not expect to find itrepeated in other regions; but the ancient graves of the MiddleMississippi Valley have furnished a number of very similar vessels inclay, one of which is outlined in _b_. While this remarkable coincidenceis suggestive of ethnic relationships which do not call for attentionhere, it serves to illustrate the possibilities of modification bysimple contact. 

[Illustration: _a_ _b_ FIG. 471. --Form resulting from accident. ]

A curious example illustrative of possible transformation byadventitious circumstances is found in the collection from the provinceof ancient Tusayan. A small vessel of sphynx-like appearance, possiblyderived more or less remotely from a skin vessel, has a noticeableresemblance to some life form, Fig. 474, _a_. The fore-legs arerepresented by two large bosses, the wide-open mouth takes the place ofthe severed neck, and a handle connects the top of the rim with the backof the vessel. The handle being broken off and the vessel inverted, _b_, there is a decided change; we are struck by the resemblance to afrog or toad. The original legs, having dark concentric lines paintedaround them, look like large protruding eyes, and the mouth gapes in themost realistic manner, while the two short broken ends of the handleresemble legs and serve to support the vessel in an upright position, completing the illusion. The fetich-hunting Pueblo Indian, picking upthis little vessel in its mutilated condition, would probably at oncegive to it the sacred character of the water animal which it resembles, and it might readily transmit its peculiarities of form to othergenerations of vessels. 

It is not necessary in this study to refer at length to the influence ofmetallic vessels upon ceramic forms. They do not usually appear untilthe ceramic art is far advanced and often receive a heritage of shapefrom earthen forms. Afterwards, when the inherent qualities of the metalhave stamped their individuality upon utensils, the debt is paid back toclay with interest, as will be seen by reference to later forms in manyparts of the world. 

+MODIFICATION BY INTENTION. +

_To enhance usefulness. _--There can be no doubt that the desire upon thepart of the archaic potter to increase the usefulness and convenience ofhis utensils has been an important agent in the modification of form. The earliest vessels employed were often clumsy and difficult to handle. The favorite conch shell would hold water for him who wished to drink, but the breaking away of spines and the extraction of the interior whorlimproved it immeasurably. The clumsy mortar of stone, with its thickwalls and great weight, served a useful purpose, but it needed a verylittle intelligent thought to show that thin walls and neatly-trimmedmargins were much preferable. 

Vessels of clay, aside from the forms imposed upon, them by theirantecedents and associates, would necessarily be subject to changessuggested by the growing needs of man. These would be worked out withever-increasing ease by his unfolding genius for invention. Furtherinvestigation of this phase of development would carry me beyond thelimits set for this paper. 

_To please fancy. _--The skill acquired by the handling of clay inconstructing vessels and in efforts to increase their usefulness wouldopen an expansive field for the play of fancy. The potter would nosooner succeed in copying vessels having life form than he would beplaced in a position to realize his capacity to imitate forms notpeculiar to vessels. His ambition would in time lead him even beyond thelimits of nature and he would invade the realm of imagination, embodyingthe conceptions of superstition in the plastic clay. This tendency wouldbe encouraged and perpetuated by the relegation of vessels of particularforms to particular ceremonies. 

+ORIGIN OF ORNAMENT. +

The birth of the embellishing art must be sought in that stage of animaldevelopment when instinct began to discover that certain attributes oradornments increased attractiveness. When art in its human sense cameinto existence ideas of embellishment soon extended from the _person_, with, which they had been associated, to all things with which man hadto deal. The processes of the growth of the ęsthetic idea are long andobscure and cannot be taken up in this place. 

The various elements of embellishment in which the ceramic art isinterested may be assigned to two great classes, based upon thecharacter of the conceptions associated with them. These are_ideographic_ and _non-ideographic_. In the present paper I shall treatchiefly of the non ideographic, reserving the ideographic for a secondpaper. 

Elements, non-ideographic from the start, are derived mainly from twosources: 1st, from objects, natural or artificial, associated with thearts; and, 2d, from the suggestions of accidents attending construction. Natural objects abound in features highly suggestive of embellishmentand these are constantly employed in art. Artificial objects have twoclasses of features capable of giving rise to ornament: these are_constructional_ and _functional_. In a late stage of development allthings in nature and in art, however complex or foreign to the art inits practice, are subject to decorative treatment. This latter is therealistic pictorial stage, one of which the student of native Americanculture needs to take little cognizance. 

