HEMCNWAY E-F5DITION, AC .', T. VERNON ST. BOSTON, MASS. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORM AND ORNAMENT IN CERAMIC ART WILLIAM H. HOLMES [EXTRACT FROM THE FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHN0L00Y 1 WASH INC, TON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1 S.SC 1I0LMKS.J 445 ORIGIN OF CERAMIC FORMS. ORIGIN OF FORM. In order to convey a clear idea of the bearing of the preceding state- ments upon the history of form and ornament, it will be necessary to present a number of points in greater detail. The following synopsis will give a connected view of various possible origins of form. (By adventition. Origin of fern, By imitation {§f "XctaimodeU. I By invention. FORMS SUGGESTED BY ADVENTITION. The suggestions of accident, especially in the early stages of art, are often adopted, and become fruitful sources of improvement and progress. By such means the use of clay was discovered and t he ceramic art came into existence. The accidental indentation of a mass of clay by the foot, or hand, or by a fruit-shell, or stone, while serving as an auxiliary in some simple art, may have suggested the making of a cup, the sim- plest form of vessel. The use of clay as a cement in repairing utensils, in protecting com- bustible vessels from injury by fire, or in building up the walls of shal- low vessels, may also have led to the formation of disks or cups, after- wards independently constructed. In any case the objects or utensils with which the clay was associated in its earliest use would impress their forms upon it. Thus, if clay were used in deepening or mending vessels of stone by a given people, it would, when used independently by that people, tend to assume shapes suggested by stone vessels. The same may be said of its use in connection with wood and wicker, or with vessels of other materials. Forms of vessels so derived may be said to have an adventitious origin, yet they are essentially copies, although not so by design, and may as readily be placed under the succeeding head. FORMS DERIVED BY IMITATION. Clay has no inherent qualities of a nature to impose a given form or class of forms upon its products, as Lave wood, bark, bone, or stone. It is so mobile as to be quite free to take form from surroundings, and where extensively used will record or echo a vast deal of nature and of coexistent art. In this observation we have a key that will unlock many of the mys- teries of form. In the investigation of this point it will be necessary to consider the processes by which an art inherits or acquires the forms of another art or of nature, and how one material imposes its peculiarities upon an- other material. In early stages of culture the processes of art are closely akin to those of nature, the human agent hardly ranking as more than 450 FOKM AND ORNAMENT IN CERAMIC ART. section in which pouch-like nets and baskets, a, were formerly in use and in which the pots were often modeled. INVENTION OF FORM. In the early stages of art, forms are rarely invented outright and I shall not stop to consider the subject here. MODIFICATION OF FORM. The acquisition of new materials, the development of new uses, the employment of new processes of manufacture, and many other agencies lead to the multiplication of forms through modification. The proc- esses by which highly differentiated forms are reached are interesting throughout and repay the closest study. A preliminary classification of the various causes that lead to modi- fication is given in the following synopsis: Modification of form By Iulventition . By intention ( lo assume form, retain form. Incapacity of mat Incapacity of the artisan Changes in method of manufacture. Changes of environment. Changes of use. Lack of use. Influence of new or exotic forms, etc.