UBRARY

UNIVERSITY Of
CALIFORNIA

DECORATIVE ART

\Ynoi.K SERIES, VOL. \'II.

ANTHROPOLOGY, Ym.. \'I.

MEMOIRS

American Museum of Natural

History.

VOLUME VII.

PUBLICATIONS OF

THE JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPEDITION.

I. — The Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

P,v ISERTHOLD LAUFER.

January, 1902.

DECORATIVE AHS
fcfeerbocfeer press, Wew I

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MEMOIRS

OF THE

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

The Jesup North Pacific Expedition.

I. — THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

BY BERTIIOI.D LAUFEK.
PLATES I-XXXIII.

THE material published and described in the following pages was obtained
under the auspices of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition during my two years'
researches among the various tribes of Saghalin Island and the Amur region.

There is not much literature as yet bearing on the decorative art of these
tribes. Schrenck, in his fundamental work " Reisen und F"orschungen im Amur-
Lande" (Vol. Ill, pp. 399-401), makes a few remarks on the subject, emphasizing
the peculiarity of the Gilyak ornaments, which are totally different from those of
all other Siberian peoples. He sees in them an evident Chinese influence. No
explanations of the ornamental figures are unfolded in his book. Further, H.
Schurtz, in his paper " Zur Ornamentik der Aino " (Internationales Archiv fur
Ethnographic, Vol. IX, pp. 233-251), has considered to some extent the orna
mentation of the Amur tribes so far as known to him. It would carry us too far
to enter into a minute discussion of the leading problems there treated, the
alleged solution and disentanglement of which fall to the ground when compared
with the results of investigations in the field. I must confess, I adhere to the
principle that ornaments should not be regarded as enigmas which can be easily
puzzled out by the homely fireside. Neither are ornaments of primitive tribes
like inscriptions, that may be deciphered : they are rather productions of their art,
which can receive proper explanation only from the lips of their creators. They
are comparable to modern symphonic compositions, that are incomprehensible
without the printed synopsis in the hands of the auditors. The writing of such
guides can only be accomplished by consulting the native artist as to his own
fancy concerning the significance of the ornaments evolved from it. The hu
man and bear heads which Schurtz claims to have ferreted out exist not in the

[i]

M856323

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2 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

minds of the natives. Artistic representations of the bear in wood-carving are
limited to the Gilyak, for use at their bear-festival. This animal, however, is
never reproduced in drawings or paintings, either in natural or conventional
form, according to the verbal testimony of both the Gilyak and Gold. Neither
have I myself discovered even a trace of the bear-heads suggested by Schurtz.
Of the existence of his eye-ornaments, apparently a mere outcome of his enthu
siasm, my authorities were also entirely ignorant.

I am under obligations to Professor A. Bastian for permitting me to take
advantage of those collections in the Konigliche Museum fiir Volkerkunde in
Berlin which relate to the Amur region, and which were made by Captain A.
Jacobsen. I have also to thank the authorities of the Konigliche Kunstgewerbe
Museum in Berlin for placing at my disposal fourteen specimens of Chinese and
Japanese weavings. These objects from the two Berlin museums have been drawn
by Mr. W. von den Steinen ; drawings for the other illustrations were prepared
by Mr. Rudolf Weber. A list of plates is given at the end.

HISTORICAL ASPECT. — The history of the decorative art of the Amur tribes
is shrouded in mystery, since no written records give any account of it ; never
theless we may be able to make some historical observations regarding its devel
opment. A comparison of the artistic material found in my collections with that
obtained by Schrenck nearly half a century ago, and illustrated in his work
" Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande," affords instructive evidence that the
forms of this sphere of art have remained unaltered up to the present time, not
withstanding all political turbulence and change that have affected the Amur
region in the mean time. Although Russian influence is nowadays all-powerful,
yet it has not been able to suppress or eradicate native art, nor to replace it by
something better, for the apparent simple reason that the Russian settlers had
indeed nothing better to offer. Whereas Russian " culture " tended to shatter the
entire life of the natives, its effect is the more striking and remarkable in view of
the fact that the native art has been retained pure and intact. From this we may
be justified in inferring that their artistic conceptions have taken deep root in the
hearts of the people, and have acquired a high value in their intellectual world.
The tenacity with which the style of art survives should be counted as evidence of
its national character, at least of an ancient naturalization on the soil in which it
was planted. On the other hand, we observe at first that the forms and concep
tions of this ornamentation are imbued, for the most part, with a Chinese spirit ;
but considering the historical feature just mentioned, and, moreover, the fact that
the present aspect of the wide propagation and the skilful execution of this art
all over the Amur region can be the result only of long-enduring tradition, it can
hardly be designated en masse as a Chinese importation. Its basis rests unde
niably in China. In the course of time the Amur tribes appropriated Chinese
forms to themselves, and very likely further developed them independently. The
introduction of Chinese devices must surely date as far back as the earliest connec-

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 3

tion of the Chinese with the Amur region and with Tungusian tribes. This art
was perhaps first introduced as a mere fashion, which overruled taste, then
gradually infused itself into the minds of the people, who in this way absorbed
and assimilated a part of the Chinese art, as the nations of Europe imbibed
classic art in the period of the Renaissance. It was due no less also to a con
geniality of the minds of the two peoples. At present it is hardly possible to
define exactly the historical relation between Chinese and East Siberian art,
especially since the art of China, and particularly its ornamentation, has as yet
been so little explored.

