Art, Prehistoric; Folk literature -- History and criticism
As a third example we might mention the Pueblo Indians of the Southern
United States. In many villages of this region pottery is the dominant
industry and in pottery is found the highest expression of art. The
form of the clay vessel is characterized by great regularity and it
becomes the substratum for decoration. Since pottery is a woman’s
art, women are the most productive artists among the Pueblos (fig.
2). However, the industrial activities of the Pueblos are not quite
so one-sided as those of California and British Columbia. Therefore
the men who are experienced in industrial work devoted to ceremonial
purposes are not lacking in the ability of artistic expression.
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Jar from Zuni.]
I believe these examples demonstrate that there is a close connection
between the development of skill in an industry and artistic activity.
Ornamental art has developed in those industries in which the greatest
skill is attained. Artistic productivity and skill are closely
correlated. Productive artists are found among those who have mastered
a technique, among men when the industries are in their hands, among
women when they are devoted to industrial activities.
It will be admitted that aside from all adventitious form elements,
the product of an experienced worker in any handicraft has an artistic
value. A child learning to make a basket or a pot cannot attain the
regularity of outline that is achieved by the master.
The appreciation of the esthetic value of technical perfection is
not confined to civilized man. It is manifested in the forms of
manufactured objects of all primitive people that are not contaminated
by the pernicious effects of our civilization and its machine-made
wares. In the household of the natives we do not find slovenly work,
except when a rapid makeshift has to be made. Patience and careful
execution characterize most of their products. Direct questioning
of natives and their criticism of their own work shows also their
appreciation of technical perfection. Virtuosity, complete control
of technical processes, however, means an automatic regularity of
movement. The basketmaker who manufactures a coiled basket, handles the
fibres composing the coil in such a way that the greatest evenness of
coil diameter results (fig. 3). In making her stitches the automatic
control of the left hand that lays down the coil, and of the right
that pulls the binding stitches over the coil brings it about that
the distances between the stitches and the strength of the pull are
absolutely even so that the surface will be smooth and evenly rounded
and that the stitches show a perfectly regular pattern,—in the same
way as an experienced seamstress will make her stitches at regular
intervals and with even pull, so that they lie like beads on a string.
The same observation may be made in twined basketry (fig. 4). In the
handiwork of an expert the pull of the woof string will be so even that
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