Part 12

* * * * *

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 certain forms used by the Algonquin tribes of the woodlands around the western Great Lakes and also by the neighboring Siouan tribes. In their pictographs the human figures appear regularly with broad shoulders, tapering down in straight lines to the waist. Sometimes the figure is cut off at this place; sometimes it expands downward from the waist. Fig. 140 _a_ represents a Potawatomi drawing; fig. 140 _b_ a Wahpeton Sioux drawing of the same type. In the winter counts of the Sioux published by Mallory, the human figure is represented in quite a different style, (fig. 140 _d_). This type occurs both in the La Flamme and Lone-Dog winter counts. We may compare these forms with the typical symbol used by the Blackfeet to represent a slain enemy, which, according to Wissler, has always the form given in _c_. On the reproductions of pictographs the same form appears, often with only one leg. Quite distinct from these Plains Indians types are the forms used by the Alaskan Eskimos in their etchings on bone, antler, and ivory (_e_). The forms are always small silhouettes in lively motion and the realism of form and movement of the Eskimo etchings forms a strong contrast when compared to the conventional style of the Plains and Woodlands Indians. Even the pictographic representations of men in motion, which do occur in other types of Plains Indian drawings, differ entirely in style from those of the Eskimo. The style of the eastern Eskimos representation of the human form differs considerably from that of the Alaskan Eskimo. They do not use silhouettes but draw their forms true to life with particular attention to the details of the clothing (fig. 140 _f_).

Quite distinct from these forms are the representations of the human form made by the Bushman and by paleolithic man. They are always silhouettes of large size with strong exaggerations of characteristic forms and movements of the body, (fig. 141). Obermaier has described these in detail.[94] Some of the figures in lively motion are represented with thread-like legs and body, while in other cases the calves of the legs are shown in exaggerated sizes. The Bushman paintings are somewhat similar in type to those of the paleolithic period. We find the same exaggeration of the length of the limbs and particularly in the representation of females, exaggeration of all the characteristic features of the body.

[94] H. Obermaier, P. Wernert, Las Pinturas Rupestres del Barranco de Valletorta. (Castellon) Comisión de investigaciones paleontológicas y prehistóricas, Mem. No. 23. Museo Nacional de ciencias naturales, Madrid 1919.

* * * * *

In almost every art definite stylistic forms may be recognized. I will add a few additional examples based on certain classes of objects which illustrate this.

Miss Ruth Bunzel has given to me a full description of the decoration of the water jar of the Zuni. “It is characterized by great stability in decorative style. The form of the jar itself shows very slight variations. The outer surface is slipped with white clay which serves as a background for painted decorations in black and red. The most characteristic feature of the decorative scheme is the boxing off of the field into clearly defined areas outlined by heavy black lines. The ways in which the field is thus divided and the designs permissible in each section are all definitely prescribed by prevailing standards of taste.

“Essential on every jar is the division of the field into two zones known as neck and body. Neck designs are always used in pairs, four or six alternating units being used on each jar. At the present time the choice of designs for the neck is limited to two sets of designs, the way in which they are combined being absolutely fixed. Alternating diamond and triangular patterns, both highly elaborated, are used together, and, on the other hand a scroll and conventionalized prayer-stick are used together on other jars.

“For the body there is a greater choice of design, but the choice is between certain well known patterns, and the ways in which each may be used are definitely fixed. The most characteristic and, at the present time, the most popular type is the deer-sunflower pattern (fig. 142). Two large medallions representing sunflowers are painted on opposite sides of the jar. Three such medallions are sometimes used, but two is the preferred number. The space between the medallions is divided horizontally by a narrow band. The band may be filled with small conventionalized birds or with an interlocking scroll figure. In each of the spaces formed by this band are painted two deer, each surrounded by graceful scroll work, called in Zuni terminology ‘the deer’s house’. In all, eight deer are used, two in each of the four fields. The deer are always painted in exactly the same way, in profile with the head to the right, and with certain of the internal organs indicated. There is no variation even in the ornamental scrolls surrounding the representation. In small jars it is permitted to substitute for the deer on the lower and smaller part of the jar one of several well defined crook or scroll patterns, but any other departures from the established scheme are severely criticised. The first of the two rim designs referred to above is always used with the deer pattern. The whole composition in precisely the combination described appears over and over again in water jars now in use at Zuni as well as in older specimens now in our museums, and the fixity of the type is clearly recognized by native artists.

