Evolution in Art: As Illustrated by the Life-histories of Designs
Part 1
_THE CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE SERIES._ EDITED BY HAVELOCK ELLIS.
EVOLUTION IN ART.
EVOLUTION IN ART: AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE LIFE-HISTORIES OF DESIGNS.
BY ALFRED C. HADDON, _Professor of Zoology, Royal College of Science, Dublin, Corresponding Member of the Italian Society of Anthropology, etc._
With 8 Plates, and 130 Figures in the Text.
LONDON: WALTER SCOTT, LTD., PATERNOSTER SQUARE. CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, 153-157 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 1895.
THE WALTER SCOTT PRESS, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
PREFACE.
I would like to take the opportunity which a Preface affords to thank those friends who have helped me in the preparation of this little book. Most of them will find their names mentioned somewhere in the text. It is also my pleasant duty to heartily acknowledge the kindness I have everywhere experienced when collecting the materials on which these studies are based. On many occasions I have entered a museum in Britain or abroad, not knowing any one on the staff. On explaining my object every facility was at once offered, cases were opened, specimens were handed to me, and various conveniences arranged; often, too, help was rendered me at the time, not only by curators and assistants, but also by museum porters and _gendarmes_. It is particularly gratifying for a stranger to be received as a colleague, and to find that museum authorities everywhere recognise that the collections put under their charge serve their end best when they are utilised by students.
A word of apology may be needed for the copious extracts which have been made from the works of other writers. My object in this has been to show that there has been quite a considerable number of investigators who have approached the subject of decorative art from a similar point of view to that elaborated in the present essay. A quotation brings one more face to face with the author than does a mere abstract, and personally I like to feel the comradeship of similar studies. We all contribute our mites, and the only pity is we cannot all be personally known to one another.
It would afford me great pleasure if this book leads to new students entering upon this important and intensely interesting field of inquiry, and I shall always be pleased to correspond with those who are or who desire to be fellow-workers.
ALFRED C. HADDON.
CONTENTS.
PAGE INTRODUCTION 1
THE DECORATIVE ART OF BRITISH NEW GUINEA: AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE METHOD OF STUDY 11
I. Torres Straits and Daudai 13 II. The Fly River 26 III. The Papuan Gulf 29 IV. The Central District 42 V. The Massim District 47 VI. Relation of the Decorative Art to the Ethnology of British New Guinea 59 VII. Note on the Scroll Designs of British New Guinea 67
THE MATERIAL OF WHICH PATTERNS ARE MADE 74
I. The Decorative Transformation and Transference of Artificial Objects (Skeuomorphs) 75
1. _Transformation of a Solitary Object_ 76 2. _Transference of Fastenings_ 84 3. _Skeuomorphs of Textiles_ 89 4. _Skeuomorphic Pottery_ 97 5. _Stone Skeuomorphs of Wooden Buildings_ 114 6. _Skeuomorphic Inappropriateness_ 116
II. The Decorative Transformation of Natural Objects 118
1. _Physicomorphs _ 118 2. _Biomorphs; A. Representation of Abstract Ideas of Life; B. Phyllomorphs: The Lotus and its Wanderings; C. Zoomorphs; D. Anthropomorphs; E. Biomorphic Pottery_ 126 3. _Heteromorphs_ 192
THE REASONS FOR WHICH OBJECTS ARE DECORATED 200
I. Art 200 II. Information 203 III. Wealth 222 IV. Magic and Religion 235
1. _Sympathetic Magic_ 235 2. _Totemism_ 250 3. _Religion_ 267 4. _Religious Symbolism; A. The Meaning and Distribution of the Fylfot; B. The Psychology of Symbolism_ 275
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF STUDYING DECORATIVE ART 306
I. Application of Biological Deductions to Designs 308 II. The Geographical Distribution of Animals and of Designs 319 III. General Remarks on the Method of Study 331
INDEX 357
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIGS.
1. Bamboo tobacco-pipes; one-tenth natural size. Torres Straits. Drawn by the author from specimens in the British Museum.
2. Rubbing of the handle of a wooden comb; one-half natural size. Torres Straits. In the author’s possession. (Original.)
