Boas, Franz: Primitive art (Oslo , Leipzig [u.a.], 1927)

Art of the North Pacific Coast of North America

245

the fore arm is shown on a large scale, the claws turned towards
the face. The line representing the body runs towards both ends
of the painting along the lower margin until it is merged into the
tail, one-half of which is shown on each side. In this specimen the
proportions of the body are much more distorted than in any pre-
vious case.
The following series of


Fig. 255. Desisn on a silver bracelet representing
a beaver, Haida.


Fig. 256.

Design on a silver bracelet representing
a sea-monster, Haida..

figures are designs found
on a number of silver
bracelets. The animals
represented on these are
also shown very frag-
mentarily.
In fig. 255 we see the
beaver cut in two along
its back. The face does
not need any further ex-
planation. The fore legs
adjoin it on each side,
the toes being turned in-
ward; but the whole rest
of the body has been
omitted, except the two
halves of the tail, which
the artist was compelled to show, because they are symbols of the animal.
In fig. 256 we recognize the sea-monster, with a bear’s head and
a whale’s body. Here also by far the greater portion of the etching
represents the head and fore arms of the monster. The fins, that are
attached to the upper arms near the elbow, are shown on a rather small
scale. The whole rest of the body is of small size, the two halves of
the body, with the adjoining half of the tail, occupying only the outer
upper margin of the bracelet. I am not quite clear whether the artist
intended to represent the two halves of the dorsal fin by the curved
ornament adjoining the hat which rises over the nose of the monster.


Fig. 257. Design on a silver bracelet representing
a hawk, Haida.