“This is only one of a number of equally fixed types of decoration at present in favor at Zuni. There is, for instance, one very elaborate terraced figure repeated in literally hundreds of specimens of water jars, and always without the slightest variation either in the figure itself or in its application to the jar. It is always used in threes and with the second of the two rim designs. There are other types also, any one of which is known to and can be described by any well informed Zuni potter. Although the invention of new designs is considered eminently desirable among them, the actual number of Zuni pots that do not belong to one or the other of these recognized types is exceedingly small.”

As another example I choose the style of embroidery on Haussa shirts (fig. 143). Felix von Luschan has called attention to the rigidity of the general pattern.[95] A narrow elongated field in the left hand upper corner of the design surrounded on the left by a thin white line, on the right by a white field with long pointed triangles, limits the hole through which the head passes. The white disk to the left of it rests, therefore on the right side of the chest, the upper disk on the right shoulder blade. The line dividing the design into an upper and lower part, beginning just at the lower end of the slit through which the head passes, sets off the embroidery on the body of the shirt from that on the large pocket below. The upper rim of the pocket is always decorated with a central design, consisting of a square field with checkered figures, to the left of which are two triangles, to the right, three. In many specimens there is, on the right border of the field, a looped band. The design on the lower part of the pocket and the one on the body of the shirt are, in the main, symmetrical. The three-barbed arrow pattern of the lower border reappears on top followed inside by the same type of rosette. The two designs differ, however, in so far as the three-pointed pattern with the connected loop band is repeated to the right of the slit for the head, turned at right angles to the corresponding portion on the pocket border. This pattern disturbs the symmetry of the upper and lower designs and produces a distortion of the upper one which, however, does not influence the pattern elements. On the pocket below and to the left, is a rectangular band with a leaf design forming an inner border.

[95] Felix von Luschan, Beiträge zur Völkerkunde, p. 50. Patterns of the same kind have been figured by Leo Frobenius in “Das sterbende Afrika,” Pls. 58-60.

Great fixity of design appears also in the rawhide boxes of the Sauk and Fox Indians, to which I referred before (p. 25 et seq.). The characteristic feature is the division of the rectangular hide that is to form the box, into three fields lengthwise, five fields crosswise. The five fields are determined by the way in which the box is folded; four sides forming front, bottom, back and top, and the fifth a flap covering the front. The lengthwise division is not so determined, for the width of the box differs considerably from that of the central field. The design elements are based on common patterns of the Indians of the northern part of North America: rectangles divided by central longitudinal lines and obtuse triangles on each side of it. It should be noticed that the design unit is not the diamond but the rectangle with two obtuse triangles that have the apex near the central dividing line. This appears clearly in the specimen shown in fig. 144 _b_ in which every design begins at the margin with a triangle pointing inward towards the opposite triangle and also in the other figures in which, in accordance with the art style of the eastern woodlands, a segment is substituted for the acute triangle. A second element in these designs is the acute triangle with lines, or a single line, extending from the apex; a form which is also common to all the woodland and plains Indians.

Two styles of these paintings may be distinguished; one in which the five crosswise fields are so treated that the patterns on the three central rectangular fields (2, 3, 4) are at right angles to those in the two extreme fields (1, 5). In the central fields the long sides of the rectangles run parallel to the narrow side of the hide and in the outer ones, the rectangles are turned so that the long sides are parallel to the long side of the hide. The central lengthwise field extends only over the three middle fields and is very narrow (figs. 14, 144, _a_, _b_). The only ornament on fig. 144 _b_ is the rectangle with two obtuse triangles facing at the apex. To the four rectangles on 2, 3, 4 correspond four corresponding ones in the fields 1 and 5. In fig. 144 _a_ there is an alternation of two designs in these fields. There are two triangles with protruding lines with complex frames, and rectangles with the obtuse triangles transformed into segments. The central dividing line in these rectangles is missing. It will be noticed that here also the number of rectangles in the three inner fields (2, 3, 4) corresponds to the number in the outer fields (1 and 5), but their order is reversed. Left and right triangles in the outer fields (1 and 5) are also in reverse positions. The narrow central field is occupied by a single acute triangle. In fig. 145 _b_ we have a similar arrangement, but in place of the rectangle with obtuse triangles, we find a new arrangement of acute triangles. Fig. 14 (p. 27) differs from those just described in that the central field is divided into two divisions instead of four. The obtuse triangles in the four corners are treated somewhat differently and the figure between them in the middle of the short side is treated as though the essential design were the diamond, not the obtuse triangle. The heart shaped design and the star like figures give the impression of a new development of older patterns.

