a/ f ' i w. MV5EVM of the AMERICAN INDIAN.' IU1 Jlilll.111. Illlillll .I...II..IIJJJ J J IIIUIII NUjlUljllDniUl^lllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllllllll 'l-'.l.lL.lll.l i mm FREDERICK W. ttODiSE COLLECTION a Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924104075290 A STUDY THE TEXTILE AET IN ITS RELATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FORM AND'ORNAMTNT WILLIAM HENRY HOLMES EXTRACT FROM THE SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1888 a ! 6-^6 A STUDY OF THE TEXTILE ART IN ITS RELATION TO THE ' DEVELOPMENT OF FORM AND OENAMENT WILLIAM H. HOLMES. 189 CONTENTS. Page Introduction , 195 Form in textile art 196 Relations of form to ornament 201 Color in textile art 201 Textile ornament 202 Development of a geometric system within the art 202 Introduction • 202 Relief phenomena 203 Ordinary features 203 Reticulated work 210 Superconstructive features 211 Color phenomena 215 Ordinary features 215 Non-essential constructive features 226 Superconstructive features ■ 228 Adventitious features 231 Geometricity imposed upon adopted elements 232 Extension of textile ornament to other forms of art 244 191 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Fig. 286. Mat or tray with esthetic attributes of form 197 287. Tray having decided esthetic attributes of form 198 288. Pyriform water vessel 198 289. Basket with esthetic characters of form 199 290. Basket of eccentric form 200 291. Character of surface in the simplest form of weaving 204 292. Surface produced by impacting 204 293. Surface produced by use of wide fillets ' 204 294. Basket with ribbed surface 205 295. Bottle showing obliquely ribbed surface 205 296. Tray showing radial ribs 205 297. Combination giving herring bone effect 206 298. Combination giving triangular figures 206 299. Peruvian work basket 206 300. Basket of Seminole workmanship 207 301. Surface effect produced in open twined combination 207 302. Surface effect produced in open twined combination 207 303. Surface effect produced by impacting in twined combination 208 304. Surface effect produced by impacting the web strands in twined combination 208 305. Surface effect produced by crossing the web series in open twined work 208 306. Tray with open mesh, twined combination 208 307. Conical basket, twined combination 209 308. Example of primitive reticulated weaving 210 309. Simple form of reticulation 211 310. Reticulated pattern in cotton cloth 211 311. Peruvian embroidery 212 312. Basket with pendent ornaments 213 313. Basket with pendent ornaments 213 314. Tasseled Peruvian mantle 214 315. Pattern produced by interlacing strands of different colors 216 316. Pattern produced by interlacing strands of different colors 216 317. Pattern produced by interlacing strands of different colors 216 318. Pattern produced by interlacing strands of different colors 217 319. Base of coiled basket 218 320. Coiled basket with geometric ornament ._ 218 321. Coiled basket with geometric ornament 219 322. Coiled basket with geometric ornament 220 323. Coiled basket with geometric ornament 220 324. Coiled basket with geometric ornament 221 325. Coiled basket with geometric ornament 223 326. Coiled tray with geometric ornament 224 327. Coiled tray with geometric ornament 225 6 ETH 13 193 194 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Fig. 328. Tray with geometric ornament 225 329. Tray with geometric ornament 226 330. Ornament produced by wrapping the strands .■ 227 331. Ornament produced by fixing strands to the surface of the fabric. . 227 332. Basket with feather ornamentation 227 333. Basket with feather ornamentation 227 334. Piece of cloth showing use of supplementary warp and woof 228 335. Piece of cloth showing use of supplementary warp and woof 228 336. Example of grass embroidery 230 337. Example of feather embroidery 231 338. Figures from the Penn wampum belt 233 339. Figures from a California Indian basket 234 340. California Indian basket 234 341. Figures from a Peruvian basket 235 342. Figure from a piece of Peruvian gobelins 236 343. Figures from a Peruvian vase 237 344. Figure from a circular basket 238 345. Figure of a bird from a Zufii shield 239 346. Figure of a bird woven in a tray 240 347. Figure of a bird woven in a basket 241 348. Figures embroidered on a cotton net by the ancient Peruvians 242 349. Figures of birds embroidered by the ancient Peruvians 243 350. Conventional design painted upon cotton cloth 243 351. Herring bone and checker patterns produced in weaving . : 246 352. Herring bone and checker patterns engraved in clay 246 353. Earthen vase with textile ornament 247 354. Example of textile ornament painted upon pottery 248 355. Textile pattern transferred to pottery through costume 248 356. Ceremonial adz with carved ornament of textile character 250 357. Figures upon a tapa stamp 251 358. Design in stucco exhibiting textile characters 251 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 con- struction. 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 im- portant, though unobtrusive, place in the hierarchy of the arts. Woven fabrics inchide all those products of art in which the ele- ments 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 numer- ous 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 ex- clusively 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 in- cludes three subdivisions of phenomena, connected respectively with (1) form, (2) color, and (3) design. Esthetic features of form are, 195 r 196 TEXTILE AET IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. in origin and manifestation, related to both function and construc- tion; 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 prod- ucts 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 hav- ing no parallel in the world. Uncontaminated by contact with the complex conditions of civilized art, it offers the best possible facili- ties for the study of the fundamental principles of esthetic develop- ment. 