holmes.] MODIFICATION OF LINEAR ORNAMENT. 459 



which bauds of beautiful augular geometric figures occupy the peripheral 

 zone, Fig. 480 a, but when the artist takes up a mug having a row of 

 hemispherical nodes about the body, b, he finds it very difficult to apply 

 his favorite forms and is almost compelled to run spiral curves about the 

 nodes in order to secure a neat adjustment. 



a b 



FIG. 4£0. — Variations in a motive through the influence of form. 



Throm/h methods of realization. — It will readily be seen that the forms 

 assumed by a motive depend greatly upon the character of the mechan- 

 ical devices employed. In the potter's art devices for holding and turn- 

 ing the vessel under manipulation produce peculiar results. 



In applying a given idea to clay much depends upon the method of 

 executing it. It will take widely differing forms when executed by in- 

 cising, by modeling, by painting, and by stamping. 



Intimately associated with methods of execution are peculiarities of 

 construction, the two agencies working together in the processes of 

 modification and development of ornament. 



I have previously shown how our favorite ornament, the scroll, in its 

 disconnected form may have originated in the copying of natural forms 

 or through the manipulation of coils of clay. I present here an ex- 

 ample of its possible origin through the modification of forms derived 

 from constructional features of basketry. An ornament known as the 

 guilloche is found in many countries. The combination of lines resem- 

 bles that of twisted or platted fillets of wood, cane, or rushes, as may be 

 seen at a glance, Fig. 481 a. An incised ornament of this character, 

 possibly derived from basketry by copying the twisted fillets or their 

 impressions in the clay, is very common on the pottery of the mounds 

 of the Mississippi Valley, and its variants form a most interesting study. 

 In applying this to a vessel the careless artist does not properly connect 

 the ends of the lines which pass beneath the intersecting fillets, and the 

 parts become disconnected, h. In many cases the ends are turned in 

 abruptly as seen in c, and only a slight further change is necessary to 

 lead to the result, d, the running scroll with well-developed links. All 

 of these steps may be observed in a single group of vessels. 



It may be thought by some that the processes of development indi- 

 cated above are insufficient and unsatisfactory. There are those who, 



