4}=^ 



SECOND FLOOR, HALL 202. 



On the second floor are found collections from California and 

 Mexico which illustrate some of the characteristics of the decora- 

 tive art of these regions. 



Cases 1-6. 



California Indians. — The decorative art of the California 

 Indians, more particularly that of the Indians of southern Cali- 

 fornia, is almost entirely confined to basketry. Their baskets 

 are mostly round, rather rarely oblong, many of them quite shal- 

 low : consequently we find a tendency to arrange the decorative 

 designs in radial groups or in spirals. The designs themselves 

 are rarely realistic, but consist always of more or less intricate 

 geometrical designs. The similarity of these designs on various 

 baskets is quite striking. Their interpretations, however, dift'er 

 considerably. A collection illustrating the similarity of design 

 and the diversity of their meaning has been assembled in Case 

 2 a, b. There we find on one basket a design representing a 

 squirrel's foot. A similar design on another basket represents 

 mountains and pine-cones ; on still another, the bear's foot ; and 

 on a fourth the owl's claw. 



32 