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 succeed- ing 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 express- ing 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 dis- tended 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 recog- nized 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 pur- pose 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 char- acters 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 modifica- tions whose chief office is to please the fancy. In periods of dead- ened sensibility or even through the incompetence of individual art- ists in any period, such features may be ill chosen and erroneously HOLMES.] FORM IN TEXTILE ART. 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 en- hancing beauty without interfering with serviceability; and, fourth, that in which, under abnormal influences, beauty is sought at the sac- rifice of functional and constructive perfection. Fro. 286. Mat or tray exhibiting a minimum of esthetic attributes of form. Moki work— $. 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 flat- ness 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 attach- ing to such a shape cannot be great, unless perhaps it be regarded, 198 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. as all individuals and classes may be regarded, in its possible rela- tions 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 at- tention in the proper place. IpN Fig. 387. Tray having decided esthetic attributes of form. Obtained from the Apach%^-i. In point of contour the basket tray shown in Fig. 287 has a some- what 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 tech- nical perfection must remain in doubt. In work so perfect we are wont, however unwarrantably, to recognize the influence of taste. Fig. Pyrif orm water vessel used by the Piute Indians — ■ f 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 holmes.] FORM IN TEXTILE ART. " 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 limit- ations 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 exist- ence 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 de- tail 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 sug- gested to the primitive mind by some functional, constructive, or accidental feature which may with ease be turned in the new direc- tion. In the vessel presented in Fig. 289 — the work of Alaskan Fig. 389. Vessel with esthetic characters of form. Work of the Yakama — }. 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 no- ticeable 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 sav- age undertakes to secure all the grace and complexity observed in the 200 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. works of more cultured peoples, he does so at the expense of construc- tion and adaptability to use. An example of such work is presented in Fig. 290, a weak, useless, and wholly vicious piece of basketry. Fig. 390. Basket made under foreign influence, construction and use being sacrificed to fancied beauty — $■ 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 diffi- culties 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 ca- pacity 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 agen- cies, 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 holmes.] FORM AND ORNAMENT IN TEXTILE ART. 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 ex- tent, 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 con- struction, 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 202 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 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 express- ive 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 in- serted 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 cer- tain 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 holmes.1 GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OP RELIEVED FEATURES. 203 conceive of the transfer of such ideas from purely personal associa- tions to the embellishment of articles intimately associated with the person. No matter, however, what the period or manner of the as- sociation 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 fiat — notwithstanding the fact that they are for the most part intimately associated and act together in the accomplishment of a common end. HELIEF 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 suscepti- ble 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 con- structive 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 ele- ments 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. 204 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. First, it is f ound that in the practice of primitive textile art a va- riety 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 ap- pears that peoples who happen to discover and use like combinations produce kindred decorative results, while those employing unlike con- structions 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 sur- face 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 suf- fice 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 Fig. 291. Surface relief in simplest form of intersec- tion. Fig. 298. Surface relief pro- duced by horizontal series crowded together. Fig. 293. Surface relief produced by wide fillets set close together. 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 fil- lets 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 compa-ctness necessary in vessels intended to contain liquids, HOLMES.] GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OF RELIEVED FEATURES. 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 Fig. 394. Basket showing ribbed surface produced by impacting the horizontal or concentric fila- ments. Moki work — $. Indians. In this instance the ridges, due to a heavy series of radi- ating warp filaments, are seen in a vertical position. It will be observed, however, that the ridges do not necessarily take if 'film 1 I Fig. 395. Alternation of intersection, producing oblique or spiral ribs. Pi- ute work — £. Fig. 296. Radiating ribs as seen in flat work viewed from above. Moki work — $. 