3. Drawings of animals by the natives of Torres Straits; about one-quarter natural size. (Original.)
A. Jelly-fish; B. Star-fish; C. Hammer headed shark (_Zygæna_); D. Group of two sharks (_Charcarodon_) and a turtle; E. Eagle-ray (_Aëtobatis_); F. Sucker-fish (_Echineis naucrates_); G. Tree-frog (_Hyla cœrulea_); H. Two snakes on a tobacco-pipe, between them is the hole in which the bowl is inserted; I. Crocodile (_Crocodilus porosus_), with footprints; K. Cassowary (_Casuarius_) pecking at a seed, and footprints, cf. Fig. 4; L. Dolphin (_Delphinus_); M. Dugong (_Halicore australis_) spouting, and indications of waves; N. Native dog (_Canis dingo_); O. Man with a large mackerel-like fish.
A, B, G, H, L, occur on bamboo tobacco-pipes; C, E, I, K, M, N, O, on drums; D, F, on pearl shells.
A, B, H, I, L, N, O, British Museum; C, E, K, Cambridge; G. Oxford; D, F, Berlin.
4. Drum from Daudai; 37½ inches long. Sketched by the author from a specimen in the Cambridge Museum. (Original.)
5. Rubbing of part of the decoration of a bamboo tobacco-pipe, probably from the mouth of the Fly River; one-third natural size, in the Liverpool Museum. In the original the lines show dark on a light ground.
6. Series of arrows from Torres Straits, collected and sketched by the author, and presented by him to the Cambridge Museum; one-third natural size. (Original.)
7. Snake arrow from Torres Straits (cf. Fig. 6). (Original.)
8. Rubbing of one side of the decoration of a drum from the Fly River, in the museum at Rome; one-fourth natural size. (Original.)
9. Rubbing of part of the carved border along a canoe from near Cape Blackwood. Taken by R. Bruce, 1894. One-sixth natural size.
10-19. Rubbings of carved wooden belts from the Papuan Gulf; one-fourth natural size—10. Cambridge Museum; 11. Glasgow Museum; 12. Kerrama, Berlin Museum; 13. British Museum; 14. British Museum; 15. Toaripi (Author’s Collection); 16. Berlin Museum; 17. Maiva, Berlin Museum; 18. Edinburgh Museum; 19. Museum of the London Missionary Society.
20. A. Drawing of Tabuta, a Motu girl, by Rev. W. Y. Turner, M.D. (from _Journ. Anth. Inst._, vii., 1878, Fig. 4, p. 480). B. Back view of the same. (The hair of this girl is incorrectly drawn, it should be frizzly and not wavy.)
21. A. Design on a lime gourd from Kerepunu; B. Part of the decoration of a pipe from Maiva; C. Detail on a pipe from Kupele, in the Berlin Museum; D-I. Designs on pipes—G. from Kupele (Berlin); H, I. from Koiari (Berlin). All the Figs. are to different scales. (Original.)
22. Part of the decoration of a pipe in the Cambridge Museum; one-sixth natural size. (Original.)
23. Clay pot, with an incised pattern from Wari (Teste Island), after a sketch by Dr. H. O. Forbes.
24. Rubbing of the half of one side of the handle of a spatula in the author’s collection; one-third natural size.
25. Rubbings of both sides of a float for a fishing-net; one-half natural size.
26. Rubbing of upper two-thirds of the decoration of a club in the Glasgow Museum; one-third natural size.
27-30. Rubbings of part of the decoration of clubs; one-third natural size. 27, 28, D’Entrecasteaux, Edinburgh Museum; 29, 30, Cambridge Museum.
31. Rubbing of the pattern round the upper margin of a betel-pestle in the Cambridge Museum; one-third natural size.
32. Rubbing of part of the carved rim of a wooden bowl from the D’Entrecasteaux Islands; one-third natural size.
33. Rubbing of the handle of a turtle-shell spatula from the Louisiades, in the British Museum; one-half natural size.
34. Rubbing of the decoration of one side of a club; one-third natural size. The block is turned round to show the pattern more clearly, the zigzag bands in reality run across the club.
35. Rubbing of the handle of a spatula in the British Museum; one-third natural size.
36. Rubbings of the three sides of the handle of a spatula from the d’Entrecasteaux, in the Dublin Museum; one-half natural size.
37. A. B. Sketches of two stages of the “bird bracket” of two spatulas, probably from the Woodlarks, in the author’s collection; C, D, analogous details from canoe carvings—C. from a photograph; D. from a specimen in the Edinburgh Museum. (Original.)
38. Rubbing of the decoration of a club in the Dublin Museum; one-third natural size.
39. Rubbing of the decoration of a club in the Dublin Museum; one-third natural size.
40. Rubbing of the central longitudinal band of a club from the d’Entrecasteaux in the Edinburgh Museum; one-third natural size.