We read in the annals of Chinese history that the great body of Tungusians
knew nothing further than the use of wooden tallies with certain rude conven
tional marks, which served as bonds in case of contracts ; and that then A-paou-ke,
the first emperor of the Liao Dynasty, employed a great number of Chinese ; and
they instructed him, by an adaptation of the official Chinese writing, with certain
additions and contractions, how to construct several thousand characters, by
which the engraved contract-tallies were replaced, these new forms referring to
the beginning of the tenth century. Although the Khitans thus early took the
lead, their example was not followed by their neighbors, at least not for many
years ; for up to the twelfth century we still find the Niiichi chiefs issuing their
orders by the old device of an arrow with a notch in it, while matters of urgency
were distinguished by three notches. On their establishment as the Kin Dynasty,
however, they for the first time gained a knowledge of written characters.1

Since writing forms a most important part of art, according to Chinese
views, we may conclude that the introduction of ideograms among Tungusian
tribes became at the same time the incentive for adopting also ornamental and
decorative forms. So, too, we may be sure that the ornamentation of these Tun
gusian tribes can have been but very poor before ; and from this point of view
it is still more likely that they felt themselves under the necessity of adopting
Chinese ornaments. From remote times the forms and figures of Chinese orna-
ture may have been handed down among the Amur tribes for many centuries ;
and thus it may even be the case that traditions regarding the meaning of cer
tain patterns are fuller, and have been better preserved in the minds of these
naive unlettered tribes than in the fast-fading memories of a writing nation. If the
patterns of the Amur tribes were derived from China, it is most astounding that
exactly corresponding devices have never before been discovered in that country,
nor adequate explanations obtained for related ones. It is true that we know
very little about Chinese ornaments ; nevertheless, from the fact that the in-
'habitants of the Amur country have now given us the first clew to patterns of
apparent Chinese origin, we seem to be justified in concluding that they arc
founded on a better-preserved oral tradition there. Further, we may infer that
examples similar to those in our ornaments are necessarily still to be found in the
large province of Sino-Japanese art. Those Chinese and Japanese designs which

1 Wylie, Chinese Researches, Vol. II., p. 254-

4 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

-t

I shall here compare with our Siberian devices cannot prove, of course, the direct
historical connection between the practices of both arts : they are merely material
chosen to demonstrate some characteristic congruous features, which may bear
witness, if not to the exact degree of relationship, yet to a general one.

What is necessary, first of all, to sift out, is the ornamental art of the Man-
chu, and those Chinese peoples in the northern part of the Celestial Kingdom
bordering on Siberia. The source from which the Amur peoples have drawn
may be discovered there. After all, it is clearly too intricate a problem, thus far,
to distinguish accurately between what of their art the Amur tribes owe to their
masters, and what to themselves. A great many features should be attributed
to direct Chinese transmission. On the whole, therefore, the standpoint to be
taken, in a consideration of the decorative art of these tribes, must for the
present be one that looks upon it as an independent branch of East Asiatic art,
which sprang from the Sino-Japanese cultural centre. The exact historical posi
tion of this domain of art in the grand framework of this culture has yet to be
ascertained.

The dependence of the art of the Amur tribes on the Chinese arises, in the
next place, from the fact that Chinese models are immediately copied by the
Gold. The explanation of such reproductions can be drawn only from the realm
of Chinese conceptions. Many Chinese designs are simply based on a play upon
words ; that is, abstract ideas are symbolized by an object the name of which is
homonymous with that of the former, although written with different characters.
On Plate i are combined three designs, apparently Goldian copies of Chinese
originals. Fig. i represents somewhat more than half of a sleeping-mat cov
ered with a silk embroidery. Around the central circle, surrounded by a key
pattern, are grouped four bats and four butterflies, alternating with each other.
The meander is repeated in semicircles in the four corners. The bat is called in
Chinese fu ; there is another word fu with the meaning " good luck." The but
terfly is designated tiek ; this same complex of sounds means also "aged." The
abstract idea of this pattern is therefore that it may convey to the possessor old
age and good luck. Fig. 2 shows the design on the top of a Golclian tea-
table. The centre is occupied by the dragon in the exact style of that seen so
frequently on Chinese porcelain boxes and other objects. On either side it is
beset by two bats. To the right and left of these is a vine bearing three blos
soms. Fig. 3 represents a square kerchief of bluish-green silk lined with red
cloth and edged with a black border. In the middle we see a conventionalized
form of the Chinese character shou ("long life"). Around it are four butterflies
hovering over plum-blossoms. They are embroidered in the most variegated
colors. Plum-blossom is called met, and is looked upon as the symbol of beauty,
as met also signifies " beautiful." This pattern presents, accordingly, an allusion
to long life, old age, and beauty.1

Among other Chinese forms which we meet with in East Siberian art we

1 See W. Grube, Zur Pekinger Volkskunde (Veroffentl. aus clem Mus. f. Volkerkunde, Berlin, Vol. VII, p. 138).

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate I.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 5

find the svastika and the triskeles. Furthermore, the animals which appear in
the designs of the Amur natives are just like those which play an important part
in Chinese art and mythology. It is indeed most remarkable that animals, such
as the bear,1 the sable, the otter, and many others which predominate in the
household economy, and are favorite subjects in the traditions as well as in daily
conversation, do not appear in art, whereas the ornaments are filled with Chinese
mythological monsters which are but imperfectly understood. In the progress
of this paper we shall see, further, that the cock, the fish, the dragon, and other
creatures are also loans. As with the Chinese, the representations of animals are
not connected with concrete ideas : they have merely an emblematic meaning, and
they symbolize abstract conceptions. The art of the Amur peoples is lacking,
therefore, in realistic character, and merges into the formative. Objects of nature
are not reproduced ; but foreign samples handed down from generation to genera
tion, and at last assimilated, are continually being copied. Many women retain
in their memories a great variety of patterns, and cut them out of paper with a
speed and dexterity that are worthy of admiration.

