no. 1631. VOCABULARY OF MALAYSIAN BASKETWORK— MASON. 



48 



7. Coiled technic in Malaysia covers a multitude of variations. 

 The long, tough staples are favorable to its development. In all the 

 so-called coiling processes the actives do not cross the passives, hut go 

 around them and around with them. There is no distinction of warp 

 and weft. Coiled ware has been classified by the number and treat- 

 ment of passive parts in the foundation and by the methods of work- 

 ing the active parts about them, singly or in pairs, as wrapping, 

 half-hitching, twisting, mousing, and figure-of-8 work. The com- 

 bining of two or more varieties of coiled work gives the basket-maker 

 all the chance she asks for her versatility. (See Aboriginal Ameri- 

 can Basketry, p. 247.) In Malaysian coiled basketry the nine Ameri- 

 can varieties are not copied, but there are both similarities and differ- 

 ences. For example, in the Eastern ware the active split often 

 pierces the foundation stem beneath, a tiling not frequent in America. 



8. Three or more series of textile elements moving in separate direc- 

 tions give rise to 

 triangular, rhom- 

 boidal, hexagon- 

 al, and octagonal 



::<Uv^- 



Flfl. ?.o. — Three-directions technic with varying elements. 



patterns of tech- 

 nic. The ver- 

 tical, horizontal, 

 right oblique, 

 and left oblique 

 elements may be 

 all alike and ac- 

 tive, or certain of 

 them may differ 

 from the rest in 



width, thickness, color, and pliability. The technic may be openwork 

 or close and the varied methods of superposition create differences 

 in the result. All over the Orient the polygonal styles of basket- 

 work have had a wonderful development. The Japanese reach ex- 

 traordinary results in their practice. (See Plates III, VII, XII, and 

 figs. 18-20.) 



U. For basketwork, chainwork, sennit, knotwork. hoopwork, and 

 other joinerwork, the separate words must be consulted. The com- 

 bining and mixing of all the varieties mentioned constitutes the ever- 

 present surprise in Malaysian basketwork. In describing a number of 

 specimens it makes classification difficult, for each structural part 

 seems to follow 7 categories of its own. 



Cat. No. 221534, U.S.N.M. (see Plate II and fig. 39), is a good ex- 

 ample of the three-direction technic, the elements differing in width, 

 rigidity, and treatment. The wide horizontal and the narrow ver- 

 tical are latticed so as to make openwork below and closework near 