41. Rubbing of part of the decoration of a club from the d’Entrecasteaux in the Edinburgh Museum; one-third natural size.
42. Bird and crocodile designs, Massim Archipelago. A. Canoe carving from Wari (Teste Island), about two-ninths natural size; B. Handle of a paddle in the Cambridge Museum, one-half natural size; C. Handle of a spatula in the Leiden Museum, three-sevenths natural size; D. Handle of a spatula from Tubutubu (Engineer Group) in the Cambridge Museum, three-sevenths natural size; E. Handle of a paddle in the Cambridge Museum, three-sevenths natural size. (Original.)
43. Rubbing of the decoration of a Maori flute in the Natural History Museum, Belfast; one-half natural size. (Original.)
44. Turtle-shell ornaments worn in Torres Straits. The ratio of size of the illustrations to the originals is as 4 : 15; A. Ordinary fish-hook, made of turtle-shell; B-L. Series of ornaments, probably derived from fish-hooks, made of turtle-shell. All in the British Museum, from a photograph by Mr. H. Oldland, of the British Museum.
45. Sketches of two axes from the South-east Peninsula of New Guinea, in the possession of the author; about one-tenth natural size. (Original.)
46. Mangaian symbolic adze in the Copenhagen Museum; from Dr. C. March.
47. An erect drum, _Kaara_, surmounted by the head of a god from Java, in the Copenhagen Museum; from Dr. C. March.
48. Rubbing of part of the decoration of a Tongan club in the Norwich Museum; one-third natural size. (Original.)
49. Rubbing of part of the decoration of a Tongan club in the Norwich Museum; one-half natural size. (Original.)
50. Rubbing of part of the decoration of a Tongan club in the Norwich Museum; one-half natural size. (Original.)
51. Sketches of tapa belts from Kerepunu, British New Guinea; about three-quarters natural size. (Original.)
52. Designs derived from _uluri_ (women’s covering); A, B, C, Bakaïri tribe, Central Brazil; D, Auetö tribe, Central Brazil. After Von den Steinen; greatly reduced.
53. Iroquois bark vessel; after Cushing.
54. Rectangular or Iroquois type of earthen vessel; after Cushing.
55. Clay nucleus in base mould, with beginning of spiral building; a stage in the formation of a Zuñi vessel; after Cushing.
56, 57. Variations in a motive through the influence of form. Pueblo pottery; after Holmes.
58. A. Freehand form; B. Form imposed by fabric. Forms of the same motive expressed in different arts; after Holmes.
59. Design of Fig. 60; after Holmes, from Mason.
60. Ancient Pueblo vase, Province of Tusayan. The height and width of the vase are fourteen inches; after Holmes, from Mason.
61. “Unit of the Design” of Fig. 60; after Holmes, from Mason.
62. Modern Moki rain symbol; after Holmes.
63. Decorative detail from an ancient Pueblo medicine-jar; after Holmes.
64. Rain-cloud tile of the South House in a Tusayan ceremony; after Fewkes.
65. Zuñi prayer-meal-bowl; after Cushing.
66. Tracing of a landscape etched on a bamboo tobacco-pipe in Berlin; three-eighths natural size. (Original.)
67. Sketch of Mer (Murray Island) by the author, from the south-west-by-west, showing the hill Gelam.
68. Pueblo water-jar; after Cushing.
69. Design based on a palmito leaf, Bakaïri tribe, Central Brazil; after Von den Steinen.
70. Rough sketch of the Egyptian lotus (_Nymphæa lotus_); after original drawings by Professor Goodyear.
71. Sketch of the Indian lotus (_Nelumbium speciosum_); after _Description de l’Egypt: Histoire Naturelle_, from Goodyear.
72. Lotus flowers and bud painted on the coffin of a mummy from the Necropolis of Thebes, Twentieth Dynasty; after Prisse d’Avennes.
73. Lotus flower with two leaves, on a vase, from the Necropolis of Memphis, Fourth to Fifth Dynasties; after Prisse d’Avennes.
74. Lotus border; from Goodyear, after Prisse d’Avennes.
75. Lotus scroll detail on a Melian vase; from Goodyear, after Conze.
76. Pattern from the ceiling of a tomb, Necropolis of Thebes. Eighteenth Dynasty; from Coffey, after Prisse d’Avennes.
77. Pattern from the ceiling of a tomb, Necropolis of Thebes, Eighteenth to Nineteenth Dynasties; from Coffey, after Prisse d’Avennes.