SOME GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ART AND ARTISTS. — Generally activity
in the province of art is limited to the decoration of surfaces. The sense for
plastic representations is lacking. These occur rarely, and are to be found only
under exceptional circumstances. Animal carvings are met with on the richer
sepulchral monuments of the Gilyak. Dishes and spoons, for use at the bear-
festival, are adorned with carved bears. For a boy's toy, the bear is also
crudely carved out of wood, and perforated above at the back to allow of a string
passing through it, on which the figure is moved up and down. Other animals
also — as, for instance, dogs, frogs, lizards, carp, salmon — are cut out of wood
by the Gilyak as well as by the Gold, for use as playthings. To the prow of a
boat is sometimes attached, especially among the Gold, a wooden duck, generally
of rude workmanship. The wooden burchans— .images of deities — which are
manufactured according to the direction of the shaman, for the purpose of curing
disease, — -a new effigy on each occasion, — can by no means claim a place among
works of art, since they embody only the particular attributes required in the
special case in question, and, for the rest, remain a rndis indigestaque moles.
Most striking is the lack of ability to draw human faces or forms ; the more so,
since, on prehistoric monuments of the Aimir region, petroglyphs have been
found which doubtless represent human heads. Where such occasionally occur, —
as, for instance, in certain paintings on Goldian paper charms (so-called boachi), —
they reveal an appalling crucleness. In fact, human faces are never met with in

1 One of the principal faults of Schurtz's studies, cited on pp. I and 2, lies in the fact that the single forms
of ornaments have been extricated from the larger groups in which they occur, and the connection they originally had
has thus been dissolved. Ornamental forms have ever-varying significations, according to the combinations in which
they are used. Fig. I, on p. 235 of Schurtz's paper, borrowed from Schrenck, and interpreted by him as a bear's head,
is the ingredient of a composition covering the back of a Goldian or Gilyak fish-skin garment. The whole figure should
be inverted, and then we see obviously the cock with fish in its beak, and perched on an ornamental figure intended to
represent a tree.

6 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

decorative art ; and even where we should imagine they might be, they are ear
nestly disclaimed by competent native judges. Nevertheless, Schrenck states sub
stantially, " Crude and primitive representations of the human face by means
of a pair of circles with a point in the middle, a vertical line between them, and a
horizontal below them, as eyes, nose, and mouth respectively, occur not seldom
on utensils of the Gilyak, and owe their origin, I believe, to the idea that by
placing them on an object the influence of evil spirits may be avoided, and the
use of the implement attended with success." i I have not succeeded in discover
ing the slightest vestige of proof of such a statement.

The materials used by the Amur tribes for expressing their ornaments are
wood, birch-bark, fish-skin (especially salmon and sturgeon skin), elk and rein
deer skin, cotton, and silk. All decorations are executed by means of a long,
sharp, pointed knife. As regards special points of technique, they will be found
at the proper place.

All needlework is done by women, and clever embroiderers especially enjoy
a high reputation among their countrymen. To be skilful in such work
is regarded as a great merit, and increases exceedingly the value and esteem
of a girl in the eyes of her father, who, a careful calculator, includes the
amount brought in from this talent in the purchase-price due from his son-in-law.
Men, on the other hand, aspire to possess a woman experienced in this line
of art, and take great pride in her work ; while wives are proud of dressing
up their husbands with all the costly and gaudy art expedients available, and
vie with their fellow-artists in their zeal to produce the most striking effects.

GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECT. — Schrenck, in his book previously mentioned, says
(p. 401), that, besides among the Gilyak, the same style of ornamentation
as is met with on clothing and other objects is also to be found among all other
peoples of the lower Amur region, from the Gilyak upstream, along the main
river as well as along its tributaries, as far as the Sungari River. " In spite
of the fact that these tribes are of Tungusian origin," continues that author,
"still they have nothing in common with the Russian-Siberian Tungus regarding
the ornaments used by them, but follow the Chinese and Gilyak. In this
connection one is struck by the fact that the sense for ornamentation, and its
display in the Amur country, do not decrease, but increase, with distance from
the most influential cultural people, the Chinese, and culminate among the
Gilyak, who live farthest away from them." The reason for this is sought
by Schrenck, not in the natural dispositions of the peoples in question, but in
political conditions. The Gilyak remained independent of the rule of the
Chinese, and thus attained to greater opulence than the Tungusian Amur
tribes subject to the Chinese. Secure in their property, they were necessarily
better able to enjoy it, and to feel an incentive to adorn and embellish their
clothing and implements.

This statement and its accompanying hypothesis are decidedly erroneous.

