The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Study Of The Textile Art In Its Relation
To The Development Of Form And Ornament, by William H. Holmes

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org


Title: A Study Of The Textile Art In Its Relation To The Development Of Form And Ornament
       Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the
              Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-'85,
              Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, (pages
              189-252)

Author: William H. Holmes

Release Date: February 9, 2006 [EBook #17730]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STUDY OF THE TEXTILE ART ***




Produced by PM for Bureau of American Ethnology, Jeannie
Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale
de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr)

---

[Pg 189]

A STUDY OF THE TEXTILE ART

 

IN ITS RELATION TO THE

 

DEVELOPMENT OF FORM AND ORNAMENT

 

BY

 

WILLIAM H. HOLMES.

 

Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
1884-’85, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 189-252

---

[Pg 190]

[Pg 191]

CONTENTS.

 

---

[Pg 192]

[Pg 193]

ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

---

 

[Pg 195]

TEXTILE ART IN ITS RELATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FORM AND ORNAMENT.

By William H. Holmes.

 

INTRODUCTION.

The textile art is one of the most ancient known, dating back to the
very inception of culture. In primitive times it occupied a wide
field, embracing the stems of numerous branches of industry now
expressed in other materials or relegated to distinct systems of
construction. Accompanying the gradual narrowing of its sphere there
was a steady development with the general increase of intelligence and
skill so that with the cultured nations of to-day it takes an
important, though unobtrusive, place in the hierarchy of the arts.

Woven fabrics include all those products of art in which the elements
or parts employed in construction are largely filamental and are
combined by methods conditioned chiefly by their flexibility. The
processes employed are known by such terms as interlacing, plaiting,
netting, weaving, sewing, and embroidering.

The materials used at first are chiefly filiform vegetal growths, such
as twigs, leaves, roots, and grasses, but later on filiform and then
fibrous elements from all the kingdoms of nature, as well as numerous
artificial preparations, are freely used. These are employed in the
single, doubled, doubled and twisted, and plaited conditions, and are
combined by the hands alone, by the hands assisted by simple devices,
by hand looms, and finally in civilization by machine looms.

The products are, first, individual structures or articles, such as
shelters, baskets, nets, and garments, or integral parts of these;
and, second, “piece” goods, such as are not adapted to use until they
are cut and fitted. In earlier stages of art we have to deal almost
exclusively with the former class, as the tailor and the house
furnisher are evolved with civilization.

In their bearing upon art these products are to be studied chiefly
with reference to three grand divisions of phenomena, the first of
which I shall denominate constructive, the second functional, and
the third esthetic. The last class, with which this paper has almost
exclusively to deal, is composed mainly of what may be called the
superconstructive and superfunctional features of the art and includes
three subdivisions of phenomena, connected respectively with (1) form,
(2) color, and (3) design. Esthetic features of form are, [Pg 196]in origin
and manifestation, related to both function and construction; color
and design, to construction mainly. In the following study separate
sections are given to each of these topics.

It is fortunate perhaps that in this work I am restricted to the
products of rather primitive stages of culture, as I have thus to deal
with a limited number of uses, simple processes, and simple shapes. In
the advanced stages of art we encounter complex phenomena, processes,
and conditions, the accumulation of ages, through which no broad light
can fall upon the field of vision.

In America there is a vast body of primitive, indigenous art having no
parallel in the world. Uncontaminated by contact with the complex
conditions of civilized art, it offers the best possible facilities
for the study of the fundamental principles of esthetic development.

The laws of evolution correspond closely in all art, and, if once
rightly interpreted in the incipient stage of a single, homogeneous
culture, are traceable with comparative ease through all the
succeeding stages of civilization.

FORM IN TEXTILE ART.

Form in the textile art, as in all other useful arts, is
fundamentally, although not exclusively, the resultant or expression
of function, but at the same time it is further than in other shaping
arts from expressing the whole of function. Such is the pliability of
a large portion of textile products—as, for example, nets, garments,
and hangings—that the shapes assumed are variable, and, therefore,
when not distended or for some purpose folded or draped, the articles
are without esthetic value or interest. The more rigid objects, in
common with the individuals of other useful arts, while their shape
still accords with their functional office, exhibit attributes of form
generally recognized as pleasing to the mind, which are expressed by
the terms grace, elegance, symmetry, and the like. Such attributes are
not separable from functional attributes, but originate and exist
conjointly with them.

In addition to these features of form we observe others of a more
decidedly superfunctional character, added manifestly for the purpose
of enhancing the appearance.

In very primitive times when a utensil is produced functional ideas
predominate, and there is, perhaps, so far as its artificial
characters are concerned, a minimum of comeliness. But as the ages
pass by essential features are refined and elements of beauty are
added and emphasized. In riper culture the growing pressure of
esthetic desire leads to the addition of many superficial
modifications whose chief office is to please the fancy. In periods of
deadened sensibility or even through the incompetence of individual
artists in any period, such features may be ill chosen and
erroneously [Pg 197]applied, interfering with construction and use, and thus
violating well founded and generally accepted canons of taste. In
respect to primitive works we may distinguish four steps in the
acquisition of esthetic features of form, three of which are normal,
the fourth abnormal: First, we have that in which functional
characters alone are considered, any element of beauty, whether due to
the artist’s hand or to the accidents of material, construction, or
model, being purely adventitious; second, that in which the necessary
features of the utensil appear to have experienced the supervision of
taste, edges being rounded, curves refined, and symmetry perfected;
third, that in which the functionally perfect object, just described,
undergoes further variations of contour, adding to variety, unity,
&c., thus enhancing beauty without interfering with serviceability;
and, fourth, that in which, under abnormal influences, beauty is
sought at the sacrifice of functional and constructive perfection.

 

 

The exact relations of the various classes of forces and phenomena
pertaining to this theme may be more fully elucidated by the aid of
illustrations. Woven mats, in early use by many tribes of men and
originating in the attempt to combine leaves, vines, and branches for
purposes of comfort, are flat because of function, the degree of
flatness depending upon the size of filaments and mode of combination;
and in outline they are irregular, square, round, or oval, as a result
of many causes and influences, embracing use, construction, material,
models, &c. A close approach to symmetry, where not imposed by some of
the above mentioned agencies, is probably due to esthetic tendencies
on the part of the artist. The esthetic interest attaching to such a
shape cannot be great, unless perhaps it be regarded, [Pg 198]as all
individuals and classes may be regarded, in its possible relations to
preceding, associated, and succeeding forms of art. The varied
features observed upon the surface, the colors and patterns (Fig.
286), pertain to design rather than to form and will receive attention
in the proper place.

 

 

In point of contour the basket tray shown in Fig. 287 has a somewhat
more decided claim upon esthetic attention than the preceding, as the
curves exhibited mark a step of progress in complexity and grace. How
much of this is due to intention and how much to technical perfection
must remain in doubt. In work so perfect we are wont, however
unwarrantably, to recognize the influence of taste.

 

 

A third example—presented in Fig. 288—illustrates an advanced stage
in the art of basketry and exhibits a highly specialized shape. The
forces and influences concerned in its evolution may be analyzed as
follows: A primal origin in function and a final adaptation to a
[Pg 199]special function, the carrying and storing of water; a contour full to
give capacity, narrow above for safety, and pointed below that it may
be set in sand; curves kept within certain bounds by the limitations
of construction; and a goodly share of variety, symmetry, and grace,
the result to a certain undetermined extent of the esthetic tendencies
of the artist’s mind. In regard to the last point there is generally
in forms so simple an element of uncertainty; but many examples may be
found in which there is positive evidence of the existence of a strong
desire on the part of the primitive basketmaker to enhance beauty of
form. It will be observed that the textile materials and construction
do not lend themselves freely to minuteness in detail or to complexity
of outline, especially in those small ways in which beauty is most
readily expressed.

Modifications of a decidedly esthetic character are generally
suggested to the primitive mind by some functional, constructive, or
accidental feature which may with ease be turned in the new direction.
In the vessel presented in Fig. 289—the work of Alaskan Indians—the
margin is varied by altering the relations of the three marginal turns
of the coil, producing a scalloped effect. This is without reference
to use, is uncalled for in construction, and hence is, in all
probability, the direct result of esthetic tendencies. Other and much
more elaborate examples may be found in the basketry of almost all
countries.

 

 

In the pursuit of this class of enrichment there is occasionally
noticeable a tendency to overload the subject with extraneous details.
This is not apt to occur, however, in the indigenous practice of an
art, but comes more frequently from a loss of equilibrium or balance
in motives or desires, caused by untoward exotic influence. When,
through suggestions derived from contact with civilized art, the
savage undertakes to secure all the grace and complexity observed in
the [Pg 200]works of more cultured peoples, he does so at the expense of
construction and adaptability to use. An example of such work is
presented in Fig. 290, a weak, useless, and wholly vicious piece of
basketry. Other equally meretricious pieces represent goblets,
bottles, and tea pots. They are the work of the Indians of the
northwest coast and are executed in the neatest possible manner,
bearing evidence of the existence of cultivated taste.

 

 

It appears from the preceding analyses that form in this art is not
sufficiently sensitive to receive impressions readily from the
delicate touch of esthetic fingers; besides, there are peculiar
difficulties in the way of detecting traces of the presence and
supervision of taste. The inherent morphologic forces of the art are
strong and stubborn and tend to produce the precise classes of results
that we, at this stage of culture, are inclined to attribute to
esthetic influence. If, in the making of a vessel, the demands of use
are fully satisfied, if construction is perfect of its kind, if
materials are uniformly suitable, and if models are not absolutely
bad, it follows that the result must necessarily possess in a high
degree those very attributes that all agree are pleasing to the eye.

