A Study of the Textile Art in Its Relation to the Development of Form and Ornament: Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-'85, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, (pages 189-252)Holmes, William Henry
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A Study of the Textile Art in Its Relation to the Development of Form and Ornament: Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-'85, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, (pages 189-252)
Holmes, William Henry
Decoration and ornament; Indian textile fabrics -- North America; Textile fabrics; Textile industry
An example from a higher grade of art will be of value in this
connection. The ancient Peruvians resorted to many clever devices for
purposes of enrichment. An illustration of the use of
extra-constructional means to secure desired ends are given in Figs.
334 and 335. Threads constituting a supplemental warp and woof are
carried across the under side of a common piece of fabric, that they
may be brought up and woven in here and there to produce figures of
contrasting color upon the right side. Fig. 334 shows the right side
of the cloth, with the secondary series appearing in the border and
central figure only. Fig. 335 illustrates the opposite side and shows
the loose hanging, unused portions of the auxiliary series. In such
work, when the figures are numerous and occupy a large part of the
surface, the fabric is really a double one, having a dual warp and
woof. Examples could be multiplied indefinitely, but it will readily
be seen from what has been presented that the results of these
extraordinary means cannot differ greatly from those legitimately
produced by the fundamental filaments alone.
[Illustration FIG. 334. Piece of cotton cloth showing the use of a
supplementary web and woof. Ancient Peru.]
[Illustration FIG. 335. Piece of cotton cloth showing the use of a
supplementary web and woof. Ancient Peru.]
_Superconstructive features._--In reviewing the superconstructive
decorative features in the preceding section I classified them
somewhat closely by method of execution or application to the fabric,
as stitched, inserted, drawn, cut, applied, and appended. It will be
seen that, although these devices are to a great extent of the nature
of needlework, all cannot be classed under this head.
Before needles came into use the decorative features were inserted and
attached in a variety of ways. In open work nothing was needed but the
end of the fillet or part inserted; again, in close work, perforations
were made as in leather work, and the threads were inserted as are the
waxed ends of the shoemaker.
The importance of this class of decorative devices to primitive
peoples will be apparent if we but call to mind the work of our own
Indian tribes. What a vast deal of attention is paid to those classes
of embroideries in which beads, feathers, quills, shells, seeds,
teeth, &c., are employed, and to the multitude of novel applications
of tassels, fringes, and tinkling pendants. The taste for these things
is universal and their relation to the development of esthetic ideas
is doubtless very intimate.
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