1 Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande, Vol. Ill, p. 402.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 7

Schrenck's investigations were unduly devotee! to the Gilyak, and in his
predilection for these he likes to hold them up as superior to all other tribes
of the Amur country. As I visited first the east coast, and afterward the
interior and the western part, of Saghalin Island, later the entire lower Amur
region from the mouth of the river up to Khabarovsk, I had an opportunity
to study and judge of the activity of the people in branches of art also from
a geographical point of view. On my journeyings my observations led, first
of all, to the deduction of a prevailing law : namely, that the nearer the people
live to a centre of Chinese culture, the higher the development of their art ;
the farther they recede from it, the less their sense of the beautiful. The
art of the Gilyak of Saghalin is very poor and undeveloped ; they possess a
limited number of ornaments, and are unable to produce complicated com
positions like those found on the mainland, as they themselves assured me.
The farther east one goes the more destitute, and the farther west the more
gorgeous, is the display of art, which reaches its climax in and around
Khabarovsk. Indeed, the most artistic embroideries of our collection all came
from this metropolis, where the Gold dwell in the immediate neighborhood
of the Chinese, and have frequent intercourse with them. It is evidently owing
to this influence solely that the Gold have attained to such extraordinary skill
in the art of silk-embroidery, the knowledge of which, in its highest degree
of perfection, is restricted to those inhabiting that area.

This geographical observation confirms anew the establishment of the
historical truth regarding the affiliation of the arts of both groups. As the
Gold are generally the most talented representative of the Amur tribes, so
they are also those who possess the best understanding of decorative art and
the largest number of individual artists. From the correspondence of the Gold
and Gilyak patterns, it may be concluded that the Gilyak have derived the
greater part of their motives from the Gold. Perhaps only the band-ornaments
belonged originally to the former. This tallies with other cultural phenomena,
for in all probability the Gilyak have adopted a considerable portion of their
material culture, as well as a large mass of traditions and religious conceptions
and institutions, from the intellectually superior and more versatile Gold.
The decorative art of the Amur tribes is accordingly to be regarded, on the
whole, as that of the Gold, who occupy the most prominent place in it.

This manner of geographical dissemination explains the uniformity of
character of this art ; so that diversities, if any exist, lie much less in a varying
distribution of the patterns over geographical provinces than in the different
grades of execution dependent on the tendency of artists in one community to
concentrate their individual minds on particular lines of work, in which, in the
course of time, their unequally allotted talents have received special training.
The Gold, as a rule, are well versed in all branches of art, and excel all other
tribes in proficiency in embroidering; the Gilyak may be superior to others
in wood-carving; and the Tungusian tribes of the Amgun and Ussuri Rivers

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

are unsurpassed in cutting ornaments for decorating birch-bark baskets. At
all events, if we consider the geographical distribution of decorative design
in these regions, the art industry carried on by the Gold in Khabarovsk and
its environs remains the central circle from which the practices of the other
tribes radiate, and lose in light and warmth toward the periphery.

Although the elaboration of ornaments is still actively going on, and in no
more danger of dying out than the Gold and Gilyak themselves, yet the people,
whose interests are more and more absorbed by recent demands of Russian
intercourse, seem to overlook the relics of the past ; at least at times they fail
to understand their own singularity, for I came across but few individuals
who were able to " read " their ornaments. To the great mass of the people
they are indeed a mystery. Perhaps, however, they have never paid much
attention to decoration, which may always have been confined to the initiated.
If the common people are questioned as to the significance of a particular
ornament, their usual answer is, accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders, that it
is only for decorative purposes. Very few expert artists are able to give approx
imately satisfactory information, and even what they do give is fragmentary, and
probably a mere skeleton of what must have been known about the subject in
previous times ; so that out of these shreds it is hard to piece together the
perfect original fabric. The following account is an objective, although somewhat
disconnected, record of the ideas which the native artists of to-day know how to
develop on their productions. I think the clews obtained from this source of
interpretation should form the impassable boundary to our knowledge in this
domain of research, beyond which limit we should not attempt to go ; for we
should neither pretend nor strive to know more about things than the people who
have made them. Gaps may in many cases be filled in, perhaps, by comparisons
of single pieces one with another. An explanation for a definite form cannot be
transferred unhesitatingly to another homologous one, except on the condition
that the latter appears in the same connection of lines and structures as the
former, — the same rule as holds regarding comparisons of traditions of various
tribes. Just as in a fragmentary manuscript many a missing link may be guessed
at, inferred, or even restored, so may it also happen in ornamentation ; neverthe
less one ought never to be off one's guard, but should adopt the expectant
method until new sources are opened from allied provinces, be our present
knowledge never so meagre and even in shreds.

Our investigation starts with an analysis of the simple component forms of
this ornamentation, i. e., the band and the spiral, and will then deal with the usual
forms of animals.

BANDS. — The fillet or band ornament occurs primarily on handles of spoons.
Such decorated spoons are now things of the past. At the present day they are
used only by the Gilyak, on the occasion of the bear-festival, having been super
seded in every-day life by spoons of Russian make. The specimens represented

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate II.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 9

in Figs, i-i i, Plate n, are old pieces from the most remote villages of the Liman,
and have long been in use. These spoons are made by special artists, for partic
ular use a short time previous to the bear-festival, and are characterized by their
elegant and graceful shapes and by their elaborate ornamentation. The ends of
the handles are carved into forms which, in most cases, have special reference to
the bear-festival. Some present sculptured bear-figures, others figures of sun
or moon. Before describing the bands, I will discuss these carvings.

The handles of the spoons illustrated in Figs. 5 and 9 of this plate were
originally surmounted by bear-figures, which, unfortunately, had already been
broken off when the specimens were obtained. Fig. i shows a bear in the act
of walking, on top of which another bear originally stood, but it is now missing.
The handle of Fig. 7 is surmounted by an open-work carving, the main portion
of which consists of two bear-cubs side by side.

