Back Aa

Form and Ornament in Ceramic Art

Close

<h2>MODIFICATION OF FORM.</h2> 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 processes 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 modification is given in the following synopsis: <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" summary="Modification of form"> <tr> <td style="white-space: nowrap">Modification of form—</td> <td style="white-space: nowrap">{ </td> <td style="white-space: nowrap" valign="bottom">By adventition— By intention—— </td> <td style="white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;" valign="top">{ {</td> <td style="white-space: nowrap" valign="top"> Incapacity of material—————— Incapacity of the artisan. Changes in method of manufacture. Changes in environment. Changes of use. Lack of use. Influence of new or exotic forms, etc. To enhance usefulness. To please fancy.————————</td> <td style="white-space: nowrap" valign="top">{ {</td> <td style="white-space: nowrap" valign="top">To assume form. To retain form. For the beautiful. For the grotesque.</td> </tr> </table> <h4>MODIFICATION BY ADVENTITION.</h4> Incapacity of material.—It is evident at a glance that clay lacks the capacity to assume and to retain many of the details of form found in antecedent vessels. This necessarily results in the alteration or omission of these features, and hence arise many modifications of original forms. The simple lack of capacity on the part of the potter who undertook to reproduce a model would lead to the modification of all but the most simple shapes. The acquisition of the art by a superior or an inferior race, or one of different habits would lead to decided changes. A people accustomed to carrying objects upon the head, on acquiring earthen vessels would shape the bases and the handles to facilitate this use. Improvements in the methods of 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. [Pg 451] 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. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/image10.jpg" width-obs="450" height-obs="184" alt="a, wood. b, clay. Fig. 473.—Coincident forms." title="a, wood. b, clay. Fig. 473.—Coincident forms." /> Fig. 473.—Coincident forms. </div> 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. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/image11.jpg" width-obs="450" height-obs="174" alt="a b Fig. 471.—Form resulting from accident." title="a b Fig. 471.—Form resulting from accident." /> Fig. 471.—Form resulting from accident. </div> 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, [Pg 452] 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. <h4>MODIFICATION BY INTENTION.</h4> 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 vessels of particular forms to particular ceremonies. [Pg 453] <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2