Elements of design are not invented outright: man modifies, combines, and recombines elements or ideas already in existence, but does notcreate. 

A classification of the sources of decorative motives employed in theceramic art is given in the following diagram:

 /Suggestions of features of natural utensils or objects. | / | | /Handles. | | |Legs | | Functional|Bands | | \Perforations, etc. | | |Suggestions of features of | |artificial utensils or objects. | /The coil. | | |The seam. Origin of ornament| |Constructional|The stitch. | | |The plait. | \ \The twist, etc. |Suggestions from accidents /Marks of fingers. | attending construction. |Marks of implements. | \Marks of molds, etc. | | \Suggestions of ideographic features or pictorial delineations. 

+SUGGESTIONS OF NATURAL FEATURES OF OBJECTS. +

The first articles used by men in their simple arts have in many casespossessed features suggestive of decoration. Shells of mollusks areexquisitely embellished with ribs, spines, nodes, and colors. The sameis true to a somewhat limited extent of the shells of the turtle and thearmadillo and of the hard cases of fruits. 

These decorative features, though not essential to the utensil, arenevertheless inseparable parts of it, and are cast or unconsciouslycopied by a very primitive people when similar articles are artificiallyproduced in plastic material. In this way a utensil may acquireornamental characters long before the workman has learned to takepleasure in such details or has conceived an idea beyond that of simpleutility. This may be called unconscious embellishment. In thisfortuitous fashion a ribbed variety of fruit shell would give rise to aribbed vessel in clay; one covered with spines would suggest a nodedvessel, etc. When taste came to be exercised upon such objects thesefeatures would be retained and copied for the pleasure they afforded. 

[Illustration: _a. _--Shell vessel. _b. _--Copy in clay. FIG. 475. --Scrollderived from the spire of a conch shell. ]

Passing by the many simple elements of decoration that by thisunconscious process could be derived from such sources, let me give asingle example by which it will be seen that not only elementary formsbut even so highly constituted an ornament as the scroll may have beenbrought thus naturally into the realm of decorative art. The sea-shellhas always been intimately associated with the arts that utilize clayand abounds in suggestions of embellishment. The _Busycon_ was almostuniversally employed as a vessel by the tribes of the Atlantic drainageof North America. Usually it was trimmed down and excavated until onlyabout three-fourths of the outer wall of the shell remained. At one endwas the long spike-like base which served as a handle, and at the otherthe flat conical apex, with its very pronounced spiral line or ridgeexpanding from the center to the circumference, as seen in Fig. 475 _a_. This vessel was often copied in clay, as many good examples now in ourmuseums testify. The notable feature is that the shell has been copiedliterally, the spiral appearing in its proper place. A specimen isillustrated in Fig. 475 _b_ which, although simple and highlyconventionalized, still retains the spiral figure. 

[Illustration: _a_ _b_ _c_ FIG. 476. --Possible derivation of thecurrent scroll. ]

In another example we have four of the noded apexes placed about the rimof the vessel, as shown in Fig. 476_a_, the conception being that offour conch shells united in one vessel, the bases being turned inwardand the apexes outward. Now it is only necessary to suppose the additionof the spiral lines, always associated with the nodes, to have theresult shown in _b_, and by a still higher degree of convention we havethe classic scroll ornament given in _c_. Of course, no such result asthis could come about adventitiously, as successful combination callsfor the exercise of judgment and taste; but the initiatory steps couldbe taken--the motive could enter art--without the conscious supervisionof the human agent. 

