DECORATIVE DESIGNS OF ALASKAN NEEDLECASES: 
A STUDY IN THE HISTORY OF CONVENTIONAL DE- 
SIGNS, BASED ON MATERIALS IN THE U.S. NATIONAL 
MUSEUM. 
By Franz Boas, 
Of Columbia University, New York City. 
In 1877, Prof. F. W. Putnam described in detail the decorative 
designs found in the pottery of the Chiriqui Indians, and was the 
first, I believe, to propound clearly the theory that conventional 
designs develop from attempts at realistic representations, which 
gradually degenerate so that ultimately a purely conventional design 
remains, in which the realistic origin can hardly be recognized. 
Since that time this theory has been independently stated by a number 
of investigators, particularly by H. Stolpe® and H. Balfour.*. It has 
been applied extensively to explanations of primitive designs. The 
most noteworthy contributions on this subject are those by Karl von 
den Steinen,* on the art of the Brazilian Indians, and by A. C. 
Haddon,¢ on the art of the natives of New Guinea. 
Opposed to this view has been the theory propounded by Semper, 
who emphasizes the influence of material upon the development of 
the design, and that proposed by Cushing and Holmes,’ who empha- 
size the importance of technic upon the development of geometrical 
design. More recently Karl von den Steinen% has also emphasized 
the importance of technical conditions upon the development of de- 
sign, and his arguments have been followed and elaborated by Max 
Schmidt in discussions of South American designs. Th. Koch follows 
in the same line of argument, showing that at least in Brazil a consid- 
@Conventionalism in American Art, Bull. Essex Inst. 
b Pntwicklungserscheinungen in der Ornamentik der Naturvolker, Mit. d. an- 
throp. Ges. in Wien, 1892, pp. 19 et seq. 
€The Evolution of Decorative Art, 1893. 
@ Unter den Naturvolkern Zentral-Brasiliens, 1894, pp. 258 et seq. 
€ Hvolution in Art, 1895. 
/W. H. Holmes, Textile Art in Relation to Form and Ornament, Sixth Ann. 
Rep. Bur. Ethnol, 1884-85, p. 228. 
9 Correspondenzblatt der deutschen anthropologischen Gesellschaft, 1905. 
PROCEEDINGS U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, VOL. XXXIV—No. 1616. 
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