In a primitive water vessel function gives a full outline, as capacity
is a prime consideration; convenience of use calls for a narrow neck
and a conical base; construction and materials unite to impose certain
limitations to curves and their combinations, from which the artist
cannot readily free himself. Models furnished by nature, as they are
usually graceful, do not interfere with the preceding agencies, and
all these forces united tend to give symmetry, grace, and the unity
that belongs to simplicity. Taste which is in a formative state can
but fall in with these tendencies of the art, and must be led [Pg 201]by
them, and led in a measure corresponding to their persistency and
universality. If the textile art had been the only one known to man,
ideas of the esthetic in shape would have been in a great measure
formed through that art. Natural forms would have had little to do
with it except through models furnished directly to and utilized by
the art, for the ideas of primitive men concentrate about that upon
which their hands work and upon which their thoughts from necessity
dwell with steady attention from generation to generation.

RELATIONS OF FORM TO ORNAMENT.

It would seem that the esthetic tendencies of the mind, failing to
find satisfactory expression in shape, seized upon the non-essential
features of the art—markings of the surface and color of
filaments—creating a new field in which to labor and expending their
energy upon ornament.

Shape has some direct relations to ornament, and these relations may
be classified as follows:

First, the contour of the vessel controls its ornament to a large
extent, dictating the positions of design and setting its limits;
figures are in stripes, zones, rays, circles, ovals, or
rectangles—according, in no slight measure, to the character of the
spaces afforded by details of contour. Secondly, it affects ornament
through the reproduction and repetition of features of form, such as
handles, for ornamental purposes. Thirdly, it is probable that shape
influences embellishment through the peculiar bias given by it to the
taste and judgment of men prior to or independent of the employment of
ornament.

COLOR IN TEXTILE ART.

Color is one of the most constant factors in man’s environment, and it
is so strongly and persistently forced upon his attention, so useful
as a means of identification and distinction, that it necessarily
receives a large share of consideration. It is probably one of the
foremost objective agencies in the formation and development of the
esthetic sense.

The natural colors of textile materials are enormously varied and form
one of the chief attractions of the products of the art. The great
interest taken in color—the great importance attached to it—is
attested by the very general use of dyes, by means of which additional
variety and brilliancy of effect are secured.

Color employed in the art is not related to use, excepting, perhaps,
in symbolic and superstitious matters; nor is it of consequence in
construction, although it derives importance from the manner in which
construction causes it to be manifested to the eye. It finds its chief
use in the field of design, in making evident to the eye the figures
with which objects of art are embellished.

Color is employed or applied in two distinct ways: it is woven or
[Pg 202]worked into the fabric by using colored filaments or parts, or it is
added to the surface of the completed object by means of pencils,
brushes, and dies. Its employment in the latter manner is especially
convenient when complex ideographic or pictorial subjects are to be
executed.

TEXTILE ORNAMENT.

DEVELOPMENT OF A GEOMETRIC SYSTEM OF DESIGN WITHIN THE ART.

INTRODUCTION.

Having made a brief study of form and color in the textile art, I
shall now present the great group or family of phenomena whose
exclusive office is that of enhancing beauty. It will be necessary,
however, to present, besides those features of the art properly
expressive of the esthetic culture of the race, all those phenomena
that, being present in the art without man’s volition, tend to suggest
decorative conceptions and give shape to them. I shall show how the
latter class of features arise as a necessity of the art, how they
gradually come into notice and are seized upon by the esthetic
faculty, and how under its guidance they assist in the development of
a system of ornament of world wide application.

For convenience of treatment esthetic phenomena may be classed as
relieved and flat. Figures or patterns of a relievo nature arise
during construction as a result of the intersections and other more
complex relations—the bindings—of the warp and woof or of inserted
or applied elements. Flat or surface features are manifested in color,
either in unison with or independent of the relieved details. Such is
the nature of the textile art that in its ordinary practice certain
combinations of both classes of features go on as a necessity of the
art and wholly without reference to the desire of the artist or to the
effect of resultant patterns upon the eye. The character of such
figures depends upon the kind of construction and upon the accidental
association of natural colors in construction.

At some period of the practice of the art these peculiar, adventitious
surface characters began to attract attention and to be cherished for
the pleasure they gave; what were at first adventitious features now
took on functions peculiar to themselves, for they were found to
gratify desires distinct from those cravings that arise directly from
physical wants.

It is not to be supposed for a moment that the inception of esthetic
notions dates from this association of ideas of beauty with textile
characters. Long before textile objects of a high class were made,
ideas of an esthetic nature had been entertained by the mind, as, for
example, in connection with personal adornment. The skin had been
painted, pendants placed about the neck, and bright feathers set in
the hair to enhance attractiveness, and it is not difficult to
[Pg 203]conceive of the transfer of such ideas from purely personal
associations to the embellishment of articles intimately associated
with the person. No matter, however, what the period or manner of the
association of such ideas with the textile art, that association may
be taken as the datum point in the development of a great system of
decoration whose distinguishing characters are the result of the
geometric textile construction.

In amplifying this subject I find it convenient to treat separately
the two classes of decorative phenomena—the relieved and the
flat—notwithstanding the fact that they are for the most part
intimately associated and act together in the accomplishment of a
common end.

RELIEF PHENOMENA.

Ordinary features.—The relieved surface characters of fabrics
resulting from construction and available for decoration are more or
less distinctly perceptible to the eye and to the touch and are
susceptible of unlimited variation in detail and arrangement. Such
features are familiar to all in the strongly marked ridges of
basketry, and much more pleasingly so in the delicate figures of
damasks, embroideries, and laces. So long as the figures produced are
confined exclusively to the necessary features of unembellished
construction, as is the case in very primitive work and in all plain
work, the resultant patterns are wholly geometric and by endless
repetition of like parts extremely monotonous.

In right angled weaving the figures combine in straight lines, which
run parallel or cross at uniform distances and angles. In radiate
weaving, as in basketry, the radial lines are crossed in an equally
formal manner by concentric lines. In other classes of combination
there is an almost equal degree of geometricity.

When, however, with the growth of intelligence and skill it is found
that greater variety of effect can be secured by modifying the
essential combinations of parts, and that, too, without interfering
with constructive perfection or with use, a new and wide field is
opened for the developmental tendencies of textile decoration.

Moreover, in addition to the facilities afforded by the necessary
elements of construction, there are many extraneous resources of which
the textile decorator may freely avail himself. The character of these
is such that the results, however varied, harmonize thoroughly with
indigenous textile forms.

To make these points quite clear it will be necessary to analyze
somewhat closely the character and scope of textile combination and of
the resultant and associated phenomena.

We may distinguish two broad classes of constructive phenomena made
use of in the expression of relieved enrichment. As indicated above,
these are, first, essential or actual constructive features and,
second, extra or superconstructive features.

[Pg 204]First, it is found that in the practice of primitive textile art a
variety of methods of combination or bindings of the parts have been
evolved and utilized, and we observe that each of these—no matter
what the material or what the size and character of the filamental
elements—gives rise to distinct classes of surface effects. Thus it
appears that peoples who happen to discover and use like combinations
produce kindred decorative results, while those employing unlike
constructions achieve distinct classes of surface embellishment. These
constructive peculiarities have a pretty decided effect upon the style
of ornament, relieved or colored, and must be carefully considered in
the treatment of design; but it is found that each type of combination
has a greatly varied capacity of expression, tending to obliterate
sharp lines of demarkation between the groups of results. It sometimes
even happens that in distinct types of weaving almost identical
surface effects are produced.

It will not be necessary in this connection to present a full series
of the fundamental bindings or orders of combination, as a few will
suffice to illustrate the principles involved and to make clear the
bearing of this class of phenomena upon decoration. I choose, first, a
number of examples from the simplest type of weaving, that in which
the web and the woof are merely interlaced, the filaments crossing at
right angles or nearly so. In Fig. 291 we have the result exhibited in
a plain open or reticulated fabric constructed from ordinary untwisted
fillets, such as are employed in our splint and cane products. Fig.
292 illustrates the surface produced by crowding the horizontal series
of the same fabric close together, so that the vertical series is
entirely hidden. The surface here exhibits a succession of vertical
ribs, an effect totally distinct from that seen in the preceding
example. The third variety (Fig. 293) differs but slightly from the
first. The fillets are wider and are set close together without
crowding, giving the surface a checkered appearance.

 

The second variety of surface effect is that most frequently seen in
the basketry of our western tribes, as it results from the great
degree of compactness necessary in vessels intended to contain
liquids, [Pg 205]semiliquid foods, or pulverized substances. The general
surface effect given by closely woven work is illustrated in Fig. 294,
which represents a large wicker carrying basket obtained from the Moki
Indians. In this instance the ridges, due to a heavy series of
radiating warp filaments, are seen in a vertical position.

 

It will be observed, however, that the ridges do not necessarily take
the direction of the warp filaments, for, with a different alternation
of the horizontal series—the woof—we get oblique ridges, as shown in
the partly finished bottle illustrated in Fig. 295. They are,
[Pg 206]however, not so pronounced as in the preceding case. The peculiar
effect of radiate and concentric weaving upon the ribs is well shown
in Fig. 296.

By changes in the order of intersection, without changing the type of
combination, we reach a series of results quite unlike the preceding;
so distinct, indeed, that, abstracted from constructive relationships,
there would be little suggestion of correlation. In the example given
in Fig. 297 the series of filaments interlace, not by passing over and
under alternate strands, as in the preceding set of examples, but by
extending over and under a number of the opposing series at each step
and in such order as to give wide horizontal ridges ribbed diagonally.

 

 

This example is from an ancient work basket obtained at Ancon, Peru,
and shown in Fig. 299. The surface features are in strong relief,
giving a pronounced herring bone effect.

 

 

Slight changes in the succession of parts enable the workman to
produce a great variety of decorative patterns, an example of which is
shown in Fig. 298. A good illustration is also seen in Fig. 286, and
another piece, said to be of Seminole workmanship, is given in Fig.
300. These and similar relieved results are fruitful sources of
primitive decorative motives. They are employed not only within [Pg 207]the
art itself, but in many other arts less liberally supplied with
suggestions of embellishment.