78. Pattern from the ceiling of tomb No. 33, Abd-el-Kourneh, Thebes; Seventeenth to Twentieth Dynasties; from Coffey, after Prisse d’Avennes and Goodyear.
79. Pattern from the ceiling of a tomb from Thebes, Seventeenth to Twentieth Dynasties; from Coffey, after Prisse d’Avennes.
80. Anthemion and astragal moulding from the Lât at Allahabad; from Birdwood, after Fergusson.
81. Saracenic Algerian detail; from Goodyear, after Ravoisié.
82. Ionic capital of the eastern portico of the Erechtheium.
83. Early form of Ionic capital from Neandreia; after Clarke.
84. Lotus design from a “geometric” vase from Cyprus; after Goodyear.
85. Lotus derivative on a vase of the seventh century B.C., from Melos; from Goodyear, after Conze.
86. Compound flower based on the lotus, Thebes, Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties; from Goodyear, after Prisse d’Avennes.
87. Lotus pendant from an Egyptian necklace of the Nineteenth Dynasty; from Goodyear.
88. Anthemion from the Parthenon.
89. Hypothetical derivation of the “egg-and-dart” moulding, from a lotus pattern according to Goodyear. A. Lotus anthemion on a vessel from Rhodes, after Salzmann; B, C. Lotus anthemia on pottery from Naukratis, after Flinders Petrie; D. Egg-and-dart moulding from the Erechtheium; E. Degraded egg-and-dart pattern painted on a Grecian vase.
90. Horses etched on an antler from La Madelaine; from Taylor.
91. Conventional alligator from the “lost colour” ware of Chiriqui; after Holmes.
92. Simplified figure of an alligator from the “alligator” ware of Chiriqui; after Holmes.
93. Alligator design, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
94. Alligator delineation, greatly modified, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
95. Highly conventionalised alligator derivative, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
96. Series of derivatives of the alligator, showing stages of simplification, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
97. Series of alligator derivatives showing modification through use in narrow zones, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
98. Scroll derived from the body-line of the alligator, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
99. Fret derived from the body-line of the alligator, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
100. Series of alligator derivatives showing modification through use within a circular area, Chiriqui; after Holmes.
101. Pattern composed of alligator derivatives from a clay drum painted in the style of the “lost colour group,” Chiriqui; after Holmes.
102. Patterns of the Karaya, Central Brazil; after Ehrenreich, A. Lizards; B. Flying bats; C. A rattlesnake; D. A snake, A. Incised on a grave-post; B, C, D. Plaited on the handles of combs.
103. Patterns from Central Brazil; after Von den Steinen. A. Bakaïri paddle; B-E. _Mereschu_ (fish) patterns of the Auetö; F. Locust design, Bakaïri; G. Fish-shaped bull-roarer, Nahuquá; H. _Sukuri_ (snake) and ray patterns; I. _Jiboya_ (snake); K. _Agau_ (snake); H-I. Bakaïri tribe.
104. Patterns derived from bats; after Von den Steinen, A. Bakaïri; B, C. Auetö.
105. Bird design, Bakaïri, Central Brazil; after Von den Steinen.
106. Rubbing of part of the carved rim of a wooden bowl in the author’s collection. Probably from the Woodlarks or Trobriands, British New Guinea. One-third natural size.
107. Gourd; after Holmes.
108. Clay vessel made in imitation of a gourd, from a mound in South-eastern Missouri; after Holmes.
109. Clay vessels imitated from shells, from the mounds and graves of the Mississippi Valley; after Holmes.
110, 111. Modified human figures on the shaft of a cross at Ilam, near Ashbourne; after Browne.
112. Pictograph of a lasso, Dakota Winter Count, 1812-13; after Mallery.
113. Alaskan notice of a hunt; from Mallery, after Hoffman.
114. Pictograph of starving hunters, Alaska; after Mallery.
115. Lean-Wolf’s Map, Hidatsa; after Mallery.
116. Ivory carving with records, Alaska; after Mallery.
117. Blossom of an Ixora; from Stevens.
118, 119. Magic combs of the Orang Sĕmang; from Stevens.
120. Diagram of the uppermost pattern of Fig. 119, with rectification of that pattern; from Stevens.
121. Magical pictograph of the Orang-hûtan against the slings of scorpions and centipedes; size of original, 9¾ inches; from Stevens.