+SUGGESTIONS BY FEATURES OF ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS. +

[Illustration: FIG. 477. --Ornament derived through the modification ofhandles. ]

_Functional features_. --Functional features of art products liable toinfluence ornament comprise handles, legs, feet, rims, bands, and otherpeculiarities of shape originating in utility. Handles, for instance, may have been indigenous to a number of arts; they are coeval andcoextensive with culture. The first load, weapon, or vessel transportedby man may have been suspended by a vine or filament. Such arts as havefallen heir to handles have used them according to the capacities of thematerial employed. Of all the materials stone is probably the leastsuited to their successful use, while clay utilizes them in its ownpeculiar way, giving to them a great variety of expression. They arecopied in clay from various models, but owing to the inadequatecapacities of the material, often lose their function and degenerateinto mere ornaments, which are modified as such to please the potter'sfancy. Thus, for example, the series of handles placed about the neck ofthe vessel become, by modification in frequent copying, a mere band ofornamental figures in relief, or even finally in engraved, punctured, orpainted lines, in the manner suggested in Fig. 477. Legs, pedestals, spouts, and other features may in a like manner give rise to decoration. 

[Illustration: _a. _--Coiled fillet of clay. _b. _--Double coil. FIG. 478. --Scroll derived from coil of clay. ]

_Constructional features. _-Features of vessels resulting fromconstruction are infinitely varied and often highly suggestive ofdecoration. Constructional peculiarities of the clay utensils themselvesare especially worthy of notice, and on account of their actual presencein the art itself are more likely to be utilized or copied for ceramicornament than those of other materials. The coil, so universallyemployed in construction, has had a decided influence upon the ceramicdecoration of certain peoples, as I have shown in a paper on ancientPueblo art. From it we have not only a great variety of surfaceornamentation produced by simple treatment of the coil in place, butprobably many forms suggested by the use of the coil in vessel building, as, for instance, the spiral formed in beginning the base of a coiledvessel, Fig. 478 _a_, from which the double scroll _b_, as a separatefeature, could readily be derived, and finally the chain of scrolls sooften seen in border and zone decoration. This familiarity with the useof fillets or ropes of clay would also lead to a great variety ofapplied ornament, examples of which, from Pueblo art, are given in Fig. 479. The sinuous forms assumed by a rope of clay so employed wouldreadily suggest to the Indian the form of the serpent and the means ofrepresenting it, and might thus lead to the introduction of this muchrevered creature into art. 

[Illustration: FIG. 479. --Ornamental use of fillets. ]

Of the various classes of utensils associated closely with the ceramicart, there are none so characteristically marked by constructionalfeatures as nets and wicker baskets. The twisting, interlacing, knotting, and stitching of filaments give relieved figures that bycontact in manufacture impress themselves upon the plastic clay. Suchimpressions come in time to be regarded as pleasing features, and whenfree-hand methods of reproducing are finally acquired they and theirderivatives become essentials of decoration. At a later stage thesecharacters of basketry influence ceramic decoration in a somewhatdifferent way. By the use of variously-colored fillets the woven surfacedisplays figures in color corresponding to those in relief and varyingwith every new combination. Many striking patterns are thus produced, and the potter who has learned to decorate his wares by the stylus orbrush reproduces these patterns by free-hand methods. We find pottery inall countries ornamented with patterns, painted, incised, stamped, andrelieved, certainly derived from this source. So well is this fact knownthat I need hardly go into details. 

In the higher stages of art the constructional characters ofarchitecture give rise to many notions of decoration which afterwardsdescend to other arts, taking greatly divergent forms. Aboriginalarchitecture in some parts of America had reached a development capableof wielding a strong influence. This is not true, however, of any partof the United States. 

+SUGGESTIONS OF ACCIDENTS. +

Besides the suggestions of surface features impressed in manufacture orintentionally copied as indicated above, we have also those ofaccidental imprints of implements or of the fingers in manufacture. Fromthis source there are necessarily many suggestions of ornament, at firstof indented figures, but later, after long employment, extending to theother modes of representation. 

+IDEOGRAPHIC AND PICTORIAL SUBJECTS. +

Non-ideographic forms of ornament may originate in ideographic features, mnemonic, demonstrative, or symbolic. Such significant figures areborrowed by decorators from other branches of art. As time goes on theylose their significance and are subsequently treated as purelydecorative elements. Subjects wholly pictorial in character, when suchcome to be made, may also be used as simple decoration, and by longprocesses of convention become geometric. 

The exact amount of significance still attached to significant figuresafter adoption into decoration cannot be determined except in cases ofactual identification by living peoples, and even when the significationis known by the more learned individuals the decorator may be whollywithout knowledge of it. 