 

 

Taking a second type of combination, we have a family of resultant
patterns in the main distinguishable from the preceding.

 

 

Fig. 301 illustrates the simplest form of what Dr. O.T. Mason has
called the twined combination, a favorite one with many of our native
tribes. The strands of the woof series are arranged in twos and in
[Pg 208]weaving are twisted half around at each intersection, inclosing the
opposing fillets. The resulting open work has much the appearance of
ordinary netting, and when of pliable materials and distended or
strained over an earthen or gourd vessel the pattern exhibited is
strikingly suggestive of decoration. The result of this combination
upon a lattice foundation of rigid materials is well shown in the
large basket presented in Fig. 302. Other variants of this type are
given in the three succeeding figures.

 

 

The result seen in Fig. 303 is obtained by impacting the horizontal or
twined series of threads. The surface is nearly identical with that of
the closely impacted example of the preceding type (Fig. 292). The
peculiarities are more marked when colors are used. When the doubled
and twisted series of strands are placed far apart and the opposing
series are laid side by side a pleasing result is given, as shown in
Fig. 304 and in the body of the conical basket illustrated in Fig.
307.

 

 

In Fig. 305 we have a peculiar diagonally crossed arrangement of the
untwisted series of filaments, giving a lattice work effect.

 

 

Fig. 306 serves to show how readily this style of weaving lends
[Pg 209]itself to the production of decorative modification, especially in the
direction of the concentric zonal arrangement so universal in
vessel-making arts.

The examples given serve to indicate the unlimited decorative
resources possessed by the art without employing any but legitimate
constructive elements, and it will be seen that still wider results
can be obtained by combining two or more varieties or styles of
binding in the construction and the embellishment of a single object
or in the same piece of fabric. A good, though very simple,
illustration of this is shown in the tray or mat presented in Fig.
286. In this case a border, varying from the center portion in
appearance, is obtained by changing one series of the filaments from a
multiple to a single arrangement.

 

 

The conical basket shown in Fig. 307 serves to illustrate the same
point. In this case a rudely worked, though effective, border is
secured by changing the angle of the upright series near the top and
combining them by plaiting, and in such a way as to leave a border of
open work.

Now the two types of construction, the interlaced and the twined, some
primitive phases of which have been reviewed and illustrated, as they
are carried forward in the technical progress of the art, exhibit many
new features of combination and resultant surface character, but the
elaboration is in all cases along lines peculiar to these types of
weaving.

Other types of combination of web and woof, all tapestry, and all
[Pg 210]braiding, netting, knitting, crochet, and needle work exhibit
characters peculiar to themselves, developing distinct groups of
relieved results; yet all are analogous in principle to those already
illustrated and unite in carrying forward the same great geometric
system of combination.

Reticulated work.—A few paragraphs may be added here in regard to
reticulated fabrics of all classes of combination, as they exhibit
more than usually interesting relievo phenomena and have a decided
bearing upon the growth of ornament.

In all the primitive weaving with which we are acquainted definite
reticulated patterns are produced by variations in the spacings and
other relations of the warp and woof; and the same is true in all the
higher forms of the art. The production of reticulated work is the
especial function of netting, knitting, crocheting, and certain
varieties of needlework, and a great diversity of relieved results are
produced, no figure being too complex and no form too pronounced to be
undertaken by ambitious workmen.

In the following figures we have illustrations of the peculiar class
of primitive experiments that, after the lapse of ages, lead up to
marvelous results, the highest of which may be found in the exquisite
laces of cultured peoples. The Americans had only taken the first
steps in this peculiar art, but the results are on this account of
especial interest in the history of the art.

An example of simple reticulated hand weaving is shown in Fig. 308. It
is the work of the mound builders and is taken from an impression upon
an ancient piece of pottery obtained in Tennessee.

 

 

Fig. 309 illustrates a bit of ancient Peruvian work executed on a
frame or in a rude loom, a checker pattern being produced by arranging
the warp and woof now close together and now wide apart.

Open work of this class is sometimes completed by after processes,
certain threads or filaments being drawn out or introduced, by which
means the figures are emphasized and varied.

In Fig. 310 we have a second Peruvian example in which the woof
threads have been omitted for the space of an inch, and across this
[Pg 211]interval the loose warp has been plaited and drawn together, producing
a lattice-like band.

 

 

In a similar way four other bands of narrow open work are introduced,
two above and two below the wide band. These are produced by leaving
the warp threads free for a short space and drawing alternate pairs
across each other and fixing them so by means of a woof thread, as
shown in the cut.

Examples of netting in which decorative features have been worked are
found among the textile products of many American tribes and occur as
well in several groups of ancient fabrics, but in most cases where
designs of importance or complexity are desired parts are introduced
to facilitate the work.

Superconstructive features.—These features, so important in the
decoration of fabrics, are the result of devices by which a
construction already capable of fulfilling the duties imposed by
function has added to it parts intended to enhance beauty and which
may or may not be of advantage to the fabric. They constitute one of
the most [Pg 212]widely used and effective resources of the textile
decorator, and are added by sewing or stitching, inserting, drawing,
cutting, applying, appending, &c. They add enormously to the capacity
for producing relievo effects and make it possible even to render
natural forms in the round. Notwithstanding this fact—the most
important section of this class of features—embroidery is treated to
better advantage under color phenomena, as color is very generally
associated with the designs.

 

 

One example of lace-like embroidery may be given in this place. It is
probably among the best examples of monochrome embroidery America has
produced. In design and in method of realization it is identical with
the rich, colored embroideries of the ancient Peruvians, being worked
upon a net foundation, as shown in Fig. 311. The broad band of figures
employs bird forms in connection with running geometric designs, and
still more highly conventional bird forms are seen in the narrow band.

Appended ornaments are not amenable to the geometric laws of
fabrication to the extent observed in other classes of ornament. They
[Pg 213]are, however, attached in ways consistent with the textile system, and
are counted and spaced with great care, producing designs of a more or
less pronounced geometric character. The work is a kind of embroidery,
the parts employed being of the nature of pendants.

These include numberless articles derived from nature and art. It will
suffice to present a few examples already at hand.

 

 

Fig. 312 illustrates a large, well made basket, the work of the Apache
Indians. It serves to indicate the method of employing tassels and
clustered pendants, which in this case consist of buckskin strings
tipped with conical bits of tin. The checker pattern is in color.

 

 

Fig. 313 illustrates the use of other varieties of pendants. A feather
decked basket made by the northwest coast Indians is embellished with
pendent ornaments consisting of strings of beads tipped with bits of
bright shell. The importance of this class of work in higher forms of
textiles may be illustrated by an example from Peru. It is probable
that American art has produced few examples of tasseled work more
wonderful than that of which a fragment is shown in Fig. 314. It is a
fringed mantle, three feet in length and nearly the same in depth,
obtained from an ancient tomb. The body is made up of separately woven
bands, upon which disk-like and[Pg 214] [Pg 215]semilunar figures representing human
faces are stitched, covering the surface in horizontal rows. To the
center of these rosette-like parts clusters of tassels of varying
sizes are attached. The fringe, which is twenty inches deep, is
composed entirely of long strings of tassels, the larger tassels
supporting clusters of smaller ones. There are upwards of three
thousand tassels, the round heads of which are in many cases woven in
colors, ridges, and nodes to represent the human features. The general
color of the garment, which is of fine, silky wool, is a rich crimson.
The illustration can convey only a hint of the complexity and beauty
of the original.

 

 

We have now seen how varied and how striking are the surface
characters of fabrics as expressed by the third dimension, by
variation from a flat, featureless surface, and how all, essential and
ornamental, are governed by the laws of geometric combination. We
shall now see how these are related to color phenomena.

COLOR PHENOMENA.

Ordinary features.—In describing the constructive characters of
fabrics and the attendant surface phenomena, I called attention to the
fact that a greater part of the design manifested is enforced and
supplemented by color, which gives new meaning to every feature. Color
elements are present in the art from its very inception, and many
simple patterns appear as accidents of textile aggregation long before
the weaver or the possessor recognizes them as pleasing to the eye.
When, finally, they are so recognized and a desire for greater
elaboration springs up, the textile construction lends itself readily
to the new office and under the esthetic forces brings about wonderful
results without interfering in the least with the technical perfection
of the articles embellished. But color is not confined to the mere
emphasizing of figures already expressed in relief. It is capable of
advancing alone into new fields, producing patterns and designs
complex in arrangement and varied in hue, and that, too, without
altering the simple, monotonous succession of relievo characters.

In color, as in relieved design, each species of constructive
combination gives rise to more or less distinct groups of decorative
results, which often become the distinguishing characteristics of the
work of different peoples and the progenitors of long lines of
distinctions in national decorative conceptions.

In addition to this apparently limitless capacity for expression,
lovers of textile illumination have the whole series of extraordinary
resources furnished by expedients not essential to ordinary
construction, the character and scope of which have been dwelt upon to
some extent in the preceding section.

I have already spoken of color in a general way, as to its necessary
presence in art, its artificial application to fabrics and fabric
[Pg 216]materials, its symbolic characters, and its importance to esthetic
progress. My object in this section is to indicate the part it takes
in textile design, its methods of expression, the processes by which
it advances in elaboration, and the part it takes in all geometric
decoration.

It will be necessary, in the first place, to examine briefly the
normal tendencies of color combination while still under the direct
domination of constructive elaboration. In the way of illustration,
let us take first a series of filaments, say in the natural color of
the material, and pass through them in the simplest interlaced style a
second series having a distinct color. A very simple geometric pattern
is produced, as shown in Fig. 315. It is a sort of checker, an
emphasized presentation of the relievo pattern shown in Fig. 291, the
figures running horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Had these
filaments been accidentally associated in construction, the results
might have been the same, but it is unnecessary to indicate in detail
the possibilities of adventitious color combinations. So far as they
exhibit system at all it is identical with the relievo elaboration.

