ART. ;iO DESIGN AREAS IN OCEANIA KRIEGER 45 



rattan. They are put to an infinite variety of uses: For ornament, 

 for containing small objects, for the storage of food, and for the 

 transportation of articles. As a rule the surface decoration of Malay 

 baskets is the result of the style of the weave more than of the color 

 of the materials. 



Malaysian wood carving. — Household gods, shrine images, and 

 other religious objects from southern Malaysia range from a simple 

 billet of wood rudely representing the human figure to elaborately 

 carved and decorated images, which are in many cases costumed. 

 The shrine images are usually fastened together in a row and placed 

 in the neighborhood of the house, where they receive various offer- 

 ings, the customary one being the blood of a slain animal or a stone 

 which represents food. Larger images are placed in shrines along 

 the seashore. The smaller images, blackened by smoke, are male 

 and female household gods whose headdresses indicate rank. Some 

 of these show great skill in carving, though the faces are expression- 

 less. The hands are brought up toward the chin, and, as a rule, 

 clasp a bowl for the reception of food. The legs are also flexed and 

 the knees prominently shown. The more rudely shaped images 

 and idols are simply hewn out of the crotch of a tree, and a face 

 with human features is cut from one side to form an anthropomor- 

 phic representation of one of the many of the ancient gods of 

 Malaysia. 



