PRIMITIVE ART 
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A comparison of the decorative designs exhibited in Case 15 
with the designs on ceremonial objects which will be found in 
Cases 13 and 14, shows a marked difference between the two styles. 
The execution of the purely ornamental objects is careful,— the 
designs are regular in outline, and the conventionalism in inter- 
pretation and in form is strong. The decoration on sacrificial 
objects, on the other hand, is, on the whole, crude; it is throughout 
pictographic in character. The crudeness of these designs is 
partly due to lack of skill in the use of the brush and of the carv- 
ing-tool, and in the application of bead-work by means of wax,— 
an art which is undoubtedly a survival of the ancient turquoise 
mosaics. All carved and painted designs of the Huichol In- 
dians seem to be crude, and many of the embroidered designs 
on sacrificial objects are also poorly executed; but this may be 
partly due to their temporary 
character. A few of them, 
however, are carefully woven; 
but their designs are picto- 
graphic, not geometrical. The 
interpretation of the conven- 
tional decorative designs of the Huichol is, on the whole, in line 
with the ideas expressed on their ceremonial objects. Their con- 
stant thought is the need of rain for their crops; and the water- 