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, how- 206 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. ever, 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 preced- ing; so distinct, indeed, that, abstracted from constructive relation- ships, there would be little suggestion of correlation. In the example Fig. 297. Diagonal combination, giving herring bone effect. Fig. 898. Elaboration of diagonal combina- tion, giving triangular figures. given in Fig. 297 the series of filaments interlace, not by passing over and under alternate strands, as in the preceding set of exam- ples, 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. Fig. 299. Peruvian work basket of reeds, with strongly relieved ridges. 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 holmes.] GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OF RELIEVED FEATURES. 207 the art itself, but in many other arts less liberally supplied with sug- gestions of embellishment. [Fig. 300. Effects produced by varying the order of intersection. Seminole work— i. Taking a second type of combination, we have a family of result- ant patterns in the main distinguishable from the preceding. Fie. 301. Surface effect in open twined combination. 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 Fig. 302. Surface effect of twined, lattic combination in basketry of the Clallam Indians of Washing- tf n Territory— J. 208 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. weaving are twisted half around at each intersection, inclosing the opposing fillets. The resulting open work has much the appearanqe 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. Fig, 303. Surface effect in impacted work o£ twined combination. 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. Fig. 304. Surface effect obtained by placing the warp strands close together and the woof cables far apart. Fig. 305. Surface effect obtained by crossing the warp series in open twined work. 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 Fig. 306. Decorative effects produced by variations in the radiate or warp series in an open work- tray. Klamath work-}. HOLMES. J GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OP RELIEVED FEATURES. 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 re- sources 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. Fig. 307. Conical basket of the Klamath Indians of Oregon, showing peculiar twined effect and an open work border — $. 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, ex- hibit many new features of combination and resultant surface char- acter, but the elaboration is in all cases along lines peculiar to these types of weaving. N Other types of combination of web and woof, all tapestry, and all 6 eth 14 210 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. braiding, netting, knitting, crochet, and needle work exhibit char- acters 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 under- taken 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 mar- velous 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 espe- cial 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 im- pression upon an ancient piece of pottery obtained in Tennessee. Fig. 308. Incipient stage of reticulated ornament. Fabric of the mound builders. Fig. 309 illustrates a bit of ancient Peruvian work executed on a frame or in a rude loom, a checker pattern being produced by arrang- ing 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 holmes.] GEOMETRICITY OF SUPBRCONSTRXJCTIVE FEATURES. 211 interval the loose warp has been plaited and drawn together, produc- ing a lattice-like band. ■HhHB Fig. 309. Simple form of ornamental reticulation. Ancient Peruvian work. In a similar way four other bands of narrow open work are intro- duced, two above and two below the wide band. These are produced IB! Fig. 310. Reticulated pattern in cotton cloth. Work of the ancient Peruvians. by leaving the warp threads free for a short space and drawing al- ternate 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 in- troduced to facilitate the work. Superconstructive features. — These features, so important in the decoration of fabrics, are the result of devices by which a construc- tion 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 212 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 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 Pig. 811. Open work design embroidered upon a neMike fabric. From a grave at Ancon, Peru. 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 GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OF APPENDED FEATURES. 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 tas- sels and clustered pendants, which in this case consist of buckskin JiHB WSBSsBBBmm £31 ^m fWm Fig. 312. Basket with pendent buckskin strands tipped with bits of tin. Apache Indians — J 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 em- mm SSSmSm Wi « Fig. 313. Basket with pendants of beads and bits of shell, work of the northwest coast Indians. — i. bellished 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 214 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. n^ /pp^^ivHC ornamentation from an ancient Peruvian mantle. holmes.] GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OP COLOR PHENOMENA. 