 

 

Assuming that the idea of developing these figures into something more
elaborate and striking is already conceived, let us study the
processes and tendencies of growth. A very slight degree of ingenuity
will enable the workman to vary the relation of the parts, producing a
succession of results such, perhaps, as indicated in Fig. 316. [Pg 217]In
this example we have rows of isolated squares in white which may be
turned hither and thither at pleasure, within certain angles, but they
result in nothing more than monotonous successions of squares.

 

 

Additional facility of expression is obtained by employing dark
strands in the vertical series also, and large, isolated areas of
solid color may be produced by changing the order of intersection,
certain of the fillets being carried over two or more of the opposing
series and in contiguous spaces at one step, as seen in Fig. 317. With
these elementary resources the weaver has very considerable powers of
expression, as will be seen in Fig. 318, which is taken from a basket
made by South American Indians, and in Fig. 341, where human figures
are delineated. The patterns in such cases are all rigidly geometric
and exhibit stepped outlines of a pronounced kind. With impacting and
increased refinement of fillets the stepped character is in a
considerable measure lost sight of and realistic, graphic
representation is to a greater extent within the workman’s reach. It
is probable, however, that the idea of weaving complex ideographic
characters would not occur to the primitive mind at a very early date,
and a long period of progress would elapse before delineative subjects
would be attempted.

I do not need to follow this style of combination into the more
refined kinds of work and into loom products, but may add that through
all, until perverted by ulterior influences, the characteristic
geometricity and monotonous repetition are allpervading.

---

For the purpose of looking still more closely into the tendencies of
normal textile decorative development I shall present a series of
Indian baskets, choosing mainly from the closely woven or impacted
varieties because they are so well represented in our collections and
[Pg 218]at the same time are so very generally embellished with designs in
color; besides, they are probably among the most simple and primitive
textile products known. I have already shown that several types of
combination when closely impacted produce very similar surface
characters and encourage the same general style of decoration. In
nearly all, the color features are confined to one series of
fillets—those of the woof—the other, the warp, being completely
hidden from view. In the preceding series the warp and woof were
almost equally concerned in the expression of design. Here but one is
used, and in consequence there is much freedom of expression, as the
artist carries the colored filaments back and forth or inserts new
ones at will. Still it will be seen that in doing this he is by no
means free; he must follow the straight and narrow pathway laid down
by the warp and woof, and, do what he may, he arrives at purely
geometric results.

 

 

I will now present the examples, which for the sake of uniformity are
in all cases of the coiled ware. If a basket is made with no other
idea than that of use the surface is apt to be pretty uniform in
color, the natural color of the woof fillets. If decoration is desired
a colored fillet is introduced, which, for the time, takes the place
and does the duty of the ordinary strand. Fig. 319 serves to show the
construction and surface appearance of the base of a coil made vessel
still quite free from any color decoration. Now, if it is desired to
begin a design, the plain wrapping thread is dropped and a colored
[Pg 219]fillet is inserted and the coiling continues. Carried once around the
vessel we have an encircling line of dark color corresponding to the
lower line of the ornament seen in Fig. 320. If the artist is content
with a single line of color he sets the end of the dark thread and
takes up the light colored one previously dropped and continues the
coiling. If further elaboration is desired it is easily accomplished.
In the example given the workman has taken up the dark fillet again
and carried it a few times around the next turn of the warp coil; then
it has been dropped and the white thread taken up, and again, in turn,
another dark thread has been introduced and coiled for a few turns,
and so on until four encircling rows of dark, alternating rectangles
have been produced. Desiring to introduce a meandered design he has
taken the upper series of rectangles as bases and adding colored
filaments at the proper time has carried oblique lines, one to the
right and the other to the left, across the six succeeding ridges of
the warp coil. The pairs of stepped lines meeting above were joined in
rectangles like those below, and the decoration was closed by a border
line at the top. The vessel was then completed in the light colored
material. In this ornament all forms are bounded by two classes of
lines, vertical and horizontal (or, viewed from above or below, radial
and encircling), the lines of the warp and the woof. Oblique bands of
color are made up of series of rectangles, giving stepped outlines.
Although these figures are purely geometric, it is not impossible that
in their position and grouping they preserve a trace of some imitative
conception modified to this shape by the forces of the art. They serve
quite as well, however, to illustrate simple mechanical elaboration as
if entirely free from suspicion of associated ideas.

 

 

In Fig. 321 I present a superb piece of work executed by the Indians
of the Tule River, California. It is woven in the closely impacted,
coiled style. The ornament is arranged in horizontal zones and
consists of a series of diamond shaped figures in white with red
[Pg 220]centers and black frames set side by side. The processes of
substitution where changes of color are required are the same as in
the preceding case and the forms of figures and the disposition of
designs are the same, being governed by the same forces.

 

 

Another choice piece, from the Pima Indians of Arizona, is given in
Fig. 322. The lines of the ornament adhere exclusively to the
directions imposed by the warp and the woof, the stripes of black
color ascending with the turns of the fillet for a short distance,
then for a time following the horizontal ridges, and again ascending,
the complete result being a series of zigzag rays set very close
together. These rays take an oblique turn to the left, and the dark
figures at the angles, from the necessities of construction, form rows
at right angles to these. A few supplementary rays are added toward
the margin to fill out the widening spaces. Another striking example
of the domination of technique over design is illustrated in Fig. 323.

 

 

Two strongly marked, fret-like meanders encircle the vessel, the
elements of which are ruled exclusively by the warp and woof, by the
radiate and the concentric lines of construction. This is the work of
the Pima Indians of Arizona.

[Pg 221]

 

 

I shall close the series with a very handsome example of Indian
basketry and of basketry ornamentation (Fig. 324). The conical shape
is highly pleasing and the design is thoroughly satisfactory and, like
all the others, is applied in a way indicative of a refined sense of
the decorative requirements of the utensil. The design is wholly
geometric, and, although varied in appearance, is composed almost
exclusively of dark triangular figures upon a light ground. The
general grouping is in three horizontal or encircling bands agreeing
with or following the foundation coil. Details are governed by the
horizontal and the oblique structure lines. The vertical construction
lines have no direct part in the conformation of the design excepting
in so far as they impose a stepped character upon all oblique
outlines.

These studies could be carried through all the types of primitive
textile combination, but such a work seems unnecessary, for in all
cases the elaboration in design, relieved and colored, is along
similar lines, is governed by the same class of forces, and reaches
closely corresponding results.

---

We have observed throughout the series of examples presented a decided
tendency toward banded or zonal arrangement of the ornamentation. Now
each of these bands is made up of a number of units, uniform in shape
and in size and joined or linked together in various suitable and
consistent ways. In contemplating them we are led to inquire into the
nature of the forces concerned in the accomplishment of such results.
The question arises as to exactly how [Pg 222]much of the segregating and
aggregating forces or tendencies belongs to the technique of the art
and how much to the direct esthetic supervision of the human agent,
questions as to ideographic influence being for the present omitted.
This is a difficult problem to deal with, and I shall not attempt more
here than to point out the apparent teachings of the examples studied.

The desires of the mind constitute the motive power, the force that
gives rise to all progress in art; the appreciation of beauty and the
desire to increase it are the cause of all progress in purely
decorative elaboration. It appears, however, that there is in the mind
no preconceived idea of what that elaboration should be. The mind is a
growing thing and is led forward along the pathways laid out by
environment. Seeking in art gratification of an esthetic kind it
follows the lead of technique along the channels opened by such of the
useful arts as offer suggestions of embellishment. The results reached
vary with the arts and are important in proportion to the facilities
furnished by the arts. As I have already amply shown, the textile art
possesses vast advantages over all other arts in this respect, as it
is first in the field, of widest application, full of suggestions of
embellishment, and inexorably fixed in its methods of expression. The
mind in its primitive, mobile condition is as clay in the grasp of
technique.

A close analysis of the forces and the influences inherent in the art
will be instructive. For the sake of simplicity I exclude from
consideration all but purely mechanical or non-ideographic elements.
It will be observed that order, uniformity, symmetry, are among the
first lessons of the textile art. From the very beginning the workman
finds it necessary to direct his attention to these considerations in
the preparation of his material as well as in the building of his
utensils. If parts employed in construction are multiple they must be
uniform, and to reach definite results (presupposing always a demand
for such results), either in form or ornament, there must be a
constant counting of numbers and adjusting to spaces. The most
fundamental and constant elements embodied in textile art and
available for the expression of embellishment are the minute steps of
the intersections or bindings; the most necessary and constant
combination of these elements is in continuous lines or in rows of
isolated figures; the most necessary and constant directions for these
combinations are with the web and the woof, or with their
complementaries, the diagonals. If large areas are covered certain
separation or aggregation of the elements into larger units is called
for, as otherwise absolute sameness would result. Such separation or
aggregation conforms to the construction lines of the fabric, as any
other arrangement would be unnatural and difficult of accomplishment.
When the elements or units combine in continuous zones, bands, or rays
they are placed side by side in simple juxtaposition or are united [Pg 223]in
various ways, always following the guide lines of construction through
simple and complex convolutions. Whatever is done is at the suggestion
of technique; whatever is done takes a form and arrangement imposed by
technique. Results are like in like techniques and are unlike in
unlike techniques; they therefore vary with the art and with its
variations in time and character.

All those agencies pertaining to man that might be supposed important
in this connection—the muscles of the hand and of the eye, the cell
structure of the brain, together with all preconceived ideas of the
beautiful—are all but impotent in the presence of technique, and, so
far as forms of expression go, submit completely to its dictates.
Ideas of the beautiful in linear geometric forms are actually formed
by technique, and taste in selecting as the most beautiful certain
ornaments produced in art is but choosing between products that in
their evolution gave it its character and powers, precisely as the
animal selects its favorite foods from among the products that
throughout its history constitute its sustenance and shape its
appetites.

