l!IG TKXTII.K AKT IN RELATION TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 



in ori^riii ami manifestation, related to both ftinctiiJii and constnic- 

 tion: C(jlor and design. t(i construction mainly. In the t'ollowin.i? 

 study .sei)a.r:itc scctiuns a-n' i;-i\-cn In (■acli of tln'si- topics. 



It "is fortunate |MTlia ps t hat in this work Iain i-cstricted to the prod- 

 ucts of ratlii-r priiuitivc stages of culture, as I have t hus to deal with 

 a limited number of uses, simple processes, and simple shapes. In the 

 advanced stages of art we encounter complex j^henomena. processes, 

 and conditions, the accumulation of ages, through which no broad 

 light can fall upon the field of vision. 



In America there is a vast body of primitive, indigenous art hav- 

 ing no jjarallel in the world. Uncontaminated by contact with the 

 com]ilex conditions of civilized art, it offers the best possible facili- 

 lies for the study of the fundamental principles of esthetic develop- 

 ment. 



Tile laws of evolution corr(\si>ond closely in all art. and. if once 

 rightly interpreted in the incipient stage of a single, homogeneous 

 ciilture. are traceable with comparative ease through all the succeed- 

 ing stages of civilization. 



FORM IN TEXTILE ART. 



Form in the textile art, as in all other useful arts, is fundamentally, 

 althougli not exclusively, the resultant or expression of function, but 

 at the same time it is further than in other shaping arts from express- 

 ing the whole of function. Such is the pliability of a large portion 

 of textile products — as, for example, nets, garments, and hangings — 

 that the shapes assumed are variable, and, therefore, when not dis- 

 tended or for some purpose folded or draped, the articles are without 

 esthetic value or interest. The more rigid objects, in common with 

 the individuals of other useful arts, while their shape still accords 

 with their functional office, exhibit attribiites of form generally recog- 

 nized as pleasing to the mind, which ai'e expressed by the tei-nis gr;iee. 

 ele-aiire. symmetry, and the like. Sncli atti-ilmtes are not separaMo 

 from functional attrilnites. but originate and exist conji_)intly with 

 tlieni. 



In addition to these features of form we observe others of a more 

 decidedly supei'functional character, added manifestly for the pur- 

 pose of enhancing' 1ln' apjiearance. 



In very i)rimitive times when a titensil is produced functional 

 ideas predominate, and there is, jierhaps, so far as its artificial char- 

 acters are concerned, a minimum of comeliness. But as the ages 

 pass by essential features are refined and elements of beauty are 

 added and enipliasi/,ed. In riper culture the growing pressure of 

 esthetic desire leads to the addition of many superficial modifica- 

 tions whose chief office is to please the fancy. In periods of dead- 

 ened sensibility or even through the incomjietence of individiial art- 

 ists in any period, such features may be ill chosen and erroneously 