In figures 13, 15, 145 _a_ and 146 the rectangles are all placed in the same direction; the long side parallel to the short side of the hide. Fig. 145 _a_ consists throughout of curved segments corresponding to the obtuse triangles. At the apices of these segments the rectangles are divided by central lines. The fields separating the rectangles bear each an acute triangle with prolonged apex. In the narrow central field we find also the acute triangle with extending lines. Fig. 15 consists of the acute triangle with the usual frame but with scolloped edges instead of the angular figures of fig. 145 _b_. The central field is treated in the same way as in fig. 145 _a_. Fig. 13 corresponds nearly to fig. 145 _a_, except that the rectangular fields are not divided by a central line, but have a central figure somewhat hour-glass shaped enclosing an acute triangle at each end. The crosses in the middle field are also derived from the acute triangles. The three central fields of the long side of fig. 146 _b_ correspond to fig. 144 _a_. Since the rectangles in the marginal field on the short side are not turned, the acute triangle design did not fit and we find, therefore, instead the cross design. The lack of symmetry between the extreme upper and lower fields is quite unusual. In fig. 146 _a_ we find, as in fig. 14, only four fields. The designs are similar in character to those of fig. 146 _b_, except that the acute triangle design is developed in a peculiar manner.

The Ojibwa and Ioway use another method of building up their boxes. The short sides are made of separate flaps and there is no flap covering the front. The bottom is not decorated and the hide is folded over simply in box form and sewed together (fig. 147). The method used by the Otoe and sometimes by the Ioway, is still different. There is a short flap covering part of the front; the sides are folded in, somewhat in the same manner as done by the Fox and there is also a complete lack of coherence between the design as laid out on the hide and as it appears in the completed box (fig. 148).

Still another example of fixity of type is presented in the woven bags of the Ojibwa and Potawatomi (figs. 149, 150). The two opposite sides have always distinct patterns. The purely geometrical patterns are always laid out symmetrically. There is a broad central figure bordered by a number of narrow stripes. These are followed, above and below by a wide stripe of a pattern different from the central one. Sometimes the colors above and below are inverted. The dividing line runs all around the bag, but the patterns in the broad bands change. On the one side there are often representative figures above, and in this case there is no correspondence between the upper and lower designs. Similar bags are used by other neighboring tribes. The Potawatomi use the same decorative arrangements, except that the central band often remains undecorated.[96]

[96] See Alanson Skinner, The Mascontens or Prairie Potawatomi Indians, Bull. Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, Vol. 6, No. 2, Plate 21.

For a clear understanding of the character of a local style a comparison with related forms in contiguous areas is indispensable. Historical conditions like those that may be traced in the development of art forms in prehistoric and historic times in Europe and in Asia have been determinants in forming the art of primitive people also. There is probably not a single region in existence in which the art style may be understood entirely as an inner growth and an expression of cultural life of a single tribe. Wherever a sufficient amount of material is available, we can trace the influence of neighboring tribes upon one another, often extending over vast distances. Dissemination of cultural traits that has made the social structures, the ceremonials and the tales of tribes what they are today, has also been a most important element in shaping the forms of their art. The local distribution of technical processes, of form elements, and of systems of arrangement contribute to the character of each art style. In another place we have discussed the distribution of pottery decorated by means of applied pellets and fillets (see p. 138), and it appeared that the technical process covers a wide continuous area and that it is applied in different ways by each cultural group. We have also seen that the characteristic triangular design with enclosed rectangle, often with spur lines along the base, is widely disseminated over the North American continent. We found that this form is common to the Pueblos, the Indians of the northwestern plateaus and of the plains, and that the fundamental pattern may be recognized in New England and Labrador. Patterns composed of lines, triangles and rectangles are characteristic of the art of the North American Indian. Notwithstanding their simplicity, these forms are practically confined to North America. Their strong individuality proves that their present distribution must be due to mutual influence among various North American cultures. We cannot determine where the pattern originated but it is quite certain that its present distribution is due to cultural contact; its occurrence is probably related to the use of stiff rawhide for receptacles, to the method of painting used by the Indians, and to the old method of decorating with porcupine quill weaving and embroidery. I have called attention to the difference in arrangement of these patterns among a number of tribes and A. L. Kroeber, R. H. Lowie, and Leslie Spier[97] have discussed these questions in greater detail (fig. 151). The parallel stripe arrangement is characteristic of the Arapaho; a central field surrounded by a square, of the northern Shoshone. Owing to the close contact in which these two tribes live at the present time, which favors intertribal trade, the distribution is not quite so clear as it has probably been in earlier times.