MODIFICATION OF ORNAMENT. 

There are comparatively few elementary ideas prominently and generallyemployed in primitive decorative art. New ideas are acquired, as alreadyshown, all along the pathway of progress. None of these ideas retain auniform expression, however, as they are subject to modification byenvironment just as are the forms of living organisms. A briefclassification of the causes of modification is given in the followingsynopsis:

 /Through material. Modification of ornament------|Through form. \Through, methods of realization. 

_Through material. _--It is evident at a glance that _material_ must havea strong influence upon the forms assumed by the various decorativemotives, however derived. Thus stone, clay, wood, bone, and copper, although they readily borrow from nature and from each other, necessarily show different decorative results. Stone is massive andtakes form slowly and by peculiar processes. Clay is more versatile anddecoration may be scratched, incised, painted, or modeled in relief withequal facility, while wood and metal engender details having characterspeculiar to themselves, producing different results from the samemotives or elements. Much of the diversity displayed by the art productsof different countries and climates is due to this cause. 

Peoples dwelling in arctic climates are limited, by their materials, toparticular modes of expression. Bone and ivory as shaped for use in thearts of subsistence afford facilities for the employment of a veryrestricted class of linear decoration, such chiefly as could bescratched with a hard point upon small irregular, often cylindrical, implements. Skins and other animal tissues are not favorable to thedevelopment of ornament, and the textile arts--the greatest agents ofconvention--do not readily find suitable materials in which to work. 

Decorative art carried to a high stage under arctic environment would bemore likely to achieve unconventional and realistic forms than ifdeveloped in more highly favored countries. The accurate geometric andlinear patterns would hardly arise. 

_Through form. _--Forms of decorated objects exercise a strong influenceupon the decorative designs employed. It would be more difficult totattoo the human face or body with straight lines or rectilinearpatterns than with curved ones. An ornament applied originally to avessel of a given form would accommodate itself to that form pretty muchas costume becomes adjusted to the individual. When it came to berequired for another form of vessel, very decided changes might benecessary. 

With the ancient Pueblo peoples rectilinear forms of meander patternswere very much in favor and many earthen vessels are found in whichbands of beautiful angular geometric figures occupy the peripheralzone, Fig. 480 _a_, but when the artist takes up a mug having a row ofhemispherical nodes about the body, _b_, he finds it very difficult toapply his favorite forms and is almost compelled to run spiral curvesabout the nodes in order to secure a neat adjustment. 

[Illustration: FIG. 480. --Variations in a motive through the influenceof form. ]

_Through methods of realisation_. --It will readily be seen that theforms assumed by a motive depend greatly upon the character of themechanical devices employed. In the potter's art devices for holding andturning the vessel under manipulation produce peculiar results. 

In applying a given idea to clay much depends upon the method ofexecuting it. It will take widely differing forms when executed byincising, by modeling, by painting, and by stamping. 

Intimately associated with methods of execution are peculiarities ofconstruction, the two agencies working together in the processes ofmodification and development of ornament. 

I have previously shown how our favorite ornament, the scroll, in itsdisconnected form may have originated in the copying of natural forms orthrough the manipulation of coils of clay. I present here an example ofits possible origin through the modification of forms derived fromconstructional features of basketry. An ornament known as the guillocheis found in many countries. The combination of lines resembles that oftwisted or platted fillets of wood, cane, or rushes, as may be seen at aglance, Fig. 481 _a_. An incised ornament of this character, possiblyderived from basketry by copying the twisted fillets or theirimpressions in the clay, is very common on the pottery of the mounds ofthe Mississippi Valley, and its variants form a most interesting study. In applying this to a vessel the careless artist does not properlyconnect the ends of the lines which pass beneath the intersectingfillets, and the parts become disconnected, _b_. In many cases the endsare turned in abruptly as seen in _c_, and only a slight further changeis necessary to lead to the result, _d_, the running scroll withwell-developed links. All of these steps may be observed in a singlegroup of vessels. 