In Fig. 6, Plate n, is represented a very realistic scene bearing upon certain
events of the feast itself. Near the end of the handle may be seen the image of
a standing bear bound around its body with two ropes, which cross each other over
the back. This has reference to the first of the ceremonies connected with the
festival, when the bear is taken from its cage, tied with ropes, and led to the scene
of festivities. The extreme end of the handle consists of a movable link carved out
of the same piece of wood as the perforation through which it passes. This link
terminates in the figure of a bear-head, which is intended to represent the head
of the bear that is shot with bow and arrows at the close of the feast, and
exhibited in the house of the host.

The bowls of the specimens, Figs, i, 5, 7, Plate n, which are adorned with
carved figures of bears, are further decorated with svastika-like figures, the
central part having the form of a rhombus or lozenge. In the latter two there is
a St. Andrew's cross within the lozenge. Each of the two vertical arms of the
svastika branches off into two curved tips, while the extremities of the two hori
zontal arms bend upward (as in Fig. 7), or one curves upward and the other
downward (as in Fig. i), or both point downward (Fig. 5). At the base of the
bowl is a primitive representation of the sun, which implies a symbolic meaning
connected with that of the svastika and the bear-carvings. On Fig. 9 there is a
variation of the svastika, perhaps developed by the insertion of a triskeles in such
a way that its arms alternate with those of the svastika.

On the bowl of Fig. 3, Plate n, we observe the figure of a crescent hooked
at one end, while the handle is surmounted by a carved ring, the two incised
concentric circles on which represent the sun. The outer circle is set with a row
of small triangular figures symbolizing rays. A more primitive representation of
the sun is to be seen on specimen Fig. 4, and a crescent surmounts the handle of
Fig. 2.

On Fig. 6, Plate n, we meet with the simplest form of the fillet-ornament,
which here runs around in two windings, forming three loops. If we take into
consideration the earliest stages in the development of this special ornament, it

10 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OE THE AMUR TRIBES.

will at once be understood, that, owing to its form, it was readily employed on
spoon-handles ; for it is easily adapted to the space available, since it admits of
lengthening or shortening to suit the decorative field, and, besides, contributes in
a high degree to the gracefulness and elegance of the spoon ; furthermore, if we
regard the special purpose of these spoons, we may perceive a certain connection
between this pattern and the representations of the bear. In the case of the spoon
represented in Fig. 6 the fillet-ornament may be considered as the continuation of
the ropes with which the carved standing bear is bound, and this may be the un
derlying reason for the employment of this ornament on spoons specially designed
for use at the banquet of the bear-festival. Not alone from this example, but from
other instances as well, may it be seen that a deeper connection exists between the
fillet and the object, or the purpose of the object, on which it appears. At all
events, the bear-figures in combination with the fillet-ornament should not be
regarded as merely accidental. From this point of view, spoons decorated in
similar style, but without bear-carvings, should be ascribed to a secondary stage
of development.

In almost all spoons there is a narrow curved portion between the bowl and
the handle proper. Seen from the side, this narrow section, in most cases, forms,
with the edge of the bowl, nearly a half-circle. In Figs, i, 5, 7, 9, Plate n, this
part of the handle adjoining the bowl is decorated with a simple zigzag line, which
appears to be a single thread drawn out from the main ribbon symbolizing the
band-ornament. Among the spoons in the collection, this serpentine line occurs
on those specimens only which have carvings of bear-figures in combination with
the svastika. The majority, however, are undecorated on this part, while a few
bear an incised figure composed of lines parallel with the curved line of the edge,
as in Fig. 3. On the last-named specimen a short zigzag appears at the upper,
and another at the lower, end of the handle proper, inside of the fillet. A few
spoons, as those in Figs, i, 5, 7, and 8, have rib-like designs on this part.

The Gold have no bear-festival, and naturally, therefore, possess no spoons
decorated with symbols like those above described. Neither do we find any ser
pentine lines on their spoons.

The bands on these spoons are all formed of the raised portions lying between
two parallel incised lines, the latter being of a negative character only ; that is to
say, the incised parts serve merely to outline the ornament, and in some cases also
to fill in otherwise vacant spaces. In themselves they are not ornamental.

On Fig. i, Plate 11, we observe a band twisted at two points. Inside of this
band are designs identical with those of the arm of the svastika. on the bowls.
On the next specimen (Fig. 2) two bands intertwine, forming two circular knots.
The portion between the knots curves out at the centre on either side, admitting
a third knot, indicated by an incised circle. The negative parts at both ends are
filled up with short parallel horizontal lines, and in the centre with single vertical
lines. The ornament in Fig. 3 consists of three bands. The middle one forms a
circular knot at both ends and a large rhombus in the centre. Two short side-

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. l I

bands are so intertwined as to forma circle within the rhombus. The ornamenta
tion on the handle of Fig. 4 is made up of a pair of cords or lacings, one simply
thrown over the other a short distance from either end, which form at the centre
two contiguous ellipses. In Fig. 5 the same principle of the band-ornament is
employed as in Fig. i. In each of the two ellipses formed by the band-ornament
are two peculiar designs which happen to look very much like old Assyrian cunei
forms. On Fig. 7 are three bands artistically twisted. One band runs along both
sides of the handle, bending at the centre into two contiguous curves ; the second
band forms a rhombus in the middle ; and the third intertwines with the first, and
then continues in the direction of the bowl. The middle part of the handle of
Fig. 8 is occupied by two bands interlaced with each other and closed at both
ends. They are joined by a short double band at each end for the purpose of
rounding off the ornament. The spoon in Fig. 9 is ornamented in a style similar
to that in Fig. 3 ; the small rhombuses in the interstices also occur. The handle
of Fig. 10 represents two double bands arranged in a manner similar to those on
Fig. 4. They are interrupted in the centre, however, by a different figure. This
ornament, which is also to be seen at the extremity of the handle of Fig. 8,
occurs frequently in later examples in connection with the spiral.

