Primitive art

Although the song on page 345 is notated as if it were one song, perhaps for comparison purposes, these are actually two separate songs, one German, one Mexican. Each has been t...

Many works of art affect us in another way. The emotions may be stimulated not by the form alone, but also by close associations that exist between the form and ideas held by th...

Setting aside any esthetic consideration, we recognize that in cases in which a perfect technique has developed, the consciousness of the artist of having mastered great difficu...

In some instances the rhythms are not so distinct, but nevertheless discernible. As an example may serve a neckband consisting of a double string in which beads of various color...

In garments made of single pieces of fabric, or in sewed basketry (fig. 56) we find the seams sometimes decorated so that the seam becomes a decorative element. In other cases s...

The second form of representation is by means of perspective drawing, in which the momentary visual impression regardless of the presence or absence of characteristic symbols, i...

“The hoods of cradle boards are generally richly ornamented. The design of a specimen purchased by me is of peculiar interest on account of the representation of abstract ideas...

As another example I select a decorated object from New Ireland described by Stephan. In fig. 101 (_a_) represents a frigate bird, (_b_) fish bones, (_c_) buttons for strings of...

I will mention one more case in which the actual process of reading in has been observed. At one time, when I visited British Columbia, I purchased a woven bag from an elderly w...

Equally instructive is the application of small nodes and fillets to pottery which has been explained by Dr. G. G. MacCurdy as resulting from degeneration of armadillo figures.[...

The stability of the inner arrangements of houses, notwithstanding all variations in detail; the adherence to types of windows used in different countries; the forms of churches...

Fixity of form occurs even in crude representative drawings made without such technical skill as is developed in industrial occupations. This is strikingly illustrated by certai...

Two fundamentally distinct styles occur also among the Indians of the North Pacific coast. I have referred a number of times to their symbolic representations of animals with th...

In fig. 182 three berry spoons are shown which, according to Charles Edensaw, represent the bear. Fig. 182 _a_ is quite clear. At the end of the spoon is shown the head with an...

These examples show clearly that there is ample room for the fancy of the interpreter. The symbols lend themselves to various explanations, which are presumably selected in acco...

Fig. 235 represents a sea-monster with a whale’s body and bear’s paws. It differs from the monster discussed before in that it has a whale’s head, and no fins attached to the fo...

The designs on the following series of carvings are no less conventionalized. Fig. 258 is a sea-monster adjusted to a circular slate dish. The carving is perfectly symmetrical....

The fundamental feature of the second type of blankets is a central face placed a little higher than in the preceding type, so that it forms exactly the center of the whole fiel...

This art style can be fully understood only as an integral part of the structure of Northwest coast culture. The fundamental idea underlying the thoughts, feelings, and activiti...

We shall now turn to a consideration of literature, music and dance. It is a noticeable fact that a rich literary art is much more universally distributed than well developed de...

Sometimes these parts of tales are in an archaic form, or in a foreign language, so that they may be quite unintelligible. Their impressiveness rests on the form and the general...

Hana, hana, hana. It broke down, the post of the world. Hana, hana, hana. It fell down to the ground, the post of the world. Hana, hana, hana. Our great chief has taken a rest....

In many cases the craftiness, strength, voracity or amorousness of the hero gives a more or less definite character to the whole cycle. The Raven tale of Alaska consists entirel...

On account of the interrelation between body movements and articulations it seems likely that rhythmic body movements release rhythmic articulations, that is song; and that in t...

We are at the end of our considerations, but one question remains to be answered. We have seen that the desire for artistic expression is universal. We may even say that the mas...

” 131. Shell with representation of rattle snake (After W. H. Holmes, Art in Shell, 2nd Annual Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, Pl. 62, 2; Pl. 65, 2, 4, 6; Pl. 66, 2). 142

” 288. Horn spoons showing carving on the back (A. M. N. H.). _a_, 16/8799 representing sea-monster, _b_, 16/8791 representing the hawk, _c_, 16/8792 representing the beaver (?)...