---

Now, as primitive peoples advance from savagery to barbarism there
comes a time in the history of all kinds of textile products at which
the natural technical progress of decorative elaboration is interfered
with by forces from without the art. This occurs when ideas, symbolic
or otherwise, come to be associated with the purely geometric figures,
tending to arrest or modify their development, or, again, it occurs
when the artist seeks to substitute mythologic subjects for the
geometric units. This period cannot be always well defined, as the
first steps in this direction are so thoroughly subordinated to the
textile forces. Between what may be regarded as purely technical,
geometric ornament and ornament recognizably delineative, we find in
each group of advanced textile products a series of forms of mixed or
uncertain pedigree. These must receive slight attention here.

 

 

Fig. 325 represents a large and handsome basket obtained from the
[Pg 224]Apache. It will be seen that the outline of the figures comprising the
principal zone of ornament departs somewhat from the four ruling
directions of the textile combination. This was accomplished by
increasing the width of the steps in the outline as the dark rays
progressed, resulting in curved outlines of eccentric character. This
eccentricity, coupled with the very unusual character of the details
at the outer extremities of the figures, leads to the surmise that
each part of the design is a conventional representation of some life
form, a bird, an insect, or perhaps a man.

By the free introduction of such elements textile ornament loses its
pristine geometric purity and becomes in a measure degraded. In the
more advanced stages of Pueblo art the ornament of nearly all the
textiles is pervaded by ideographic characters, generally rude
suggestions of life forms, borrowed, perhaps, from mythologic art.
This is true of much of the coiled basketry of the Moki Indians. True,
many examples occur in which the ancient or indigenous geometric style
is preserved, but the majority appear to be more or less modified. In
many cases nothing can be learned from a study of the designs
themselves, as the particular style of construction is not adapted to
realistic expression, and, at best, resemblances to natural forms are
very remote. Two examples are given in Figs. 326 and 327. I shall
expect, however, when the art of these peoples is better known, to
learn to what particular mythic concept these mixed or impure
geometric devices refer.

 

 

The same is true of other varieties of Pueblo basketry, notably the
common decorated wickerware, two specimens of which are [Pg 225]given in
Figs. 328 and 329. This ware is of the interlaced style, with radially
arranged web filaments. Its geometric characters are easily
distinguished from those of the coiled ware. Many examples exhibit
purely conventional elaboration, the figures being arranged in rays,
zones, checkers, and the like. It is to be expected, however, that the
normal ornament of this class of products should be greatly interfered
with through attempts to introduce extraneous elements, for the
peoples have advanced to a stage of culture at which it is usual to
attempt the introduction of mythologic representations into all art.
Further consideration of this subject will be necessary in the next
section of this paper.

 

 

[Pg 226]The processes of pure geometric elaboration with which this section is
mainly concerned can be studied to best advantage in more primitive
forms of art.

 

 

Non-essential constructive features.—Now, all the varied effects of
color and design described in the preceding paragraphs are obtained
without seriously modifying the simple necessary construction, without
resorting to the multiple extraordinary devices within easy reach. The
development and utilization of the latter class of resources must now
receive attention. In the preceding examples, when it was desired to
begin a figure in color the normal ground filament was dropped out and
a colored one set into its place and made to fill its office while it
remained; but we find that in many classes of work the colored
elements were added to the essential parts, not substituted for them,
although they are usually of use in perfecting the fabric by adding to
serviceability as well as to beauty. This is illustrated, for example,
by the doubling of one series or of both warp and woof, by the
introduction of pile, by wrapping filaments with strands of other
colors, or by twisting in feathers. Savage nations in all parts of the
world are acquainted with devices of this class and employ them with
great freedom. The effects produced often correspond closely to
needlework, and the materials employed are often identical in both
varieties of execution.

The following examples will serve to illustrate my meaning. The effect
seen in Fig. 330 is observed in a small hand wallet obtained in
Mexico. The fillets employed appear to be wide, flattened straws of
varied colors. In order to avoid the monotony of a plain checker
certain of the light fillets are wrapped with thin fillets of dark
tint in such a way that when woven the dark color appears in small
squares placed diagonally with the fundamental checkers. Additional
effects are produced by covering certain portions of the filaments
with straws of distinct color, all being woven in with the fabric. By
other devices [Pg 227]certain parts of the fillets are made to stand out from
the surface in sharp points and in ridges, forming geometric figures,
either normal or added elements being employed. Another device is
shown in Fig. 331. Here a pattern is secured by carrying dark fillets
back and forth over the light colored fabric, catching them down at
regular intervals during the process of weaving. Again, feathers and
other embellishing media are woven in with the woof. Two interesting
baskets procured from the Indians of the northwest coast are shown in
Figs. 332 and 333. Feathers of brilliant hues are fixed to and woven
in with certain of the woof strands, which are treated, in the
execution of patterns, just as are ordinary colored threads, care
being taken not [Pg 228]to destroy the beauty of the feathers in the process.
The richly colored feathers lying smoothly in one direction are made
to represent various figures necessarily geometric. This simple work
is much surpassed, however, by the marvelous feather ornamentation of
the Mexicans and Peruvians, of which glowing accounts are given by
historians and of which a few meager traces are found in tombs. Much
of the feather work of all nations is of the nature of embroidery and
will receive attention further on. A very clever device practiced by
the northwest coast tribes consists in the use of two woof strands of
contrasting colors, one or the other being made to appear on the
surface, as the pattern demands.

 

 

An example from a higher grade of art will be of value in this
connection. The ancient Peruvians resorted to many clever devices for
purposes of enrichment. An illustration of the use of
extra-constructional means to secure desired ends are given in Figs.
334 and 335. Threads constituting a supplemental warp and woof are
carried across the under side of a common piece of fabric, that they
may be brought up and woven in here and there to produce figures of
contrasting color upon the right side. Fig. 334 shows the right side
of the cloth, with the secondary series appearing in the border and
central figure only. Fig. 335 illustrates the opposite side and shows
the loose hanging, unused portions of the auxiliary series. In such
work, when the figures are numerous and occupy a large part of the
surface, the fabric is really a double one, having a dual warp and
woof. Examples could be multiplied indefinitely, but it will readily
be seen from what has been presented that the results of these
extraordinary means cannot differ greatly from those legitimately
produced by the fundamental filaments alone.

 

 

Superconstructive features.—In reviewing the superconstructive
decorative features in the preceding section I classified them
[Pg 229]somewhat closely by method of execution or application to the fabric,
as stitched, inserted, drawn, cut, applied, and appended. It will be
seen that, although these devices are to a great extent of the nature
of needlework, all cannot be classed under this head.

Before needles came into use the decorative features were inserted and
attached in a variety of ways. In open work nothing was needed but the
end of the fillet or part inserted; again, in close work, perforations
were made as in leather work, and the threads were inserted as are the
waxed ends of the shoemaker.

The importance of this class of decorative devices to primitive
peoples will be apparent if we but call to mind the work of our own
Indian tribes. What a vast deal of attention is paid to those classes
of embroideries in which beads, feathers, quills, shells, seeds,
teeth, &c., are employed, and to the multitude of novel applications
of tassels, fringes, and tinkling pendants. The taste for these things
is universal and their relation to the development of esthetic ideas
is doubtless very intimate.

Needlework arose in the earliest stages of art and at first was
employed in joining parts, such as leaves, skins, and tissues, for
various useful purposes, and afterwards in attaching ornaments. In
time the attaching media, as exposed in stitches, loops, knots, and
the like, being of bright colors, were themselves utilized as
embellishment, and margins and apertures were beautified by various
bindings and borders, and finally patterns were worked in contrasting
colors upon the surfaces of the cloths and other materials of like
nature or use.

No other art so constantly and decidedly suggested embellishment and
called for the exercise of taste. It was the natural habitat for
decoration. It was the field in which technique and taste were most
frequently called upon to work hand in hand.

With the growth of culture the art was expanded and perfected, its
wonderful capacity for expression leading from mere bindings to
pretentious borders, to patterns, to the introduction of ideographs,
to the representation of symbols and mythologic subjects, and from
these to the delineation of nature, the presentation of historical and
purely pictorial scenes.

And now a few words in regard to the character of the work and its
bearing upon the geometric system of decoration. As purely
constructive ornamentation has already been presented, I will first
take up that class of superconstructive work most nearly related to
it. In some varieties of basketry certain bindings of the warp and
woof are actually left imperfect, with the idea of completing the
construction by subsequent processes, the intersections being gone
over stitch by stitch and lashed together, the embroidery threads
passing in regular order through the openings of the mesh. This
process is extremely convenient to the decorator, as changes from one
color to another are made without interfering with construction, and
the result is of a [Pg 230]closely similar character to that reached by
working the colors in with warp and woof. In a very close fabric this
method cannot be employed, but like results are reached by passing the
added filaments beneath the protruding parts of the bindings and,
stitch by stitch, covering up the plain fabric, working bright
patterns. Fig. 336 is intended to show how this is done. The
foundation is of twined work and the decorating fillets are passed
under by lifting, with or without a needle. This process is
extensively practiced by our west coast tribes, and the results are
extremely pleasing. The materials most used are quills and bright
colored straws, the foundation fabric being of bark or of rushes. The
results in such work are generally geometric, in a way corresponding
more or less closely with the ground work combination.

 

 

A large class of embroideries are applied by like processes, but
without reference to the construction of the foundation fabric, as
they are also applied to felt and leather. Again, artificially
prepared perforations are used, through which the fillets are passed.
The results are much less uniformly geometric than where the fabric is
followed; yet the mere adding of the figures, stitch by stitch or part
by part, is sufficient to impart a large share of geometricity, as may
be seen in the buckskin bead work and in the dentalium and quill work
of the Indians.

