Origin and Development of Form and Ornament in Ceramic Art. | Page 5

manufacture are of the greatest
importance in the progress of an art. The introduction of the lathe, for
example, might almost revolutionize form in clay.
As arts multiply, clay is applied to new uses. Its employment in the
manufacture of lamps, whistles, or toys would lead to a multitude of
distinct and unique forms.
The acquisition of a new vessel-making material by a nation of potters
and the association of the forms developed through its inherent
qualities or structure would often lead ceramic shapes into new
channels.
[Illustration: a, wood. b, clay. FIG. 473.--Coincident forms.]
The contact of a nation of potters with a nation of carvers in wood
would tend very decidedly to modify the utensils of the former. One
example may be given which will illustrate the possibilities of such
exotic influences upon form. In Fig. 473, a, we have an Alaskan vessel
carved in wood. It represents a beaver grasping a stick in its hands and
teeth. The conception is so unusual and the style of vessel so
characteristic of the people that we should not expect to find it repeated
in other regions; but the ancient graves of the Middle Mississippi
Valley have furnished a number of very similar vessels in clay, one of
which is outlined in b. While this remarkable coincidence is suggestive
of ethnic relationships which do not call for attention here, it serves to
illustrate the possibilities of modification by simple contact.
[Illustration: a b FIG. 471.--Form resulting from accident.]
A curious example illustrative of possible transformation by
adventitious circumstances is found in the collection from the province
of ancient Tusayan. A small vessel of sphynx-like appearance, possibly
derived more or less remotely from a skin vessel, has a noticeable
resemblance to some life form, Fig. 474, a. The fore-legs are
represented by two large bosses, the wide-open mouth takes the place
of the severed neck, and a handle connects the top of the rim with the
back of the vessel. The handle being broken off and the vessel inverted,

b, there is a decided change; we are struck by the resemblance to a frog
or toad. The original legs, having dark concentric lines painted around
them, look like large protruding eyes, and the mouth gapes in the most
realistic manner, while the two short broken ends of the handle
resemble legs and serve to support the vessel in an upright position,
completing the illusion. The fetich-hunting Pueblo Indian, picking up
this little vessel in its mutilated condition, would probably at once give
to it the sacred character of the water animal which it resembles, and it
might readily transmit its peculiarities of form to other generations of
vessels.
It is not necessary in this study to refer at length to the influence of
metallic vessels upon ceramic forms. They do not usually appear until
the ceramic art is far advanced and often receive a heritage of shape
from earthen forms. Afterwards, when the inherent qualities of the
metal have stamped their individuality upon utensils, the debt is paid
back to clay with interest, as will be seen by reference to later forms in
many parts of the world.
+MODIFICATION BY INTENTION.+
To enhance usefulness.--There can be no doubt that the desire upon the
part of the archaic potter to increase the usefulness and convenience of
his utensils has been an important agent in the modification of form.
The earliest vessels employed were often clumsy and difficult to handle.
The favorite conch shell would hold water for him who wished to drink,
but the breaking away of spines and the extraction of the interior whorl
improved it immeasurably. The clumsy mortar of stone, with its thick
walls and great weight, served a useful purpose, but it needed a very
little intelligent thought to show that thin walls and neatly-trimmed
margins were much preferable.
Vessels of clay, aside from the forms imposed upon, them by their
antecedents and associates, would necessarily be subject to changes
suggested by the growing needs of man. These would be worked out
with ever-increasing ease by his unfolding genius for invention. Further
investigation of this phase of development would carry me beyond the
limits set for this paper.

To please fancy.--The skill acquired by the handling of clay in
constructing vessels and in efforts to increase their usefulness would
open an expansive field for the play of fancy. The potter would no
sooner succeed in copying vessels having life form than he would be
placed in a position to realize his capacity to imitate forms not peculiar
to vessels. His ambition would in time lead him even beyond the limits
of nature and he would invade the realm of imagination, embodying the
conceptions of superstition in the plastic clay. This tendency would be
encouraged and perpetuated by the relegation of