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 char- acters 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 incep- tion, and many simple patterns appear as accidents of textile aggre- gation long before the weaver or the possessor recognizes them as pleasing to the eye. When, finally, they are so recognized and a de- sire 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 re- lief. It is capable of advancing alone into new fields, producing pat- terns and designs complex in arrangement and varied in hue, and that, too, without altering the simple, monotonous succession of re- lievo characters. In color, as in relieved design, each species of constructive combi- nation 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 construc- tion, the character and scope of which have been dwelt upon to some extent in the preceding section. I have already spoken ot color in a general way, as to its necessary presence in art, its artificial application to fabrics and fabric mate- 216 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. rials, its symbolic characters, and its importance to esthetic progress. My object in this section is to indicate the part it takes in textile de- sign, 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 domina- tion 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 pro- duced, 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 fila- ments been accidentally associated in construction, the results might Fig. 315. Pattern produced by interlacing strands of different colors. have been the same, but it is unnecessary to indicate in detail the, possibilities of adventitious color combinations. So far as they ex- hibit 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 inge- nuity will enable the workman to vary the relation of the parts, pro- ducing a succession of results such, perhaps, as indicated in Fig. 316. Fig. 316. Pattern produced by modi- fying the alternation of fillets. Fig. 317. Isolated figures produced by modifying the order of intersection. holmes.] GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OF COLOR PHENOMENA. 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 ex- pression, as will be seen in Fig. 318, which is taken from a basket Fig. 318. Pattern produced by simple alternations of light and dark fillets. Basketry of the Indians of British Guiana. 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 rep- resentation 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 sub- jects 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 geome- tricity 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 218 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 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 char- acters 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 col- T?m. 319. Base of coiled basket showing the method of building by dual coiling. The base or warp coil is composed of untwisted fiber and is formed by adding to the free end as the coiling goes on. The woof or binding filament, as it is coiled, is caught into the upper surface of the preceding turn— J. ored fillet is introduced, which, for the time, takes the place and does the duty of the ordinary strand. Fig. 319 serves to show the con- struction 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 Fig. 320. Coiled basket with simple geometric ornament. Work of the northwest coast Indians — i holhkh.1 GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OP COLOR PHENOMENA. 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 Avorkman 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 be- low, radial and encircling), the lines of the warp and the woof. Ob- lique bands of color are made up of series of rectangles, giving stepped outlines. Although these figures are purely geometric, it is not impos- sible 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 In- dians of the Tule River, California. It is woven in the closely im- *' s sillllli^ Fig. 321. Coiled basket with encircling bands of ornament in white, red, and black, upon a yellowish ground. Obtained from the Indians of the Tule River, California — |. pacted, coiled style. The ornament is arranged in horizontal zones and consists of a series of diamond shaped figures in white with red 220 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. centers and black frames set side by side. The processes of substi- tution 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. Fig. 322. Coiled basket with ornament arranged in zigzag rays. Obtained from the Pima Indians of Arizona — £. Another choice piece, from the Pima Indians of Arizona, is given in Fig. 322. The lines of the ornament adhere exclusively to the direc- tions 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 com- plete 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. Fig. 323. Coiled basket with two bands of meandered ornament. Obtained from the Pima Indians of Arizona — J. 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. HOLMES.] GEOMETKIC CHARACTER OP COLOR PHENOMENA. 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 Fig. 334. Coiled basket with geometric ornament composed of triangular figures. Obtained from the McCloud Eiver Indians, California— J. of the decorative requirements of the utensil. The design is wholly geometric, and, although varied in appearance, is composed almost ex- clusively 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 cor- responding results. We have observed throughout the series of examples presented a decided tendency toward banded or zonal arrangement of the orna- mentation. 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 ac- complishment of such results. -The question arises as to exactly how 222 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. much of the segregating and aggregating forces or tendencies belongs to the technique of the art and how much to the direct esthetic super- vision 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 teach- ings 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 pre- conceived 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 sugges- tions of embellishment, and inexorably fixed in its methods of expres- sion. 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 tho first lessons of the textile art. From the very beginning the workman finds it necessary to direct his attention to these consider- ations 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 de- mand 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 avail- able for the expression of embellishment are the minute steps of the intersections or bindings; the most necessary and constant combina- tion of these elements is in continuous lines or in rows of isolated figures; the most necessary and constant directions for these combi- nations are with the web and the woof, or with their complementaries, the diagonals. If large areas are covered certain separation or aggre- gation 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 arrange- ment 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 holmes.] RELATION OP GEOMETRIC TO GRAPHIC CHARACTERS. 