The decoration represented on the ladle Fig. n, Plate n, is likewise com
posed of the band-ornament, but it differs from the designs hitherto explained in
that the band is indicated at two places only — once in the middle and again at the
end — by short connecting lines, and that the negative parts, between which one
has to look sharply to discover the band, are more prominent (cf. Figs. 4-6,
Plate iv).

Figs. 12 and 13, Plate IT, illustrate spoons of Goldian origin. The former
represents the handle of a large fish-ladle ; the latter, that of a spoon for eating.
In the fillet on the Goldian spoons the pure and rigid forms of the Gilyak are not
adhered to, and much less space is required for it, as it alternates with spiral-
ornaments. Fig. 14 shows a pair of chopsticks, — a mere imitation, of course, of
Chinese-Japanese work, — which are interesting here because they show an incised
crescent at their ends, and terminate in movable pieces, as in Fig. 6. The dec
oration on the handle consists of short parallel converging lines which meet in
acute angles. Chopsticks are used but seldom, and only by such of the wealthy
and noble as lay great stress on etiquette and are fond of imitating foreign cus
toms. The most common method of eating is to use one's fingers, and finally to
lick the plate with the tongue.

SPIRALS. — We shall now enter into an examination of the kinds of spirals to
be found in this sphere of artistry, and discuss a series of objects on which they
occur.

Fig. i, Plate TIT, represents an eye-protector, which is tied with a string
around the forehead, and shades the eyes from the snow in sledge-driving. It is
especially worn during the transition period between winter and spring, when the
snow begins to melt. It is made of cloth, and has a simple spiral-ornament

12 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

stitched into it. There are two outer and two inner spirals corresponding to each
other symmetrically, the latter two coinciding at the centre.

In Fig. 2 of this plate we see one of the two symmetrical halves of a design
painted on the upper edge of a pair of leggings. The ornamentation is on a piece
of fish-skin, which is sewed to the material of the leggings. The trapezoidal sec
tion across the top, the narrow stripe under it, and the lower border-line, as well
as five of the large dots inside, are red ; all the rest, deep black. The orna
ment starts with a spiral winding round to the left, the centre of which is indicated
by a small thickened circle. To this spiral is attached, on the right-hand side, a
figure the foundation of which appears as a simple wave-line from which proceed
three scroll-like branchlets. The upper ones run in the same direction as the
main spiral. The branch nearest the main spiral sends out a smaller offshoot in
the form of a triskeles.

The wooden Gilyak box of cylindrical form, shown in Fig. 3, Plate in, is
decorated with an ornament that offers a typical example of a compound spiral.
From one and the same centre proceed two spiral bands, one within the other,
and both running in the same direction. The line forming the spiral is made
up of three incised lines, close together and parallel to each other, which throw
out in relief the two intervening spaces. The spaces between these groups of
lines form bands, which continue from one spiral into the next, producing alter
nately two knots and one knot, that serve to connect two adjoining spirals. In
the upper and lower edge of the spirals are twisted knots ; so that one may look
upon this pattern also as a very artistic interlacement of bands, which sometimes
results in knots, and sometimes in spirals. All together, there are four such
spirals covering the convex surface of the cylinder. On the inside of the bottom
of this box is found a peculiar variation of the svastika, in that the design has two
additional arms on the sides.

Fig. 4, Plate in, shows the cover of a decorated tobacco-box. It is orna
mented with three spirals, the central one smaller than the others, which are
treated at the same time as band-ornaments. Each spiral figure is composed of
two spiral lines of the same direction, one within the other. All three figures are
solid spirals. In the spirals at the top and bottom the regular circuit of the
windings is interrupted by two circular inlaid bands which cross the spiral lines at
two places ; that is to say, they run under them : in this way in one semicircle are
combined eight parallel bands. The band of the central spiral is structurally con
nected with those on either side of it. To the left of this central spiral are two
parallel, frequently interlaced bands, and to the right of it is a band plaited into
three knots, and tied to a boat extending along the side of this pattern. This
forms a conspicuous example of the essential principle of the band-ornament in
connection with a realistic motive. Around the rim of this cover, which is not
visible in the drawing, runs a continuous chain-band whose form corresponds to
that on Fig. 6, Plate n.

In Fig. 5, Plate in, is represented a Goldian knife which was obtained in

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate III.

- • * '^-^^^fy^'K f^

•\ -\>*MV\ ex/-.-1 .•- Pv. „,. I'-f), \\ ,JT.'- svo /^

,Y

Decorative Art ot the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 13

the village of Sakhacha-olen. This knife is used, especially by the women, in
lieu of scissors, which they do not possess. The end of the handle is sloped off
with a slight curve. The carving, which covers only one side of the handle, is
very roughly and inartistically worked out : it consists of two groups of spirals.
Above, nearest the blade, are two, below three, simple spirals combined into one
figure, which are bordered on either side by semicircles parallel to them.

