LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 



7 



rows. On the top is perched a crowing cock (a), with open beak and a fish on 

 its body. Next to this in form come the cock placed sideways (&amp;lt;$) and one flying 

 (c}; the latter surrounded by a line, its tail quadrilobate and its wing-feather 

 trisulcate, whereas the reverse is the case in a. Of fishes, we see four realistic 

 ones coiled around four spirals (//) ; two appearing as continuations of spirals, 

 and each enclosed in an oval (e) ; the cock-fishes with heads downward (y) ; and 

 the fishes adjoining the spiral in^, consisting of one piece only. As regards the 

 design seen in //, it should be compared with c (Fig. i) and h (Fig. 3) of this 

 plate, and especially with / in Fig. 3, Plate xxix. 



AINU ORNAMENTATION. We will now cast a brief glance at the ornaments 

 of the Ainu. This tribe still holds a rather exceptional position, due, on the one 

 hand, to their isolation in the southern 

 part of the Island of Saghalin, and, on the 

 other hand, to their indolent, passive 

 character. Notwithstanding their resem 

 blance to the neighboring Gilyak, many 

 an invention and many an idea is met 

 with which is wholly their own, and is 

 not found in any other tribe. Generally 

 speaking, the subject of ornamentation 

 among these people is a very intricate 

 one, since three blended elements must be 

 distinguished, a special overwhelming 

 Japanese influence ; loans from the neigh 

 boring Amur tribes ; and perhaps certain 

 dregs of their artistic ideas, which are to 

 be considered as almost wholly their own 

 property. There is no doubt that a great 

 many figures and patterns might receive 

 proper explanation by comparing them 

 with the art of the Gilyak and the Gold. 



Fig. 24 represents the coat of an 

 Ainu chief from the east coast of Saghalin. 

 It is of home make, and woven from 

 nettle-fibres. The edges are adorned with 

 dark blue, yellow, medium blue, and dark 

 blue stripes of Japanese cotton, arranged 

 somewhat like a key pattern. The dark blue stripes are broad along the inner 

 side or slit of the garment, and narrow along the outer edge of the border. The 

 broad ones are covered with a design in embroidery, as are also the narrow ones 

 in the under part of the coat. The stitch used here is the so-called &quot; couching- 

 stitch.&quot; The narrow band in the lower part shows what is called in our Goldian 



