ABORIGIISAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 297 



of rectangles in various positions and relations one to another is shown 

 in the old Skokoniish wallet from Washington in the collection of 

 F. Harvey. (See Plate 51.) The decorations on this wallet consist of 

 vertical collections of geometric tigures, one hanging from another, in 

 suits of four. Each one of the designs which go to make up the whole 

 decoration in its simplest elements is a rectangle. The projections 

 from the sides of these are the same, and the wolves around the upper 

 border are simply a collection of the same elementary design, the head, 

 the neck, the l>ody, the legs, the tail, each one is the same. On the 

 larger rectangles are nests of geometric tigures of the same class, one 

 inclosed in the other by widening lines. The entire eti'ect on the sur- 

 face is produced by the clever use of a single element. 



In many examples, when the rectangular figure is set obliquely the 

 pattern on the basket appears to have a rhom])oidal form. The types 

 of weaving have much to do with the administration of the rectangle, 

 whether it ])e radial or concentric. In diagonal weaving the long axis 

 is horizontal, l)ut in coiled work the long, sk'nder rectangles are per- 

 pendicular. ]n loose coiling the tigures become rhom])oidal on account 

 of the longer slope of the stitch. Twined work produces an infinite 

 number of rhoml)s in rows having ragged edges. In the style of 

 weaving produced by the Makah the separate elements are rectangular 

 on the inside, l)ut they form a charming patchwork of rhombs on the 

 outside. The rectangle aside from color, which will be studied later, 

 lends itself to ornament ])y its relief, its proportions, and its position. 

 The relief depends on the material, which may be soft inner bark or 

 bast, or pliant leaves. On the other hand, it may be soft fillets of ash 

 and stems of willow or coarse brushes as in the fish weir. When the 

 projecting elements are intractable the possibilities of plain geometric 

 ornamentatio!! are limited in the extreme, l)ut with fibers highl}' flex- 

 ible and well- soaked materials the field of the decorator becomes 

 greatly enlarged. 



Plate 52, a large bottle-shaped granary of the San Carlos Apache 

 Indians belonging to the fine collection of F. S. Plimpton, of San 

 Diego, California, shows what is meant by proportion. Upon the 

 surface of this coiled basket will be found stepped patterns rising in 

 a cycloids from the bottom to the neck and even to the rim of the 

 specimen. Each one of these spaces is covered with black and white 

 rectangles, or as near as rectangular forms can be made on a globular 

 surface governed in length and width by the widening or narrowing 

 of the specimen. In the spaces between these patterns so made up 

 are men and horses, but even these have square heads, bodies, legs, 

 and feet. The fingers on the men are in proper shape. An amusing 

 departure is manifest in the effort to give a little shape to the tails- 

 and ears of the horses. 



(c) Rhonihoklal Jigures. — With the parallelogram or rhomb, the 



