DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42067#0306
278
Art of the North Pacific Coast of North America
A fairly fixed formal arrangement may also be observed on horn
spoons moulded of a single piece (fig. 288). On the back of the
spoon is a design, the center of which is a large face. In many
specimens the space above the eye is filled by two ear designs
which are doubled and unusually large on account of the space that
they have to fill. In these specimens the space between the ears
is taken up by a narrow decorated
strip. In a few simpler forms parts
of the bowl of the spoon remain
undecorated.
A closer examination of the de-
corated objects shows that even
apart from the decorative use of
symbolic motives, geometric ele-
ments are not by any means absent.
The most striking use of geometrical
forms is found on wooden trays,
which bear at the ends the characteristic faces, but which are decor-
ated on the sides by groups of short parallel lines (fig. 284, p. 273).
The line and circle pattern on the dish (fig. 168, p. 191) illustrates also
the use of geometrical forms for decorative purposes. On the berry
spoon (fig. 215, p. 221) the space left vacant by the symbolic design
is filled in with a net of crossing lines. This specimen shows that the
cross hatching which occurs in many specimens,— on the beaver tail
(fig. 157, p. 186), on berry spoons (fig. 182, p. 197), on spoons
(fig. 189, p. 201) and often in red or black as a filler on boxes
(fig. 274, p. 263) has a decorative value even when it may be given
at the same time a symbolic meaning. The dish of big-horn-sheep horn
(fig. 289) shows a bear’s head at each end. At the same time it
has a decorative border which seems to imitate the border of a
basket and which is purely ornamental. It serves to close off the
rim which without it would seem to end abruptly. A similar device
is usGd on a Kwakiutl mask (fig. 290). Although the encircling
ornament is explained as a ring made of twisted, shredded cedar
Art of the North Pacific Coast of North America
A fairly fixed formal arrangement may also be observed on horn
spoons moulded of a single piece (fig. 288). On the back of the
spoon is a design, the center of which is a large face. In many
specimens the space above the eye is filled by two ear designs
which are doubled and unusually large on account of the space that
they have to fill. In these specimens the space between the ears
is taken up by a narrow decorated
strip. In a few simpler forms parts
of the bowl of the spoon remain
undecorated.
A closer examination of the de-
corated objects shows that even
apart from the decorative use of
symbolic motives, geometric ele-
ments are not by any means absent.
The most striking use of geometrical
forms is found on wooden trays,
which bear at the ends the characteristic faces, but which are decor-
ated on the sides by groups of short parallel lines (fig. 284, p. 273).
The line and circle pattern on the dish (fig. 168, p. 191) illustrates also
the use of geometrical forms for decorative purposes. On the berry
spoon (fig. 215, p. 221) the space left vacant by the symbolic design
is filled in with a net of crossing lines. This specimen shows that the
cross hatching which occurs in many specimens,— on the beaver tail
(fig. 157, p. 186), on berry spoons (fig. 182, p. 197), on spoons
(fig. 189, p. 201) and often in red or black as a filler on boxes
(fig. 274, p. 263) has a decorative value even when it may be given
at the same time a symbolic meaning. The dish of big-horn-sheep horn
(fig. 289) shows a bear’s head at each end. At the same time it
has a decorative border which seems to imitate the border of a
basket and which is purely ornamental. It serves to close off the
rim which without it would seem to end abruptly. A similar device
is usGd on a Kwakiutl mask (fig. 290). Although the encircling
ornament is explained as a ring made of twisted, shredded cedar