A Goldian fish-scraper made of elk-bone, and decorated with a combination
of incised spirals, is seen in Fig. 6, Plate in. These spirals are composed of
double lines between which are short cross-lines. The ornament is symmetri
cally distributed over both of the roof-like sides of the bone. If one looks at the
object horizontally, the scheme of the ornament appears as a wave-line from
which proceed spirals with one winding, that here and there have lateral offshoots.

Fig. 7, Plate in, shows a board of modern Goldian work, for cutting fish on.
The end of the board is shaped into a fish-tail. The board proper is divided
into three fields, — a square at each end, and a rectangle between them. The
latter is unornamented, and serves to cut the fish on. Thus there are three
decorated fields, — the fish-tail and the two squares. The incised lines stand
out from the black background. The foundation of the ornament is the double
spiral, which occurs six times, and is surrounded by equidistant curves which run
out into little spirals on the upper end of the board. Here appear also some
leaf-ornaments, — combinations of three and four lobed leaves, the latter occur
ring twice between two double spirals. In the square adjoining the fish-tail
both the spirals are pointed toward that side, and consequently they correspond
to the acute angle formed by the combination of the border-curves. On the other
side, however, the spirals preserve their usual forms ; whereas the border-lines do
not meet, but are connected with each other by a short straight line to make
room for a trifoliate leaf.

In Figs. 8-10 of this plate are represented metal objects of Yakut origin
which are attached to the ceremonial garment of the shaman. They illustrate
the use of the spiral farther in the interior of Siberia. Fig. 10 shows tendrils
twining into spiral-like forms.

BAND AND SPIRAL ORNAMENTS. — In Fig. i, Plate iv, we see a reel, the two
horizontal arms of which are decorated on both sides alike. On the upper arm,
in the middle, is a small rectangle bearing one link of a chain-ornament. On
either side of it is a band-ornament consisting of a thrice-intertwined band.
On the raised rectangle of the under arm is a knot similar to the one above, and
the short pieces of bands on both sides show merely the single negative parts,
whereas the connecting lines for indicating the direction of the band are missing.
It is evident that also in this case a definite relation exists between the use of the
band-ornament and the purpose of the object, which serves for winding up the
ropes in netting.

The interlacement-band also occurs in the art of the Gold, although much
less frequently than in the decorative art of the Gilyak. We meet with a band

14 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

of this kind on an awl made of elk-bone (Fig. 2, Plate iv). Just below the
point of the instrument we observe two short bands plaited into a knot in the
middle. From this point another band starts, and fits into the sides of one of
the vertical acute angles. This band is plaited in the form of two lozenges, and
ends with half of a third lozenge. The bands added on both sides of the lozenges
would seem to indicate the continuation of the latter indefinitely on both sides.
Inside of these rhomboids is a vertical row of three round dots, and on the bands
themselves a series of smaller dots placed close together, and having the appear
ance of a dotted line. This kind of decoration should be considered in a sym
bolical sense, since it suggests the use to which the instrument is put.

Another symbolical device is met with in Fig. 3 of the same plate, which
represents a girdle-ornament made of antler, and shows a simple double-knotted
band. As this object serves to fasten the girdle, a reference to this purpose is
obviously implied in the ornament.

Band-ornaments are especially employed on the ends of large dishes cut out
of one piece of wood ( Figs. 4-6, Plate iv), and used for fish and rice at large
social gatherings. Both ends of each piece show the same ornamentation, the
bands projecting in relief above the incisions. In Fig. 4 is represented a
chain-band composed of three links and forming two knots. Of the two bands
on the right and left sides, little more than half is visible, but it should be
imagined that they continue in the same way as the middle one. The central
band is linked to the two lateral ones, and is itself crossed in the middle.

In Fig. 5, Plate iv, we see a band running up and down, alternating with a
horizontal one. The former is twisted into two circular knots ; the horizontal
band is so treated that an ellipse is produced both above and below, the bands
coinciding at the centre, the whole presenting a sort of flattened hourglass-shaped
figure. To fill up the centre of the ornament a circular band, over which is a
semicircle, is made use of. Fig. 6 shows two lateral bands, one crossed over
the other, and a pair of horizontal bands twisted into a knot, which is indi
cated by a circle and two connecting strokes tangent to it. These two bands are
coiled at their ends, forming four circles.

Next on this plate we see a dish (Fig. 7) which shows a different orna
mentation on each end, due to their difference in form. On the trapezoidal-
shaped piece are visible two interlaced bands which form a rhombus in the centre.
In the triangle on the other side is a double ornament, — a simple band-ornament,
and attached to it another band-ornament the negative parts of which are made
up of two central combined facing spirals, a simple scroll on either side of them,
and an engrailed line along the edge of the dish.

Fig. 8, Plate iv, represents a small square box with separate cover. The
ornament on the side of the box consists of two double spirals treated as bands,
and surrounded by a band following the windings of the spirals. The cover
(Fig. 8 a) shows a combination of two pairs of simple facing band-spirals. The
sides of the box seen in Fig. 9, which is shaped like a horse's hoof, are covered

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate IV.

\ /

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate V.

L _>4

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 15

with a continuous series of compound double spirals. Whereas the cover
(Fig. 9 a) shows the band-ornament in a very impressive way, the form of the
compound spiral in the central rhombus reminds one strongly of the Japanese
futatsutomoye (see Figs. 2-9, Plate xvi).