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 ar- rangement 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 im- portant 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 tech- nique, and taste in selecting as the most beautiful certain ornaments produced in art is but choosing between products that in their evolu- tion 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 in- terfered 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 deline- ative, 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 t. visas ymm Fig. 325. Coiled basket ornamented with devices probably very highly conventionalized mythological subjects. Obtained from the Apache — J. 224 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 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 in- creasing the width of the steps in the outline as the dark rays pro- gressed, 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 In- dians. True, many examples occur in which the ancient or indig- enous 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 construc- tion is not adapted to realistic expression, and, at best, resemblances to natural forms are very remote. Two examples are given in Figs. 4fe Fig. 328. Coiled tray with geometric devices probably modified by ideographic association. Moki work— J. 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 holmes.] GEOMETRIC MODIFIED BY GRAPHIC CHARACTERS. 225 given in Figs. 328 and 329. This ware is of the interlaced style, with radially arranged web filaments. Its geometric characters are easily Fig. 327. Coiled tray with geometric devices, probably modified by ideographic association. Moki work— J. distinguished from those of the coiled ware. Many examples exhibit purely conventional elaboration, the figures being .arranged in rays, Fig. 328. Tray of interlaced style of weaving, showing geometric ornament, probably modified by ideographic association. Moki work — i. zones, checkers, and the like. It is to be expected, however, that the normal ornament of this class of products should be greatly inter- fered 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. 6 ETH 15 226 TEXTILE AKT IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. The processes of pure geometric elaboration with which this section is mainly concerned can he studied to best advantage in more prim- itive forms of art. Fig. 329. Tray of interlaced style of weaving, showing geometric ornament, probably modified by ideographic association. Moki work— i. 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, with- out 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 de.- sired 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 intro- duction 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 needle- work, 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 cer- tain 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 holmes.] GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OF NON-ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS. 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 in- tervals during the process of weaving. Again, feathers and other Fig. 330. Ornament produced by wrapping certain light fillets with darker ones before weaving. Mexican work. Fig. 331. Ornamental effect Secured by weaving in series of dark fillets, forming a superficial de- vice. Work of the Klamath Indians. 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 383. 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 Fig. 332. Fig. 333. Baskets ornamented with feather work, Northwest coast tribes—}. 228 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. to destroy the beauty of the feathers in the process. The richly col- ored ieathers 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 de- vices for purposes of enrichment. An illustration of the use of ex- tra-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 fig- ures 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 Fig. 334. Fig. 335. Piece of cotton cloth showing the use of a supplementary web and woof. Ancient Peru. 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 some- bolmes.] GEOMETRICITY OF SUPERCONSTRUCTlVE ELEMENTS. 229 what 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, per- forations 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 tas- sels, 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 em- ployed 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 con- structive 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 230 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 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 Fig. 336. Grass embroidery upon the surface of closely impacted, twined basketry. Work of the northwest coast Indians. and the decorating fillets are passed under by lifting, with or with- out 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 geo- metric, in a way corresponding more or less closely with the ground work combination. A large class of embroideries are applied by like processes, but with- out reference to the construction of the foundation fabric, as they are also applied to felt and leather. Again, artificially prepared perfora- tions 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 brill- iant 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 ap- plied 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 holmes.] GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OF ADVENTITIOUS ELEMENTS. 