106 
THE ORIGIN OF DECORATIVE ART. 
May, 1890 . 
the human race were yet so little developed that no attempts 
were made to create anything whose function was to be 
beautiful, and to excite the emotions, whether by appealing 
to the ear in the form of music, or to the eye by virtue of 
elegance of form or colour. Still as we know that Man him¬ 
self gradually emerged from a lowly state, and that every 
branch of culture, however elaborate it may be now, arose 
from the simplest beginnings, so, in considering the growth of 
the Fine arts, we must refer them back to the simplest origin, 
and speculation upon their origin presupposes the time when 
they did not exist. 
I do not propose to deal with the fine arts generally, but 
shall restrict mvself to the consideration of one branch, that 
of Decorative art, and examine such evidence as we have of 
its gradual growth, and its advance from the simple to the 
complex. 
It is impossible to give any date to the origin of decora¬ 
tive art. The appreciation of the effects of artificial decora¬ 
tion does, in fact, appear to extend beyond the limits of the 
human race ; instance the various birds (bower birds, magpies, 
etc.) which ornament their nests and other structures with 
bright objects, such as shells and other articles foreign to 
the elements required for mere construction. With them, 
however, this seems to be the result of attraction to bright 
and glistening objects generally, and there is no true creative 
operation of the intellect which characterizes the use of 
decoration as a fine art. In the same way, no doubt, Man in 
his earliest and most uncultured state appreciated to some 
extent beauty as occurring in Nature, and was attracted by 
any uncommon peculiarities in familiar objects which pre¬ 
sented themselves to his notice long before he conceived the 
idea of imitating them. 
The earliest attempts of Primaeval Man in the fine arts 
are completely involved in obscurity, and the true history of 
their gradual development can only be speculated upon. 
Among the oldest known products of man’s handiwork we 
find no traces of ornamental art. The rude implements 
roughly made from lumps or flakes of flint, which are found 
in the gravels of the “ river drift,” and which are the earliest 
evidence we have of man’s attempts at manufacture, are 
never embellished with decoration of any kind. Indeed, the 
material, hard and difficult to work into shape, is unsuited to 
decoration, except in the most expert hands. 
It bv no means follows that man in the so-called “ Drift 
«/ 
Period ” was unacquainted with artificial ornamentation. 
He very possibly frequently carved rough and simple decora- 
