^0.2235. HOPl INDIAN COLLECTION— HOUGH. 269 



by the writer. They show the unrivalled skill of the Hopi as de- 

 signers and their inherent aesthetic proclivities. It is hoped they 

 may prove useful in the work of those who are seeking to institute a 

 school of American design which is attracting a lively interest now- 

 adays. 



The designs of the Hopi basket maker deal exclusively with life and 

 nature forms, and these may with more or less facility be identified. 

 There are many examples, however, which show the disintegration of 

 such designs sometimes to small units and often these units are placed 

 in geometric combinations which become difficult of solution. It will 

 be seen that the majority of designs are based on the bird form, which 

 is evidently the foundation of most of the geometries. 



In Hopi baskets the color combinations are rarely or never in the 

 order of the symbolic meanings of colors. The wicker baskets are 

 characterized by the greatest variety and brilliancy of colors in con- 

 trast with the plainness of Zuiii wicker plaques. The coiled baskets 

 are more sober in color than the wicker and often the coiled plaque is 

 decorated only in two or several shades of natural yucca. The cause 

 of this difference may be in the indication that greater skill in dyeing 

 was possessed by the Oraibi than by the Middle Mesa basket makers. 

 It seems likely also that yucca splints are less susceptible to dye than 

 the brush splints.^ 



Designs are arranged : In two ; two with two secondary ; four ; and 

 four with four secondaries. Designs containing elements in 5, 6, 

 and 7 may be regarded as departures from custom in the interests 

 of modern ideas of beauty or completeness (pi. 33, figs. 6, 6; pi. 35, 

 fig. 6). Three part designs are not found. Designs of more parts 

 utilize the septums of wicker basket structure in simple alterations 

 and repeats (pi. 37, fig. 5) . Occasionally the sky band is drawn across 

 the field of a coiled basket, as was the custom in Sikyatki pottcry.- 

 (See pi. 40, fig. 3.) This band never appears in wicker baskets. 



The concave field of the basket is the sky and embraces the whole 

 circle of the visible heavens, in this respect resembling the decorated 

 area of Sikyatki pottery bowls as observed by Dr. J. Walker Fewkes.* 

 The center of the field in wicker basket plaques, an usually undeco- 

 rated circular space is the heart of the sliy, the above. The margin 

 line near the edge of the basket is the horizon. In the free area are 

 placed birds, clouds, etc., and any design worked therein is repre- 

 sented as in the sky. 



The common arrangement is indicated above, but several different 

 dispositions of tlie areas are noted. In the case of Kachina figures 

 or masks the whole area is occupied, the demarcations of sky hori- 



^ Hough, A collection of Hopi ceremonial dyes and pigments, Ann, Rept. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., 1900, pp. 465-471. 



' Fewkes, 17th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pi. 2. 



