PRIMITIVE ART 



31 



the cock, while the oval (c) is an object which it is supposed 

 to hold. This object is found in a great many representations of 

 the cock, and may be said to be one of its prime characteristics. 

 The tail of the cock has the form of a fish, and is shown at the 

 point b. The center of the second set of spirals (g) has the form 

 of a fish, which is always symbolized by a small circle attached to 

 an elongated body. 



It is very pecuHar 

 that practically all the 

 spirals and curved de- 

 signs of these tribes 

 have been developed 

 into the cock motive, 

 because the cock was 

 not known to the 

 tribes of the Amur 

 River until quite re- 

 cently. The use of 

 this motive, and par- 

 ticularly also the fre- 

 quent occurrence of 

 the round object which 

 is in its beak, indicates 



that this motive is of foreign origin. It is evidently the same 

 as the cock in China which holds the sun in its beak. 



It is interesting to note that, among this tribe also, the form 

 and ornamentation of objects used in religious ceremonials are 

 much more realistic than purely decorative motives. Thus we 

 find the coat of a shaman (Case 14 c)> on which is painted a 

 mythological representation of the world-tree, representing the 

 conception of the world that is current among the tribe. 



Going back through Hall 102, the visitor passes the Eskimo 

 collections, and attention is called to the fact that very few im- 

 plements and objects made by the Eskimo are decorated, except 

 their clothing, which bears designs of dark and white caribou- 

 skin. 



