Art, Prehistoric; Folk literature -- History and criticism
There are also a number of low boxes which are treated somewhat
differently. On account of the lowness of the sides the lower rim
of the head is drawn straight so that a narrow rectangular panel
originates along the lower border (fig. 278). In this specimen the eyes
are retained; the central face in the lower field presumably represents
the body, to which are attached the arms and hands. In most specimens
of this type, however, the lower section is almost entirely suppressed;
the large upper face is retained but under it we find only a few
ornaments that may be interpreted only as fillers (fig. 279 above).
There are also a number of low boxes in which the body is entirely
suppressed. They contain, essentially, the large head design with a few
decorative features along the sides, and the eyes in the upper corners.
(Fig. 279 below).
The arrangement of the long boxes is such that the center of the mouth,
or a point a little below it, is the center of the decorative field
(figs. 274-276). A line drawn from the center of the lower border to
the upper corners passes almost always along the corner of the mouth
and often also through the sharp curve at the upper, outer outline of
the face. The line drawn from the center of the upper border to the
lower corner passes, generally, through the corner of the mouth. When
the central field along the upper border is wide, so that it reaches
down to the upper curve limiting the mouth, the eye is shown in profile
(figs. 274 _b_, 276 reverse). When the central field consists only of
a sharp short angle, there is a double eye (figs. 274 _a_, 275, 276
front, 277).
The general arrangement of lines on the box is such that the upper
curves of the face are strongly curved downward. The curvature
decreases downward; and in some boxes, for instance in those shown in
figs. 275 and 276 reverse, there is a tendency to an arrangement of
lines which are convex, upward.
[Illustration: Fig. 279. Front, reverse and side of carved boxes.]
The eye decorations are always so placed that they are not arranged in
straight lines. It will be seen that in the best boxes they fall into
curves that intersect the black lines of the design. In fig. 274 _a_,
the eyes in the lower corners and those in the mouth are placed so as
to form a continuous curve; in fig. 274 _b_, the arrangement of the
eyes in the upper corners, the eyes of the large head, and those in the
mouth form a fairly regular curve.
In the square boxes on which only one side of the face is shown on
each side (fig. 280), the body is very much reduced in size. In most
of these the large head is limited below by a straight line, while on
the long boxes containing the full face on the front the lower line of
the face is curved. In only one of these (fig. 278) do we find the face
limited below by a straight line.
[Illustration: Fig. 280. Carved boxes.]
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