Z PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 79 



Peoples having a developed art technic, whether sj^mbolic, repre- 

 sentative, or purely decorative, rarely possess pictographic ability. 

 This is true for peoples of Oceania as well as for the American 

 Indian. It is only when formalized art tends toward realism that 

 a good picture becomes a possibility, as in the Magdalenian cave 

 paintings. 



Symmetry may be observed in Melanesian shields or in their de- 

 signs on paddles and arrows, also on Polynesian dressing boxes of 

 carved wood. Decorations of Melanesian houses have a rhythmic 

 repetition of design motive. Banded patterns on bamboo, although 

 differing one from another, are symmetrical in themselves and are 

 repeated at rhythmic intervals, giving a pleasing effect for the 

 pattern as a whole. The omission, inversion, and distortion of a 

 pattern is carried out with almost mathematical precision. In 

 formalized Polynesian art on tapa, stamped blocks, each incorpo- 

 rating a conventionalized life motive, principally aviform, are re- 

 peated at regular intervals. Perhaps the simplest form of this 

 rhythmic repetition pertains to the pineapple and to the lotus- 

 flower motive on brasses, bronzes, and iron objects from Malayan 

 metal-work centers. 



Modern Malayan art, incidentally, ranges far superior to pre- 

 historic European achievement. It was only with the coming of 

 Grecian influence to northern Europe that art forms developed 

 there beyond the initial crude stages of the later stone age. 



The axial cross, or almost all symbolism in the form of variants 

 of the swastika, have a different application and different mean- 

 ings attached as we proceed from country to country and tribe to 

 tribe. The use of the spiral is so widespread as to be of no signifi- 

 cance in itself, although the technic employed in its execution may 

 betray the maker. Common alike to painted designs on Pueblo pot- 

 tery in the Southwest and to etched designs on bamboo or wood in 

 Polynesia or in lower Melanesia, we can everywhere in the two areas 

 distinguish the maker by the crudity or excellence of workmanship. 

 The spiral and associated double-curve design representing orig- 

 inally zoomorphic forms, such as the horns of the water buffalo in 

 Celebes, or the frigate bird in eastern Polynesia, is almost mechani- 

 cally perfect when incised on bamboo or gourds in western Poly- 

 nesia. It is crudely done in Melanesia and New Guinea, Not only 

 are individual designs poorly or well done in one area, but all of 

 the designs share alike and take their cue from the quality of the 

 key design. We may thus speak of the excellence or of the crudity 

 of design as characteristic of art areas. 



Wood carving is usually characteristic of peoples of the stone 

 age. This is notably true of the Melanesian islanders. Their carv- 

 ing of representations of the alligator and of the frigate bird is 