231 that of the foundation fabrics. Other classes of decoration, drawn work, applique", and the like, are not of great importance in aborig- inal art and need no additional attention here, as they have but slight bearing upon the development of design. jMMm. nWtWW "i'\} /lifinir 'jffliV 4?mS 4wjp IHIi' 'WflP ^fW^wPD Fie. 337. Feather embroidery of the ancient Peruvians, showing the method of attaching the feathers Attached or appended ornaments constitute a most important part of decorative resource. They are less subject to the laws of geome- tricity, being fixed to surfaces and margins without close reference to the web and woof. They include fringes, tassels, and the multi- tude of appendable objects, natural and artificial, with which primi- tive 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 surf aces 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 geo- metric 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 de- lineation, 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. Illustra- tions of this are given in the next section. I have dwelt at sufficient length upon the character and the ten- dencies of the peculiar system of embellishment that arises within textile art as the necessary outgrowth of technique, and now pro- ceed to explain the relations of this system to associated art. 232 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. Iii 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 sys- tems of all arts with which the textile art has come in contact. GEOMETRICITY IMPOSED UPON ADOPTED ELEMENTS OP 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 supersti- tions. 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 sym- bolizing ideas, and hence preponderate largely. Such forms, on ac- count 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 diffi- culties in the way of introducing unsymmetric and complex figures like those of natural objects into fabrics. The idea of so employ- ing 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 fig- ures 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 mod- ifications 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 conven- tion 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 HOLMES.] GEOMETRIC CHARACTER OF ADOPTED MOTIVES. 233 creature — as, for example, a bird — executed by distant and unrelated peoples, are reduced in corresponding styles of fabric to almost iden- tical 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 dis- tinct. I have selected specimens in which the parts employed give features of corresponding size, so that comparisons are easily insti- tuted. The example shown in Fig. 338 illustrates a construction pecu- liar 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 op- posing series of threads are sewed, holding in place the rows of cylin- rmiiKfjrrniii »$SS^^ mm Fig. 352. Herring bone and checker figures in fictile forms transferred from the textilfi. first example shown, herring bone patterns appear as the result of textile combination, and in the second a triangular checker is pro- duced 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 TEXTILE CHARACTERS IN FICTILE ORNAMENT. 247 wares within baskets, seems to have conceived the idea of building his vessels by coiling just as he built his baskets. The surface ex- hibits coiled ridges like basketry, as shown in Fig. 353, and the Fie. 353. Earthen vase built by coiling, exhibiting decorative characters derived from basketry. 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 geo- metric exactness, but the arrangement of the designs upon the ves- sel 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. 248 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 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 per- Fig. 854. Ceramic ornament copied literally from a textile original. centage of vessels having some trace of the human form or physiog- nomy. 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 Fro. 355. Textile patterns transferred to pottery through the copying of costume From The Ne cropolis of Ancon, by Eeiss and Stiibel, PI. 94. or mantle thrown across the shoulders falls down upon the body in front and behind and the stripes and conventional fishes are accu- rately 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 holmes.] TEXTILE CHARACTERS IN VARIOUS ARTS. 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 exer- cise 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 as- sumes to carry on the work independently of these laws s 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 text- ile 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 uniform- ity 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 for- bid 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 rela- tion with the various arts, and especially so in the matter of ornament. Specific examples may be cited showing the intimacy of wood carv- ing 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, elab- orately plaited and interwoven until they become an important fea- ture and assume the character of decoration. The heavy wooden 250 TEXTILE ART IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 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 m If m mm Fig. 356. Ceremonial adz, with carved ornament imitating textile wrapping. Polynesian work 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, whicl\ are painted or stamped in elaborate geometric patterns. This trans- fer is also a perfectly natural one, as the ornament is applied to arti- cles 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 holmes.] TEXTILE CHARACTERS IN ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT. 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 Fig. 357 . Portion of a tapa stamp, showing its subtextile character. A palm leaf is cut to the desired shape and the patterns are sewed in or stitched on. 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. Fig. 358. Design in stucco, exhibiting textile characters. The ancient "hall of the arabesques" at Chimu, Peru, is decorated in elaborate designs that could only have arisen in the textile art