LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 



by a figure apparently treated like a face, but in semblance only, a circle above, 

 two crescents on the sides, their convex sides turned towards each other, and 

 below them a lozenge standing on its point. In the trapezoidal under figure we 

 observe three rows of spiral ornaments placed one above another. In this design 

 are found numerous conventionalized fishes. 



CIRCLE-ORNAMENTS. In a few ornaments the circle is also used as a funda 

 mental form. Figs. 10 and n are both Gilyak birch-bark patterns used for an 

 embroidery that was plaited into the hair of little children in ancient times, but is 



now out of fashion. Both of these consist 

 of combinations of circles and spirals. In 

 Fig. 10 the motives are arranged in a 

 series of horizontal rows, only two of 





FIG. 10 (, , d). Birch-bark Pattern for Embroidery. Tribe, 

 Gilyak. Height, 17 cm. 



which contain spirals. In Fig. 11 five rows may be distinguished, the two upper 

 ones being perfectly symmetrical. 



In Fig. 6, Plate xv, we observe a new motive of the circle-ornament, obtained 

 by describing circles so that they intersect each other. 



THE COCK. The animal which plays a predominant part in the ornamental 

 art of all the Amur peoples, and is more frequently reproduced than all other 

 animals together, is the cock. This circumstance is the more conspicuous, since 

 the cock is not a native of the Amur country, but was introduced from China, 

 and recently, of course, by the Russians. Nowadays there are some Gold who 

 raise poultry in their houses. The Gilyak on the northeastern coast of Saghalin, 

 excepting a few who had chanced to see a Russian village, never saw a cock, 

 but they know and explain it by their ornaments. They call it piikx, a word 

 apparently derived from the Goldian and Olcha word pokko, that may be traced 

 back to fakira gaslia of the Manchu language. Another Goldian term, chokd, 

 appears likewise in Manchu, and is perhaps allied to the Mongol takiya. 



