LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 77 



as shown in the designs of numerous animals, none of which have endured in 

 their natural forms, but rather have deteriorated into a style of conventionality 

 adapted to the cock and fish ornaments, as the musk-deer, the dragon, and so on. 

 It would almost seem that other groups of animals gain favor and meet with 

 approval, only so far as they are capable of conforming to the cock and fish 

 pattern. In these last-mentioned figures we recognize at the same time stages, 

 second in point of time, which probably arose after the development of the 

 first-described ornaments. 



If we now take into consideration the evolution of the cock and fish 

 ornaments, we are impressed first by the fact that such differing and numerous 

 stages of development are met with, frequently even in the same design ; so that 

 the development appears almost to be based on a juxtaposition in space rather 

 than on a succession in time. In other words, the question arises, Are we 

 correct in supposing a definite scale of gradation in the stages of development, 

 from the cock and fish true to nature, down to the hardly recognizable 

 conventional patterns ? The whole series of forms does undeniably occur. 

 These, however, should under no circumstances be regarded as of chronological 

 sequence ; for it is by no means true that the natural picture of the cock or fish 

 is sunk in oblivion, and that the conventional form has exclusively taken its 

 place. On the contrary, we see that the single phases of development are 

 nothing more nor less than various forms of different kinds of adaptation to 

 certain spaces or given geometrical forms, mostly spiral. This process of 

 adaptation, constantly repeating itself in multitudinous ways, has created a large 

 number of varieties, all co-existing side by side, like the varieties of a zoological 

 species. One does not exclude the other, but each retains its separate existence, 

 because art indulges in a wealth of forms, and requires an abundance of varieties 

 for building up large ornamental compositions. 



The strong inward impulse to create new forms is the primary underlying 

 cause for the rise of the various degrees of conventionalization. Moreover, it is 

 a further incentive to the simultaneous retention of all these manifold forms, a 

 great number of which, without the influence of this law, would have perished. 

 The form-character of this ornamentation had therefore a conservative effect, and 

 is consequently responsible for its offspring. In spite of this form-character, 

 however, conventionality is by no means a production of a purely rationalistic 

 method of speculation. It should not be imagined that the creations of animal 

 life continued to lose more and more of their original forms, and gradually shrunk 

 into geometrical devices. On the contrary, the multifarious kinds of convention 

 alization have their final cause, last but not least, in a faithful observation of 

 nature, especially in the ability to watch motions, so highly developed in the East 

 Asiatic mind. The conception of a fish in the form of a spiral is based on a true 

 observation of that animal in its natural state ; it would never have been drawn 

 in spiral form, never have clung to a spiral, without a foundation of fact. This 

 very capacity of the fish for motion, together with the highly cultivated power of 