Feather embroidery was carried to a high degree of perfection by our
ancient aborigines, and the results were perhaps the most brilliant of
all these wonderful decorations. I have already shown how feathers are
woven in with the warp and woof, and may now give a single
illustration of the application of feather work to the surfaces of
fabrics. Among the beautiful articles recovered from the tombs of
Ancon, Peru, are some much decayed specimens of feather work. In our
example delicate feathers of red, blue, and yellow hues are applied to
the surface of a coarse cotton fabric by first carefully tying them
together in rows at regular distances and afterwards stitching them
down, as shown in Fig. 337.

The same method is practiced by modern peoples in many parts of the
world. Other decorative materials are applied in similar ways by
attachment to cords or fillets which are afterwards stitched down. In
all this work the geometricity is entirely or nearly uniform with
[Pg 231]that of the foundation fabrics. Other classes of decoration, drawn
work, appliqué, and the like, are not of great importance in
aboriginal art and need no additional attention here, as they have but
slight bearing upon the development of design.

 

 

Attached or appended ornaments constitute a most important part of
decorative resource. They are less subject to the laws of
geometricity, being fixed to surfaces and margins without close
reference to the web and woof. They include fringes, tassels, and the
multitude of appendable objects, natural and artificial, with which
primitive races bedeck their garments and utensils. A somewhat
detailed study of this class of ornament is given at the end of the
preceding section.

Adventitious features.—Ornament is applied to the surfaces of
fabrics by painting and by stamping. These methods of decoration were
employed in very early times and probably originated in other branches
of art. If the surface features of the textile upon which a design is
painted are strongly pronounced, the figures produced with the brush
or pencil will tend to follow them, giving a decidedly geometric
result. If the surface is smooth the hand is free to follow its
natural tendencies, and the results will be analogous in character to
designs painted upon pottery, rocks, or skins. In primitive times both
the texture of the textiles and the habits of the decorator, acquired
in textile work, tended towards the geometric style of delineation,
and we find that in work in which the fabric lines are not followed at
all the designs are still geometric, and geometric in the same way as
are similar designs woven in with the fabric. Illustrations of this
are given in the next section.

---

I have dwelt at sufficient length upon the character and the
tendencies of the peculiar system of embellishment that arises within
textile art as the necessary outgrowth of technique, and now proceed
to explain the relations of this system to associated art.

[Pg 232]In the strong forward tendency of the textile system of decoration it
has made two conquests of especial importance. In the first place it
has subdued and assimilated all those elements of ornament that have
happened to enter its realm from without, and in the second place it
has imposed its habits and customs upon the decorative systems of all
arts with which the textile art has come in contact.

GEOMETRICITY IMPOSED UPON ADOPTED ELEMENTS OF DESIGN.

At a very early stage of culture most peoples manifest decided
artistic tendencies, which are revealed in attempts to depict various
devices, life forms, and fancies upon the skin and upon the surfaces
of utensils, garments, and other articles and objects. The figures are
very often decorative in effect and may be of a trivial nature, but
very generally such art is serious and pertains to events or
superstitions. The devices employed may be purely conventional or
geometric, containing no graphic element whatever; but life forms
afford the most natural and satisfactory means of recording,
conveying, and symbolizing ideas, and hence preponderate largely. Such
forms, on account of their intimate relations with the philosophy of
the people, are freely embodied in every art suitable to their
employment. As already seen, the peculiar character of textile
construction places great difficulties in the way of introducing
unsymmetric and complex figures like those of natural objects into
fabrics. The idea of so employing them may originally have been
suggested by the application of designs in color to the woven surfaces
or by resemblances between the simpler conventional life form
derivatives and the geometric figures indigenous to the art.

At any rate, the idea of introducing life forms into the texture was
suggested, and in the course of time a great deal of skill was shown
in their delineation, the bolder workmen venturing to employ a wide
range of graphic subjects.

Now, if we examine these woven forms with reference to the
modifications brought about by the textile surveillance, we find that
the figures, as introduced in the cloth, do not at all correspond with
those executed by ordinary graphic methods, either in degree of
elaboration or in truthfulness of expression. They have a style of
their own. Each delineative element upon entering the textile realm is
forced into those peculiar conventional outlines imposed by the
geometric construction, the character of which has already been dwelt
upon at considerable length. We find, however, that the degree of
convention is not uniform throughout all fabrics, but that it varies
with the refinement of the threads or filaments, the compactness of
the mesh, the character of the combination, the graphic skill of the
artist, and the tendencies of his mind; yet we observe that through
all there is still exhibited a distinct and peculiar geometricity.

So pronounced is this technical bias that delineations of a
particular [Pg 233]creature—as, for example, a bird—executed by distant and
unrelated peoples, are reduced in corresponding styles of fabric to
almost identical shapes. This conventionalizing force is further
illustrated by the tendency in textile representation to blot out
differences of time and culture, so that when a civilized artisan,
capable of realistic pictorial delineation of a high order, introduces
a figure into a certain form of coarse fabric he arrives at a result
almost identical with that reached by the savage using the same, who
has no graphic language beyond the rudest outline.

A number of examples may be given illustrating this remarkable power
of textile combination over ornament. I select three in which the
human figure is presented. One is chosen from Iroquoian art, one from
Digger Indian art, and one from the art of the Incas—peoples unequal
in grade of culture, isolated geographically, and racially distinct. I
have selected specimens in which the parts employed give features of
corresponding size, so that comparisons are easily instituted. The
example shown in Fig. 338 illustrates a construction peculiar to the
wampum belts of the Iroquois and their neighbors, and quite unlike
ordinary weaving. It is taken from the middle portion of what is known
as the Penn wampum belt. The horizontal series of strands consists of
narrow strips of buckskin, through which the opposing series of
threads are sewed, holding in place the rows of cylindrical shell
beads. Purple beads are employed to develop the figures in a ground of
white beads. If the maker of this belt had been required to execute in
chalk a drawing depicting brotherly love the results would have been
very different.

 

 

My second illustration (Fig. 339) is drawn from a superb example of
the basketry of the Yokut Indians of California. The two figures form
[Pg 234]part of a spirally radiating band of ornament, which is shown to good
advantage in the small cut. Fig. 340. It is of the coiled style of
construction. The design is worked in four colors and the effect is
quiet and rich.

 

 

Turning southward from California and passing through many strange
lands we find ourselves in Peru, and among a class of remains that
bespeak a high grade of culture. The inhabitants of Ancon were
wonderfully skilled in the textile art, and thousands of handsome
examples have been obtained from their ancient tombs. Among these
relics are many neat little workbaskets woven from rushes. One of
these, now in the National Museum, is encircled by a decorated belt in
which are represented seven human figures woven in black filaments
upon a brown ground.

The base and rim of the basket are woven in the intertwined
combination, but in the decorated belt the style is changed to the
plain [Pg 235]right angled interlacing, for the reason, no doubt, that this
combination was better suited to the development of the intended
design. Besides the fundamental series of fillets the weaver resorted
to unusual devices in order to secure certain desired results. In the
first place the black horizontal series of filaments does not
alternate in the simplest way with the brown series, but, where a wide
space of the dark color is called for, several of the brown strands
are passed over at one step, as in the head and body, and in the wider
interspaces the dark strands pass under two or more of the opposing
strands. In this way broad areas of color are obtained. It will be
observed, however, that the construction is weakened by this
modification, and that to remedy the defect two additional extra
constructive series of fillets are added. These are of much lighter
weight than the main series, that they may not obscure the pattern.
Over the dark series they run vertically and over the light obliquely.

 

 

It will be seen that the result, notwithstanding all this modification
of procedure, is still remarkably like that of the preceding examples,
the figures corresponding closely in kind and degree of geometricity.

The fact is that in this coarse work refinement of drawing is
absolutely unattainable. It appears that the sharply pronounced steps
exhibited in the outlines are due to the great width of the fillets
used. With the finer threads employed by most nations of moderate
culture the stepped effect need not obtrude itself, for smooth
outlines and graceful curves are easily attainable; yet, as a rule,
even the finer fabrics continue to exhibit in their decorations the
pronounced geometric character seen in ruder forms. I present a
striking example of this in Fig. 342, a superb piece of Incarian
gobelins, in which a gaily costumed personage is worked upon a dark
red ground[Pg 236] [Pg 237]dotted with symbols and strange devices. The work is
executed in brilliant colors and in great detail. But with all the
facility afforded for the expression of minutely modulated form the
straight lines and sharp angles are still present. The traditions of
the art were favorable to great geometricity, and the tendencies of
the warp and woof and the shape of the spaces to be filled were
decidedly in that direction.

 

 

In order that the full force of my remarks may be appreciable to
the eye of the reader, I give an additional illustration (Fig. 343).
The two figures here shown, although I am not able to say positively
that the work is pre-Columbian, were executed by a native artist of
about the same stage of culture as was the work of the textile design.
These figures are executed in color upon the smooth surface of an
earthen vase and illustrate perfectly the peculiar characters of free
hand, graphic delineation. Place this and the last figure side by side
and we see how vastly different is the work of two artists of equal
capacity when executed in the two methods. This figure should also be
compared with the embroidered figures shown in Fig. 348.

The tendencies to uniformity in textile ornament here illustrated may
be observed the world over. Every element entering the art must
undergo a similar metamorphosis; hence the remarkable power [Pg 238]of this
almost universally practiced art upon the whole body of decorative
design.