122. Magical device of the Orang Bĕlendas against a skin disease; size of original, 19 inches; from Stevens.
123. Rain-charm of the Orang Bĕlendas; size of the original, 10½ inches; from Stevens.
124. Stretching-cleat of a drum from Mangaia, in the Berlin Museum; from March, after Stolpe: two-thirds natural size.
125. Rubbings from the handles of symbolic adzes from the Hervey Islands. A. Free Library Museum, Belfast; B, C. Belfast Natural History Museum; one-third natural size. (Original.)
126. Rubbing of part of the decoration of a Mangaian symbolic paddle, Norwich Museum; natural size. (Original.)
127. Rubbing of part of the carving of the handle of a symbolic paddle from the Hervey Islands in the Natural History Museum, Belfast; one-half natural size. (Original.)
128. Rubbing of “part of the terminal of a paddle-shaped implement in the Vienna Museum”; from March, after Stolpe; two-thirds natural size.
129. Hut-shaped ossuary; from I. Taylor, _Origin of the Aryans_.
130. Various forms of Fylfot or Svastika. A. Whorl from Hissarlik (1987), 7 m., third city, The Burnt City or Ilios; B. Do. (1861), 3½ m., fifth city; C. Do. (1990), 4 m., fifth city; D. Do. (1873); E. Detail from whorl (1993), 5 m., fourth city; F. Lotus derivative on a large amphora, with “geometric” decoration, Cyprus; G. Solar goose and lotus design on a Rhodian vase, from Salzmann, _Nécropole de Camire_; H. Coin from Selge, Pamphylia; I. Symbols on Lycian coins; K. Triskelion on a Celtiberian coin; L. On a silver bowl, Etruria; also on Chinese ware; M. Coin from Cnossus, Crete; N. Ancient Indian coin; O. On coin from Ujjan, Central India; P. Foot-print of Buddha (so-called), Amarávati Tope, India; R. Thibetian symbol; S. Roman altar at High Rochester, dedicated to Minerva, by Lucius Cæcilius Optatus; T. Roman altar at High Rochester, dedicated to the standards of the faithful of the Varduli by Titus Licinius Valerianus; U. Celto-Roman altar at Birdoswald, dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus (IOM), apparently by Dacians garrisoned in Ambloganna; the four-rayed wheels were solar symbols among the Gauls; W. Ogham stone, Aglish, County Kerry; X. Ancient Scandinavian symbols; Y. Legend on church bell, Hathersage, Derbyshire, 1617. A-E, P. H. Schliemann, _Ilios_; F, G. Goodyear, _Grammar of the Lotus_; H, L, O, X. R. P. Greg; _Archæologia_, xlviii., 1885; I, K, M, N, R. Count Goblet d’Alviella, _The Migrations and Symbols_; S, T, U, W, Y. H. Colley March, _Trans. Lanc. and Cheshire Ant. Soc._, 1886. For further details the reader is referred to these authors.
SOURCES OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGS. 9-19, 24-30, 33-36, 38-41, 67 were generously placed at my disposal by the Council of the Royal Irish Academy.
All the Figures from 1 to 41 (except Figs. 3, 21, 37), and Figs. 42, 44, 51, 66, 67, 106, are either the originals or copies of illustrations which have appeared in the author’s “The Decorative Art of British New Guinea,” _Cunningham Memoir_, x., _Royal Irish Academy_, 1894.
20, 46, 47, 124, 128 were kindly lent by the Council of the Anthropological Institute. (Fig. 20 is from the _Journ. Anth. Inst._, vii., 1878, p. 480, and the others from _loc. cit._ xxii., 1893, Plate XXIII.)
52, 69, 103-105 are copied by the kind permission of the author and publisher from _Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens_, by Professor Dr. Karl von den Steinen. Berlin, 1894, Dietrich Reimer.
53-63, 65, 68, 107-109, 112-116 are copied by permission from the _Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_, 1882-83, Washington, 1886, and Figs. 91-101 from the _Sixth Annual Report_, 1884-85 (1888).
59-61 are from Otis T. Mason, _The Origins of Inventions_, 1895; after Holmes.
64 is from the _Journal of American Ethnol. and Arch._, ii., 1892, p. 112.
70, 71, 74, 75, 81, 85-87 are copied from Professor Goodyear’s _The Grammar of the Lotus_. Special permission was kindly granted by Messrs. Gilbert and Rivington to copy Figs. 87, 130 F, which are original illustrations in the _Grammar_.