LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 55 



out of a piece of blackened bark, which is sewed around the basket ; the under 

 design is incised into the bark. Between the double spirals d and /of the upper 

 ornament is inserted the picture of a cock : its head (tt) sending forth a long 

 falcate beak ; the usual oval (/&amp;gt;) under its throat ; its pinions symbolized by the 

 scroll c, over which a crescent-like spur is placed ; its spurred feet marked by a 

 triskeles. Enclosed in the: spiral d we see two conventionalized bipartite fishes, 

 their heads contiguous. Under this spiral is the figure of a spur (c), which suggests 

 that this spiral is considered as a cock s body. The scroll / symbolizes likewise 

 a cock s body, as is indicated by the two parallel falcations with adjoining oval, in 

 g, apparently signifying the bird s head and beak. The circle // above this spiral 

 is the object usually found in connection with the cock, and above it is in reality 

 a cock s head cut out of the bark, over which is placed the conventionalized 

 bipartite fish with head turned downward ; so that here a double cock is united 

 in the same spiral. The design on the under portion is a triple structure. 

 The central field is occupied by two cocks, heads pointed downward, an oval 

 under each of their throats, the bodies indicated by scrolls, each encircling a con 

 ventionalized bipartite fish, the tails being simply prominent knobs. Above 

 and under this bird are triskeles-shaped fish-tails, the; outer arm of the upper 

 one being shaped like a bird s beak, and the inner arm of the under one wound 

 into a scroll. 



Figs. 5, 5 a, Plate xx, and Figs, i, i a, Plate xxi, represent the four sides 

 of a basket. In Figs. 5 and 5 a the under and side edges are covered with key- 

 ornaments ; the upper edges with a chess-board decoration, which latter also 

 appears in Fig. i, Plate xxi. On these three designs the frequent use of the 

 St. Andrew s cross is particularly noticeable. In Fig. 5 are two conventionalized 

 cocks in the form of double spirals placed longitudinally, and combined orna 

 mentally in a medial vertical axis. The heads are in the form of fish-tails, the 

 beaks being characterized by prolongations of their under arms. The tail is a 

 long tapering falcation stretched downward tangent to the circle filling the under 

 half of the trapezoid. A similar type is met with in Fig. i, Plate xxi. 



The concavities in the upper part of Fig. 5, Plate xx, are taken up by two 

 realistic carp, each with a crescent-like fin. It is rather singular that the drawing 

 on these fishes should vary on the two sides. On the right, fish-head and eye 

 are distinguished by two concentric circles. The conventionalized fish on its 

 body shows a distinct head in circular form, and the body under it has the comma 

 shape of the Japanese magalama. The head of the carp on the left-hand side is 

 of ellipsoidal shape, its gill being specially indicated by a brace, one arm of which 

 is prolonged into a semicircle from which depend two successive loops, one 

 large, the other small. Another remarkable departure from symmetry may be 

 observed in Fig. 5 a, where are seen two conventionalized cocks, each holding two 

 circles in its down-stretched beak. The right one shows the conventionalized 

 bipartite fish under the tail, while in the left one the bipartition is replaced by the 

 simple rounded fish. 