[97] Leslie Spier, An Analysis of Plains Indian Parfleche Decoration, University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, Vol. I, pp. 89 et seq. where the earlier literature has been quoted.

Certain differences may also be observed in the arrangement of bead embroidery the forms of which are very uniform over an extended area of the western prairies. A characteristic form of this design consists of a central diamond or rectangle, from the corners of which emanate lines that terminate in triangles facing the central field either with the apex or with the base; sometimes a crossbar with prongs is found at the end of these lines. Among the Arapaho (fig. 152) these patterns appear singly on a plain background; among the Sioux (fig. 153) the central square is seldom used. While among the Arapaho the lines are usually attached to only two opposite ends, the Sioux almost always attach them to the four corners of the central diamond. Furthermore, the Sioux like to vary the background by inserting stars or crosses and the design seems to occur more frequently symmetrically doubled than among the Arapaho.

Another good example of differentiation in arrangement and identity of pattern elements is presented by the basketry of the Indians of British Columbia. Among the Thompson Indians the design elements are distributed evenly over the whole side of the basket; among the Lillooet they are confined to the upper part of the side while the lower part remains undecorated; among the Chicotin there are three bands of decoration along the upper part of the basket (see p. 297).

As another case of the wide distribution of a design element, evidently due to diffusion, we may mention the so-called quail tip ornament of California which consists of a right angle with a thin upright stem and a short heavy horizontal arm. This pattern is found commonly throughout California and extends northward as far as the Sahaptin tribes of Columbia River. It is particularly important to note that technically the basket of the Sahaptin tribes belongs to the coiled and imbricated type used by the Thompson Indians farther to the north; while in the southern regions a multiplicity of methods of basket weaving are used. In all of these the same quail tip occurs (see p. 109).

We have spoken so far of local styles as though in every case only a single style occurred in a tribal unit. This might seem plausible on account of the comparative uniformity of tribal life. Still there are many cases in which fundamentally different styles may be observed in the same community. I have referred several times to the realistic carving and drawing of the Eskimos, which is often combined with very characteristic but subordinate geometrical patterns, particularly with the double line with alternating spurs, a series of “Y” shaped figures, arranged on a continuous line; and circles and dots (see fig. 78, p. 86). In certain cases realistic forms are used for the purpose of ornamentation. On some modern specimens from the west coast of Hudson Bay, the representations of human beings or animals are found (see fig. 51 _b_, p. 58). In Greenland wooden vessels are ornamented by attached ivory carvings representing seals, which are nailed on to the surface (fig. 121, p. 127). Pieces of skin in which needles are kept, are ornamented with appliqué figures.[98] On the east coast of Greenland similar decorative motives are in use.

[98] Kaj Birket-Smith, Ethnography of the Egedesminde District, Meddelelser om Grønland, Vol. 66, (1924), pp. 522, 550.

The style of ornamenting cloth is quite different. There is no realism and the formal patterns which are used are broad bands, accompanying the borders of the garments and long lines of fringes. The basis of this ornamentation is a feeling for color contrast and a tendency to emphasize outlines. The representative tendency is entirely absent. In a single specimen in which it appears as a representation of a human hand, it looks strangely out of place.[99] This decorative type is fully developed in Greenland where checker work is applied to garments, buckets, and also to wooden goggles.

[99] Franz Boas, The Eskimo of Baffinland and Hudson Bay, Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 15, (1907), Plate 9.

I presume the principal cause for the difference of these styles is found in the difference of the technical processes, but perhaps even more in the circumstance that the realistic work is made by the men, the clothing and sewed leather work by the women.