 

 

That the range of results produced by varying styles of weaving and of
woven objects may be appreciated, I present some additional examples.
Coiled wares, for instance, present decorative phenomena strikingly at
variance with those in which there is a rectangular disposition of
parts. Instead of the two or more interlacing series of parallel
fillets exhibited in the latter style, we have one radiate and one
concentric series. The effect of this arrangement upon the introduced
human figure is very striking, as will be seen by reference to Fig.
344, which represents a large tray obtained from the Moki Indians. The
figure probably represents one of the mythologic personages of the
Moki pantheon or some otherwise important priestly functionary,
wearing the characteristic headdress of the ceremony in which the
plaque was to be used. The work is executed in wicker, stained in such
bright tints as were considered appropriate to the various features of
the costume. Referring in detail to the shape and arrangement of the
parts of the figure, it is apparent that many [Pg 239]of the remarkable
features are due to constructive peculiarities. The round face, for
example, does not refer to the sun or the moon, but results from the
concentric weaving. The oblique eyes have no reference to a Mongolian
origin, as they only follow the direction of the ray upon which they
are woven, and the headdress does not refer to the rainbow or the
aurora because it is arched, but is arched because the construction
forced it into this shape. The proportion of the figure is not so very
bad because the Moki artist did not know better, but because the
surface of the tray did not afford room to project the body and limbs.

 

 

Now, it may be further observed that had the figure been placed at one
side of the center, extending only from the border to the middle of
the tray, an entirely different result would have been reached; but
this is better illustrated in a series of bird delineations presented
in the following figures. With many tribes the bird is an object of
superstitious interest and is introduced freely into all art products
suitable for its delineation. It is drawn upon walls, skins, pottery,
and various utensils and weapons, especially those directly connected
with ceremonies in which the mythical bird is an important factor. The
bird form was probably in familiar use long before it was employed in
the decoration of basketry. In Fig. 345 I present an [Pg 240]ordinary graphic
representation. It is copied from a Zuñi shield and is the device of
an order or the totem of a clan. The style is quite conventional, as a
result of the various constraints surrounding its production. But what
a strange metamorphosis takes place when it is presented in the
basketmaker’s language. Observe the conventional pattern shown upon
the surface of a Moki tray (Fig. 346). We have difficulty in
recognizing the bird at all, although the conception is identical with
the preceding. The positions of the head and legs and the expanded
wings and tail correspond as closely as possible, but delineation is
hampered by technique. The peculiar construction barely permits the
presentation of a recognizable life form, and permits it in a
particular way, which will be understood by a comparison with the
treatment of the human figure in Fig. 344. In that case the interlaced
combination gives relievo results, characterized by wide, radiating
ribs and narrow, inconspicuous, concentric lines, which cross the ribs
in long steps. The power of expression lies almost wholly with the
concentric series, and detail must in a great measure follow the
concentric lines. In the present case (Fig. 346) this is reversed and
lines employed in expressing forms are radiate.

 

 

The precise effect of this difference of construction upon a
[Pg 241]particular feature may be shown by the introduction of another
illustration. In Fig. 347 we have a bird woven in a basket of the
interlaced style. We see with what ease the long sharp bill and the
slender tongue (shown by a red filament between the two dark
mandibles) are expressed. In the other case the construction is such
that the bill, if extended in the normal direction, is broad and
square at the end, and the tongue, instead of lying between the
mandibles, must run across the bill, totally at variance with the
truth; in this case the tongue is so represented, the light vertical
band seen in the cut being a yellow stripe. It will be seen that the
two representations are very unlike each other, not because of
differences in the conception and not wholly on account of the style
of weaving, but rather because the artist chose to extend one across
the whole surface of the utensil and to confine the other to one side
of the center.

 

 

It is clear, therefore, from the preceding observations that the
convention of woven life forms varies with the kind of weaving, with
the shape of the object, with the position upon the object, and with
the shape of the space occupied, as well as with the inherited style
of treatment and with the capacity of the artist concerned. These
varied forces and influences unite in the metamorphosis of all the
incoming elements of textile embellishment.

It will be of interest to examine somewhat closely the modifications
[Pg 242]produced in pictorial motives introduced through superstructural and
adventitious agencies.

We are accustomed, at this age of the world, to see needlework
employed successfully in the delineation of graphic forms and observe
that even the Indian, under the tutelage of the European, reproduces
in a more or less realistic way the forms of vegetal and animal life.
As a result we find it difficult to realize the simplicity and
conservatism of primitive art. The intention of the primitive artist
was generally not to depict nature, but to express an idea or decorate
a space, and there was no strong reason why the figures should not
submit to the conventionalizing tendencies of the art.

I have already shown that embroidered designs, although not from
necessity confined to geometric outlines, tend to take a purely
geometric character from the fabric upon which they are executed, as
well as from the mechanical processes of stitching. This is well shown
in Fig. 348, a fine specimen given by Wiener in his work Pérou et
Bolive.

 

 

A life form worked upon a net does not differ essentially from the
same subject woven in with the web and woof. The reason is found in
the fact that in embroidery the workman was accustomed from the first
to follow the geometric combination of the foundation fabric step by
step, and later in life delination he pursued the same method.

It would seem natural, however, that when the foundation fabric does
not exhibit well marked geometric characters, as in compactly woven
canvas, the needlework would assume free hand characters [Pg 243]and follow
the curves and irregularities of the natural object depicted; but such
is not the case in purely aboriginal work. An example of embroidery
obtained from an ancient grave at Ancon, Peru, is shown in Fig. 349. A
piece of brown cotton canvas is embellished with a border of bird
figures in bright colored wool thread. The lines of the figures do not
obey the web and woof strictly, as the lines are difficult to follow,
but the geometric character is as perfectly preserved as if the design
were woven in the goods.

 

 

[Pg 244]So habit and association carry the geometric system into adventitious
decoration. When the ancient Peruvian executed a design in color upon
a woven surface (Fig. 350), using a pencil or brush, the result was
hardly less subject to textile restraint.

As a matter of course, since there are two distinct styles of
decorative design—the textile and the free hand—there exist
intermediate forms partaking of the character of both; but it is
nevertheless clear that the textile system transforms or greatly
modifies all nature motives associated with it, whether introduced
into the fabric or applied to its surface.

In countries where the textile art is unimportant and the textile
system of decoration does not obtrude itself, free hand methods may
prevail to such an extent that the geometric influence is but little
felt. The Haidah Indians, for example, paint designs with great
freedom and skill, and those applied to woven surfaces are identical
with those executed upon skins, wood, and stone, but this art is
doubtless much modified by the means and methods of Europeans. Our
studies should be confined wholly to pure indigenous art.

EXTENSION OF TEXTILE ORNAMENT TO OTHER FORMS OF ART.

I have now dwelt at sufficient length upon the character of the
textile system of ornament and have laid especial stress upon the
manner in which it is interwoven with the technical constitution of
the art. I have illustrated the remarkable power of the art by which
decorative elements from without, coming once within the magic
influence, are seized upon and remodeled in accordance with the laws
of textile combination. Pursuing the investigation still further it is
found that the dominion of the textile system is not limited to the
art, but extends to other arts. Like a strong race of men it is not to
be confined to its own original habitat, but spreads to other realms,
stamping its own habits and character upon whatever happens to come
within its reach. Its influence is felt throughout the whole range of
those arts with which the esthetic sense of man seeks to associate
ideas of beauty. It is necessary, before closing this paper, to
examine briefly the character and extent of this influence and to
describe in some detail the agencies through which the results are
accomplished. First and most important are the results of direct
transmission.

House building, or architecture as it is called in the higher stages,
is in primitive times to a great extent textile; as culture develops,
other materials and other systems of construction are employed,
and the resultant forms vary accordingly; but textile characters are
especially strong and persistent in the matter of ornament, and
survive all changes, howsoever complete. In a similar way other
branches of art differentiated in material and function from the
parent art [Pg 245]inherit many characters of form and ornament conceived in
the textile stage. It may be difficult to say with reference to any
particular example of design that it had a textile origin, for there
may be multiple origins to the same or to closely corresponding forms;
but we may assert in a general way of the great body of geometric
ornament that it owes something—if not its inspiration, its modes of
expression—to the teachings of the textile system. This appears
reasonable when we consider that the weaver’s art, as a medium of
esthetic ideas, had precedence in time over nearly all competitors.
Being first in the field it stood ready on the birth of new forms of
art, whether directly related or not, to impose its characters upon
them. What claim can architecture, sculpture, or ceramics have upon
the decorative conceptions of the Digger Indians, or even upon those
of the Zuñi or Moki? The former have no architecture, sculpture, or
ceramics; but their system of decoration, as we have seen, is highly
developed. The Pueblo tribes at their best have barely reached the
stage at which esthetic ideas are associated with building; yet
classic art has not produced a set of geometric motives more chaste or
varied. These examples of the development of high forms of decoration
during the very early stages of the arts are not isolated. Others are
observed in other countries, and it is probable that if we could lift
the veil and peer into the far prehistoric stages of the world’s
greatest cultures the same condition and order would be revealed. It
is no doubt true that all of the shaping arts in the fullness of their
development have given rise to decorative features peculiar to
themselves; for construction, whether in stone, clay, wood, or metal,
in their rigid conditions, exhibits characters unknown before, many of
which tend to give rise to ornament. But this ornament is generally
only applicable to the art in which it develops, and is not
transferable by natural processes—as of a parent to its offspring—as
are the esthetic features of the weaver’s art.

Besides the direct transmission of characters and forms as suggested
in a preceding paragraph, there are many less direct but still
efficacious methods of transfer by means of which various arts acquire
textile decorative features, as will be seen by the following
illustrations.

Japanese art is celebrated for its exquisite decorative design. Upon
superb works of porcelain we have skillful representations of subjects
taken from nature and from mythology, which are set with perfect taste
upon fields or within borders of elaborate geometric design. If we
should ask how such motives came to be employed in ceramic decoration,
the answer would be given that they were selected and employed because
they were regarded as fitting and beautiful by a race of decorators
whose taste is well nigh infallible. But this explanation, however
satisfactory as applied to individual examples of modern art, is not
at all applicable to primitive art, for the mind of [Pg 246]man was not
primarily conscious of the beauty or fitness of decorative elements,
nor did he think of using them independently of the art to which they
were indigenous. Now the ceramic art gives rise to comparatively few
elements of decoration, and must therefore acquire the great body of
its decorative motives from other arts by some process not primarily
dependent upon the exercise of judgment or taste, and yet not by
direct inheritance, as the techniques of the two arts are wholly
distinct.