It may be thought by some that the processes of development indicatedabove are insufficient and unsatisfactory. There are those who, seeingthese forms already endowed with symbolism, begin at what I conceive tobe the wrong end of the process. They derive the form of symbol directlyfrom the thing symbolized. Thus the current scroll is, with many races, found to be a symbol of water, and its origin is attributed to a literalrendition of the sweep and curl of the waves. It is more probable thatthe scroll became the symbol of the sea long after its developmentthrough agencies similar to those described above, and that theassociation resulted from the observation of incidental resemblances. This same figure, in use by the Indians of the interior of thecontinent, is regarded as symbolic of the whirlwind, and it is probablethat any symbol-using people will find in the features and phenomena oftheir environment, whatever it may be, sufficient resemblance to any oftheir decorative devices to lead to a symbolic association. 

[Illustration: FIG. 481. --Theoretical development of the currentscroll. ]

One secret of modification is found in the use of a radical in more thanone art, owing to differences in constructional characters. For example, the tendency of nearly all woven fabrics is to encourage, even tocompel, the use of straight lines in the decorative designs applied. Thus the attempt to employ curved lines would lead to stepped or brokenlines. The curvilinear scroll coming from some other art would be forcedby the constructional character of the fabric into square forms, and therectilinear meander or fret would result, as shown in. Fig. 482, _a_being the plain form, painted, engraved, or in relief, and _b_ the sameidea developed in a woven fabric. Stone or brick-work would lead to likeresults, Fig. 483; but the modification could as readily move in theother direction. If an ornament originating in the constructionalcharacter of a woven fabric, or remodeled by it, and hence rectilinear, should be desired for a smooth structureless or featureless surface, thedifficulties of drawing the angular forms would lead to the delineationof curved forms, and we would have exactly the reverse of the ordershown in Figs. 482 and 483. The two forms given in Fig. 484 actuallyoccur in one and the same design painted upon an ancient Pueblo vase. The curved form is apparently the result of careless or hurried work, the original angular form, having come from, a textile source. 

[Illustration: _a_, free-hand form. _b_, form imposed, by fabric. FIG. 482. --Forms of the same motive expressed in different arts. ]

[Illustration: _a_, free-hand form. _b_, form imposed by masonry. FIG. 483. --Forms of the same motive expressed in different arts. ]

[Illustration: _a_ _b_ FIG. 484. --Variations resulting from changeof method. ]

Many excellent examples illustrative of this tendency to modificationare found in Pueblo art. Much of the ornament applied to pottery isderived from the sister art, basketry. In the latter art the forms ofdecorative figures are geometric and symmetrical to the highest degree, as I have frequently pointed out. The rays of a radiating ornament, worked with the texture of a shallow basket, spring from the center andtake uniform directions toward the margin, as shown in Fig. 485. Butwhen a similar idea derived from basketry (as it could have no otherorigin) is executed in color upon an earthen vessel, we observe atendency to depart from symmetry as well as from consistency. I callattention here to the arrangement of the parts merely, not to themotives employed, as I happen to have no examples of identical figuresfrom the two arts. 

[Illustration: FIG. 485. --Geometric form, of textile ornament. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 486. --Loss of geometric accuracy in painting. ]

It will be seen by reference to the design given in Fig. 486, taken fromthe upper surface of an ancient vase, that although the spirit of thedecoration is wonderfully well preserved the idea of the origin of allthe rays in the center of the vessel is not kept in view, and that bycarelessness in the drawing two of the rays are crowded out andterminate against the side of a neighboring ray. In copying andrecopying by free-hand methods, many curious modifications take place inthese designs, as, for example, the unconformity which occurs in oneplace in the example given may occur at a number of places, and therewill be a series of independent sections, a small number only of thebands of devices remaining true rays. 

[Illustration: FIG. 487. --Design painted upon pottery. ]

A characteristic painted design from the interior of an ancient bowl isshown in Fig. 487, in which merely a suggestion of the radiation ispreserved, although the figure is still decorative and tasteful. Thisprocess of modification goes on without end, and as the true geometrictextile forms recede from view innovation robs the design of all tracesof its original character, producing much that is incongruous andunsatisfactory. 

The growth of decorative devices from the elementary to the highlyconstituted and elegant is owing to a tendency of the human mind toelaborate because it is pleasant to do so or because pleasure is takenin the result, but there is still a directing and shaping agency to beaccounted for. 

