2i52 TEXTILK ART IN liKI.ATfOX TO FORM AND ORNAMENT. 



lu the strong forward teiuk-iicy of tlie textile system of decoration 

 it has made two conquests of especial importance. In the first place 

 it has subdued and assimilated all those elements of ornament that 

 have liajipi'iiiMl tn cntiT its realm from withoi;t, and in the second 

 place it has iiiiiM.srd its haliils and customs upon the decorative sys- 

 tems of all ai-ts with which the textile art has come in contact. 



(iEOMETRICITV IMPOSED UPON ADOPTED ELEMENTS OF DESKiN. 



At a very early stage of culture most peoples manifest decided 

 artistic tendencies, which are revealed in attempts to depict various 

 devices, life forms, and fancies upon the skin and upon the surfaces 

 of utensils, garments, and other articles and objects. The figures 

 are very often decorative in effect and may be of a trivial nature, but 

 very generally such art is serious and pertains to events or su])ersti- 

 tions. The devices employed may be purely conventional or gem I let ric, 

 containing no graphic element whatever; but life forms affoid the 

 most natural and satisfactory means of recording, conveying, and sym- 

 bolizing ideas, and hence preponderate largely. Such forms, on ac- 

 count of their intimate i-elatiims with the )ihil(>so]iliy of the )ie(i])l(\are 

 freely embodied in e\ei\ ait suitahh' to tlieir eiiiphiyiiient. As already 

 seen, the i)eculiar chaiaeter of textile cnnstruetiou places great ditti- 

 culties in the way of introducing unsymmetric and complex figures 

 like those of natural objects into fabrics. The idea of so employ- 

 ing them may originally have been suggested by the application of 

 designs in color to the woven surfaces or by resemblances between 

 the simpler conventional life form derivatives and the geometric fig- 

 ures indigenous to the art. 



At any rate, the idea of introducing life forms into the texture was 

 suggested, and in the course of time a great deal of skill was shown 

 in their delineation, the bolder workmen venturing to employ a wide 

 range of graphic subjects. 



Now, if we examine these woven forms with .reference to the inod- 

 ifications brought about by the textile surveillance, we find that the 

 figures, as introduced in the cloth, do not at all correspond with those 

 executed by ordinary graphic methods, either in degree of elaboration 

 or in truthfulness of expression. They haA^e a style of their own. 

 Each delineative element upon entei-iiii;- the textile realm is forced 

 into those peculiar conventional uiitlines imiMised liy the ^-eonietric 

 construction, the character of which lias already lieen dwelt u]icin at 

 considerable length. We find, however, that the degree of conven- 

 tion is not uniform throughout all fabrics, but that it varies with the 

 refinement of the threads or filaments, the compactness of the mesh, 

 the character of the combination, the graphic skill of the artist, and 

 the tendencies of his mind; yet we observe that through all there is 

 still exhibited a distinct and peculiar geometricity. 



So pronounced is this technical bias that delineations i if a particular 