Textile and fictile arts are, in their earlier stages, to a large
extent, vessel making arts, the one being functionally the offshoot of
the other. The textile art is the parent, and, as I have already
shown, develops within itself a geometric system of ornament. The
fictile art is the offshoot and has within itself no predilection for
decoration. It is dependent and plastic. Its forms are to a great
extent modeled and molded within the textile shapes and acquire
automatically some of the decorative surface characters of the mold.
This is the beginning of the transfer, and as time goes on other
methods are suggested by which elements indigenous to the one art are
transferred to the other. Thus we explain the occurrence, the constant
recurrence of certain primary decorative motives in primitive
ceramics. The herring bone, the checker, the guilloche, and the like
are greatly the heritage of the textile art. Two forms derived from
textile surfaces are illustrated in Figs. 351 and 352. In the first
example shown, herring bone patterns appear as the result of textile
combination, and in the second a triangular checker is produced in the
same way. In Fig. 352 we see the result of copying these patterns in
incised lines upon soft clay.

 

 

Again, the ancient potter, who was in the habit of modeling his [Pg 247]wares
within baskets, seems to have conceived the idea of building his
vessels by coiling just as he built his baskets. The surface exhibits
coiled ridges like basketry, as shown in Fig. 353, and the textile
character was further imposed upon the clay by marking these coils
with the thumb and with implements to give the effect of the
transverse series of filaments, and the geometric color patterns of
the basketry were reproduced in incised lines. When these peoples came
to paint their wares it was natural that the colored patterns native
to the basketry should also be reproduced, and many more or less
literal transfers by copying are to be found. A fine example of these
painted textile designs is shown in Fig. 354. It is executed in a
masterly style upon a handsome vase of the white ware of ancient
Tusayan. Not only are the details reproduced with all their geometric
exactness, but the arrangement of the designs upon the vessel is the
same as in the textile original. Nine-tenths of the more archaic,
Pueblo, ceramic, ornamental designs are traceable to the textile art,
and all show the influence of textile convention.

 

 

[Pg 248]

 

 

Another peculiar class of transfers of a somewhat more indirect nature
may be noticed. All the more advanced American nations were very fond
of modeling the human form in clay, a large percentage of vessels
having some trace of the human form or physiognomy. Now, in many cases
the costume of the personage represented in the clay is also imitated,
and generally in color, the details of the fabrics receiving their
full share of attention. Such an example, from a sepulcher at Ancon,
is shown in Fig. 355. Here the poncho or mantle thrown across the
shoulders falls down upon the body in front and behind and the stripes
and conventional fishes are accurately reproduced. In this way both
style and matter of the textile decoration are introduced into the
ceramic art.

 

 

It will be seen by these illustrations that there are many natural
[Pg 249]methods, automatic or semiautomatic in character, by which the one art
receives aid from the other; that in the beginning of the transfer of
textile ornament to fictile forms the process is purely mechanical,
and that it is continued automatically without any very decided
exercise of judgment or taste. As a result, these borrowed decorations
are generally quite as consistent and appropriate as if developed
within the art itself. Later in the course of progress the potter
escapes in a measure from this narrow groove and elaborates his
designs with more freedom, being governed still to a certain extent by
the laws of instinctive and automatic procedure. When, finally,
intellect assumes to carry on the work independently of these laws,
decoration tends to become debased.

Turning to other branches of art, what traces do we find of the
transfer to them of textile features? Take, for example, sculpture. In
the wood carving of the Polynesians we observe a most elaborate system
of decoration, more or less geometric in character. We do not need to
look a second time to discover a striking likeness to the textile
system, and we ask, Is it also derived from a textile source? In the
first place let us seek within the art a reason for the peculiar
forms. In carving wood and in tracing figures upon it with pointed
tools the tendency would certainly be towards straight lines and
formal combinations; but in this work there would be a lack of
uniformity in execution and of persistency in narrow lines of
combination, such as result from the constant necessity of counting
and spacing in the textile art. In the presentation of natural forms
curved lines are called for, and there is nothing inherent in the
carver’s art to forbid the turning of such lines with the graver or
knife. Graphic art would be realistic to an extent regulated by the
skill and habits of the artist. But, in reality, the geometric
character of this work is very pronounced, and we turn naturally
toward the textile art to ask whether in some way that art has not
exercised an influence. The textile arts of these peoples are highly
developed and were doubtless so in a degree from very early times, and
must have had a close relation with the various arts, and especially
so in the matter of ornament. Specific examples may be cited showing
the intimacy of wood carving to textilia. Bows, spears, arrows, &c.
are bound with textile materials to increase their strength. Knives
and other weapons are covered with textile sheaths and handles of
certain utensils are lashed on with twisted cords. In ceremonial
objects these textile features are elaborated for ornament and the
characteristic features of this ornament are transferred to associated
surfaces of wood and stone by the graver. A most instructive
illustration is seen in the ceremonial adzes so numerous in museums
(Fig. 356). The cords used primarily in attaching the haft are, after
loss of function, elaborately plaited and interwoven until they become
an important feature and assume the character of decoration. The heavy
wooden [Pg 250]handles are elaborately carved, and the suggestions of figures
given by the interlaced cords are carried out in such detail that at a
little distance it is impossible to say where the real textile surface
ceases and the sculptured portion begins.

All things considered, I regard it as highly probable that much of the
geometric character exhibited in Polynesian decoration is due to
textile dominance. That these peoples are in the habit of employing
textile designs in non-textile arts is shown in articles of costume,
such as the tapa cloths, made from the bark of the mulberry tree,
which are painted or stamped in elaborate geometric patterns. This
transfer is also a perfectly natural one, as the ornament is applied
to articles having functions identical with the woven stuffs in which
the patterns originate, and, besides, the transfer is accomplished by
means of stamps themselves textile. Fig. 357 illustrates the
construction of these stamps and indicates just how the textile
character is acquired.

 

 

Textile materials are very generally associated with the human figure
in art, and thus sculpture, which deals chiefly with the human form,
becomes familiar with geometric motives and acquires them. Through
sculpture these motives enter architecture. But textile [Pg 251]decoration
pervades architecture before the sculptor’s chisel begins to carve
ornament in stone and before architecture has developed of itself the
rudiments of a system of surface embellishment. Textile art in mats,
covers, shelters, and draperies is intimately associated with floors
and walls of houses, and the textile devices are in time transferred
to the stone and plaster. The wall of an ancient Pueblo estufa, or
ceremonial chamber, built in the pre-esthetic period of architecture,
antedating, in stage of culture, the first known step in Egyptian art,
is encircled by a band of painted figures, borrowed, like those of the
pottery, from a textile source. The doorway or rather entrance to the
rude hovel of a Navajo Indian is closed by a blanket of native make,
unsurpassed in execution and exhibiting conventional designs of a high
order.

 

 

The ancient “hall of the arabesques” at Chimu, Peru, is decorated in
elaborate designs that could only have arisen in the textile art
[Pg 252](Fig. 358), and other equally striking examples are to be found in
other American countries. The classic surface decorations known and
used in Oriental countries from time immemorial prevailed in
indigenous American architecture at a stage of culture lower than any
known stage of classic art.

It may appear that I have advocated too strongly the claims of the
textile art to the parentage of geometric ornament and that the
conclusions reached are not entirely satisfactory, but I have
endeavored so to present the varied phenomena of the art that the
student may readily reach deductions of his own. A correspondingly
careful study of other branches of art will probably enable us finally
to form a just estimate of the relative importance of the forces and
tendencies concerned in the evolution of decoration.

---

 

INDEX

 

• Alaskan Indians, illustration of ornamentation by 199
• Ancon, Peru, examples of ornamentation from graves at 212, 230, 231, 236, 243, 248
• Apache, illustrations of ornamentation by 198, 213, 223
• British Guiana Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 217
• Chimu, Peru, ornamentation of “hall of arabesques” at 251, 252
• Clallam Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 207
• Color in textile art 201, 202
• Color phenomena in textile ornament 215-232
• Form in textile art and its relation to ornament, with illustrations from Indian work 196-201
• Geometric design, relations of, to textile ornament 202-244
• Holmes, W. H. paper by, on textile art in its relation to the development of form and ornament 189-252
• Klamath Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 208, 209, 227
• McCloud River Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 221
• Moki, illustrations of ornamentation by 197, 205, 224, 225, 226, 238, 240
• Northwest Coast Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 213, 218, 227, 230
• Penn wampum belt 233
• Peruvians, ancient, illustrations of ornamentation by 211, 212, 214, 228, 230, 231, 235, 236, 237, 242, 243, 248
• Pima Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 220
• Piute Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 198, 205
• Polynesian ornamentation, illustrations of 249, 250
• Seminole Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 207
• Textile art in its relation to the development of form and ornament, paper by W. H. Holmes on 189-252
• Tule River Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 219
• Tusayan ornament, illustrations of 247, 248
• Wiener, cited 242
• Yokut Indians, illustrations of ornamentation by 233, 234
• Zuñi, illustrations of ornamentation by 239

---

 

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Study Of The Textile Art In Its
Relation To The Development Of Form And Ornament, by William H. Holmes

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STUDY OF THE TEXTILE ART ***

***** This file should be named 17730-h.htm or 17730-h.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/3/17730/

Produced by PM for Bureau of American Ethnology, Jeannie
Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale
de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr)


Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.



*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://gutenberg.org/license).


Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.  See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.

1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.

1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.

1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that

- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
     License.  You must require such a user to return or
     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
     Project Gutenberg-tm works.

- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
     of receipt of the work.

- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.

1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.


Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm

Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.


Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.

The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://pglaf.org

For additional contact information:
     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
     Chief Executive and Director
     gbnewby@pglaf.org


Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit http://pglaf.org

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate


Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.

Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.


Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.


Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:

     http://www.gutenberg.org

This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.