I have already shown that such figures as the scroll and the guillocheare not _necessarily_ developed by processes of selection andcombination of simple elements, as many have thought, since they mayhave come into art at a very early stage almost full-fledged; but thereis nothing in these facts to throw light upon the processes by whichornament followed particular lines of development throughout endlesselaboration. In treating of this point, Prof. C. F. Hartt[2] maintainedthat the development of ornamental designs took particular and uniformdirections owing to the structure of the eye, certain forms being chosenand perpetuated because of the pleasure afforded by movements of the eyein following them. In connection with this hypothesis, for it is nothingmore, Mr. Hartt advanced the additional idea, that in unison withthe general course of nature decorative forms began with simpleelements and developed by systematic methods to complex forms. Take forexample the series of designs shown in Fig. 488. The meander _a_ made upof simple parts would, according to Mr. Hartt, by further elaborationunder the supervision of the muscles of the eye, develop into _b_. This, in time, into _c_, and so on until the elegant anthemium was achieved. The series shown in Fig. 489 would develop in a similar way, orotherwise would be produced by modification in free-hand copying of therectilinear series. The processes here suggested, although to allappearances reasonable enough, should not be passed over without carefulscrutiny. 

[Illustration: FIG. 488. --Theoretical development of fret-work. ]

[Footnote 2: Hartt: Popular Science Monthly, Vol. VI, p. 266. ]

Taking the first series, we observe that the ornaments are projected instraight continuous lines or zones, which are filled in with more orless complex parts, rectilinear and geometrically accurate. Still higherforms are marvelously intricate and graceful, yet not less geometric andsymmetrical. 

[Illustration: FIG. 489. --Theoretical development of scroll work. ]

Let us turn to the primitive artisan, and observe him at work with rudebrush and stylus upon the rounded and irregular forms of hisutensils and weapons, or upon skins, bark, and rock surfaces. Is itprobable that with his free hand directed by the eye alone he will beable to achieve these rythmic geometric forms. It seems to me that thewhole tendency is in the opposite direction. I venture to surmise thatif there had been no other resources than those named above the typicalrectilinear fret would never have been known, at least to the primitiveworld; for, notwithstanding the contrary statement by Professor Hartt, the fret is in its more highly-developed forms extremely difficult tofollow with the eye and to delineate with the hand. Until arts, geometric in their construction, arose to create and to combinemechanically the necessary elements and motives, and lead the way by along series of object-lessons to ideas of geometric combination, ourtypical border ornament would not be possible. Such arts are the textilearts and architecture. These brought into existence forms and ideas notmet with in nature and not primarily thought of by man, and combinedthem in defiance of human, conceptions of grace. Geometric ornament isthe offspring of technique. 

INDEX. 

Acquisition of new material modifies form in pottery 451Adventition, a source of form 445, 450America as a field for study of art 443Basketry copied in pottery 449Busycon shell copied as a vessel, The 454California, Pottery from 447Ceramic art, Origin and development of form and ornament in, W. H. Holmes 437-465 form discussed 444 ornament discussed 444Coils suggesting spiral ornament 456Decorative motive in pottery, Sources of 453European civilization checked aboriginal American art 443Fancy modifying form in pottery 452Fictile art related to written language 443Form modifies ornament in pottery 458 of pottery modified by certain influences 450-452Hartt, Prof. C. F. , on form of designs as influenced by structure of the eye 463-464Ideographic elements of decoration 453Imitation, A source of form 445Improvements in modes of manufacture modify forms in pottery 450Intention a modifier of form in pottery 452Modification of ornaments in pottery 458Non-ideographic elements of decoration 453Origin and development of form and ornament in ceramic art (W. H. Holmes) 437-465Origin of ornament in pottery 453Ornament in pottery, Origin of 453-457Ornamental elements modified by invention 453Pottery from California 447 Tusayan 451 Utah 449Scroll, Possible origin of the 459Shells copied in pottery 447Skin vessels copied in pottery 447Sources of decorative motive in ceramic art 453Spiral ornament from coils 456Stone vessels copied in pottery 447Symbols adopted rather than invented 460Utility modifies form in pottery 452Wooden vessels copied in pottery 447, 451Written language as related to fictile art 443