DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42067#0146
124
Symbolism
I will mention one more case in which the actual process of
reading in has been observed. At one time, when I visited British
Columbia, I purchased a woven bag from an elderly woman. It
was decorated with a series of diamonds and small embroidered
cross-like figures. Upon inquiry I learned that the bag had
been purchased from a neighboring tribe and that the new owner
did not know anything about the original significance of the pattern,—-
if such a significance existed which is doubtful, because the tribe in
question is not given to interpretations. It appeared to the new
owner that the diamonds looked like a series of lakes connected by
a river. The different colors of the diamonds appeared to her to
suggest the colors of the lakes; -— a green border, the vegetation
of the shore, a yellow area inside the shallow water, and a blue
center the deep water. The interpretation did not seem to her
sufficiently clear, and in order to emphasize it she added, in
embroidery, figures of birds flying towards the lakes. Thus she gave
greater realism to her conception and made it more intelligible to
her friends (Plate VII).
The needle cases of the Alaskan Eskimo offer an excellent example
of an elaboration of geometrical into realistic forms. It must be
remembered that all the Eskimo tribes, east and west, are very fond
of carving and that they produce many small animal figures that
serve no practical purpose but which are made for the pleasure of
artistic creation, and that many of their small implements are given
animal forms. The mind of the worker in ivory is imbued with the
idea of animal representation. The Alaskan needle cases have a
stereotyped form to which the bulk of the specimens conform (fig. 119).
The type consists of a tube slightly bulging in the middle, with flanges
at the upper end, with lateral knobs under the flanges on opposite
sides. On the body of the tubing, between the flanges, is a long
narrow concave face, set off from the flanges and the body of the
tube by parallel lines with small forks at the lower ends. Lines
border the sides and ends of the flanges and the upper end of the
concave face, and an alternate-spur band is found at the lower end
Symbolism
I will mention one more case in which the actual process of
reading in has been observed. At one time, when I visited British
Columbia, I purchased a woven bag from an elderly woman. It
was decorated with a series of diamonds and small embroidered
cross-like figures. Upon inquiry I learned that the bag had
been purchased from a neighboring tribe and that the new owner
did not know anything about the original significance of the pattern,—-
if such a significance existed which is doubtful, because the tribe in
question is not given to interpretations. It appeared to the new
owner that the diamonds looked like a series of lakes connected by
a river. The different colors of the diamonds appeared to her to
suggest the colors of the lakes; -— a green border, the vegetation
of the shore, a yellow area inside the shallow water, and a blue
center the deep water. The interpretation did not seem to her
sufficiently clear, and in order to emphasize it she added, in
embroidery, figures of birds flying towards the lakes. Thus she gave
greater realism to her conception and made it more intelligible to
her friends (Plate VII).
The needle cases of the Alaskan Eskimo offer an excellent example
of an elaboration of geometrical into realistic forms. It must be
remembered that all the Eskimo tribes, east and west, are very fond
of carving and that they produce many small animal figures that
serve no practical purpose but which are made for the pleasure of
artistic creation, and that many of their small implements are given
animal forms. The mind of the worker in ivory is imbued with the
idea of animal representation. The Alaskan needle cases have a
stereotyped form to which the bulk of the specimens conform (fig. 119).
The type consists of a tube slightly bulging in the middle, with flanges
at the upper end, with lateral knobs under the flanges on opposite
sides. On the body of the tubing, between the flanges, is a long
narrow concave face, set off from the flanges and the body of the
tube by parallel lines with small forks at the lower ends. Lines
border the sides and ends of the flanges and the upper end of the
concave face, and an alternate-spur band is found at the lower end