ABT. 30 DESIGN" AEEAS IN OCEANIA KRIEGER 51 



panels set off from one another by incised lines. All of these form a 

 border leaving a central field in plain natural color. This art is perhaps 

 most characteristic of the Philippine-Malay areas. 



The tubular container collected by Haskell, U.S.N.M. No. 341501, TY2 

 inches in length and 7 inches in diameter, also the slightly larger container, 

 U.S.N.M. No. 334538, collected by Miss I. H. Lenman from the island of 

 Luzon, resemble rather closely the etched designs of a tubular bamboo 

 container from Africa, U.S.N.M. No. 334402, collected by R. C. Bielinski. 

 The similarity is to be noted in the triangular and lozenge-shape etched 

 banded designs forming panels covering the entire surface of the containers. 

 Such designs, along with other protean designs, such as V-shape, alternat- 

 ing spurs, are too elementary to be of any value in a study of cultural 

 diffusion. 



Plate 21 



Decorative work in bamboo : Malaysia and Melanesia. 



Wherever bamboo is grown the tribe or people occupying the region has 

 seized upon it as an effective medium for carrying out their artistic impres- 

 sions. Some of the best examples of decorative engraving or etching on 

 bamboo come from Malaysia, as shown on the plate, in the form of 6- 

 stoppered flutes. One of these, characterized by lightly etched rather than 

 by the more usual broad banded designs, U.S.N.M. No. 235159, is from the 

 Philippine Islands. It has a length of 31 inches and a sectional diameter 

 of 0.9 inch. As in other examples of Malay art on bamboo, the banded 

 designs tend to the geometric and are symbolic, although they originated 

 in patterns of life forms. Series of V-shapes, rectangles, zigzags in parallel, 

 hourglass devices — all are conventionalized representations of reptilean 

 forms and feature, such as scales. 



Five flutes from central Celebes, U.S.N.M. No. 304191, collected by W. L. 

 Abbott, are shown on this plate. They incorporated, along with the dec- 

 orative design just described in the flute from the Philippines, a number of 

 conventionalized zoomorphic designs, principally of horns and head of the 

 water buffalo. The head of the animal is represented in the form of a 

 lozenge-shape device often split into triangles. There is otherwise little 

 difference from Philippine designs except in the depth or broadness of line 

 etching. The art resembles somewhat the banded burnt etching on blowguns 

 from the island of Palawan. 



One of the flutes on this plate, U.S.N.M. No. 394191, Sanggana, slightly 

 smaller in diameter than the other examples illustrated, introduces white 

 and red paint which, alternating with the burnt sections, gives a pleasing 

 effect. The encircling panels covered with red stain frequently have a 

 decorative design realistic in character, differing from the more geometrical 

 lozenge-shape, and line patterns in burnt black. Bird representations are 

 the characteristic theme of the etched panels in red, while the water 

 buffalo is the motive in the burnt line sections. 



Plate 22 



A bamboo stem, U.S.N.M, No. 232790, shown at upper right of plate, used as 

 a container, was collected by E. A. Mearns in the Philippines. It is SVa 

 inches long and 1.8 inches in diameter. Encircling designs etched by 

 burning are in wide zigzags, triangles, and encircling bands alternating 

 with plain spaces, the whole forming a pleasing geometrical patteni. 