The dish shown in Fig. i, Plate v, is decorated with a different pattern on
each end. The arrangement of the band-ornament here differs widely from the
other representations of it : on the end to the left is a continuous band formed
by two parallel outlines, one of which is placed near to and parallel with the edge
of the dish proper, the other being combined with the terminations of the two
central facing spirals, resulting in a very strange figure, which has properly no
ornamental or symbolical significance. In a similar way a still stranger figure is
produced in the longer tapering end on the other side. The negative parts here
require so much space that at first sight one might consider them as expressing
the ornament proper. If, however, we bisect the four-armed figure longitudinally,
we shall recognize that the arms with the adjoining outlines of the figure are
simply portions of spirals, and that merely their combination, and their adaptation
to the space available, have given rise to this peculiar kind of figure. Very
striking is the lack of symmetry displayed in the two halves of this device. To
an X-shaped figure on the one side corresponds a hammer-shaped figure on the
other side, just as the condition of size varies. A combination of two such
figures at the apex of this triangle is represented in an anchor-shaped figure, to
which, however, no positive ornamental meaning is attributed, but it simply
designates the course of the band. Fig. 2 of this plate is the cover of a tobacco-
box of ellipsoidal shape. The central and lateral portions stand out a little beyond
the two half-elliptical sections, which show the same ornamentation in correspond
ing symmetrical arrangement, — two double spirals treated as bands. In the
middle raised part is a pair of intertwined bands which coil at the ends into
band-spirals.

Figs. 3-5, Plate v, illustrate drills, — three old rare pieces from the village of
Chomi on the Liman. While the upper and lower parts are ornamentally carved,
the middle portion is covered with a band consisting of incised parallel oblique
lines, to symbolize, as it were, the turning motion of the instrument. The patterns
show again a combination of the band-ornament with the spiral. That the spiral
however, is not to be considered as the fundamental element of the ornament, is
seen from the neighboring auxiliary figures, which run parallel to the winding of
the spiral, and have no other purpose than to indicate the direction of the band.
Thus we see in the lower part of Fig. 3, in the centre, facing spirals surmounted
by a pointed arch, the two curves of which run parallel to the windings of the
spirals above ; and under these facing spirals is a strangely shaped figure which
has arisen through the four curves of which it consists being drawn parallel to the
adjoining spirals in making room for the band. The circle symbolizes its terminal
knot. On the upper part of this drill occurs again a similar combination of spiral
and of interlacement-bands. The ornamentations on Figs. 4 and 5 are only

i6

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

ch-bark Stencil. Tribe, Gold. Length, 43 c

variations of the same principle, the lower part of Fig. 5 showing negative

incisions similar to those in Fig. 5, Plate iv.

DECORATIONS ON BOATS. — The bows of wooden rowboats are sometimes

adorned, both inside
and outside, with paint
ings. For this purpose,
stencils are cut out of
strong birch-bark, ap
plied to the parts to be
decorated, and brushed
over with black paint.
In all cases the nega
tive cut-out parts, which
naturally appear as the
positive portions on the
object to be decorated,

fould be ri*arded as

the ornament proper.
They have therefore
been blackened in the
drawings. The outline
of the stencil is sometimes adapted in a certain degree to the form of the pattern.
The most frequent motive employed in this case is the double-spiral fillet,
although the com
pound spiral is also
used.

The ornaments
shown in Figs, i and
2 are constructed on
one and the same
principle. The two
double spirals form
ing the main part of
the pattern are sur
rounded by a simple
band that runs paral
lel to the outer curves
of the spirals. This
band merges above,
on either side, into
a central head-shaped ornament, the upper part of which consists of a pair of
short symmetrical spirals, while the under part results from the combination of
two conventionalized fishes.1 The lower edge of the pattern is in the form

1 See p. 29.

h-bark Stencil. Tribe, Gold. Length, 44 l

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

'7

of an engrailed line. In Fig. 3 the band surrounding the two facing spiral
decorated with six small scrolls, which branch off from it at a tangent.

In Fig. 4, four pairs of facing
spirals are placed around a star-like
rosette (so-called " star-cross "). The
design corresponds to or recalls the
anchored or forked cross of mediaeval
heraldry with convoluted flukes. In
Fig. 5 the spirals join a somewhat
square-shaped figure, in the angles
of which are found flower-buds with
four circles in front of them, and in
the centre a rhombus with curved
sides.

Figs. 6 and 7 represent the be
ginnings of two decorations placed
longitudinally in the interior of the
prow of a boat. They may be ex
tended at either end at will. Fig. 6 consists of a star-cross and a double design
whose elements are formed according to a principle similar to that employed in
Fig. 2, except that the spirals have only one winding, and face each other.
Whereas Fig. 6 consists of a series of two different designs, Fig. 7 is composed
of only one figure. As this ornament, like the preceding one, is executed with

. 3 C.Vr)

width, 31

FIG. 5.

FIGS. 4 (T;Sj), 5 Ci38»). Bi

Tribe, Gold. Diat

perfect symmetry, there is but one motive, the scroll, which terminates in a horn
like offshoot with an adjoining semicircle.

OTHER BIRCH-HARK PATTERNS. — Figs. 8 and 9 arc patterns cut out of birch-
bark, used for embroidering ear-lappets. Both consist largely of spirals. In Fig.
8 is seen a lower row of four spirals surmounted by a triangular field filled with

i8

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

fanciful figures that are characterized as derivations from the conventional form of
the fish-ornament in so far as they do not appear at the outset to be mere space-
fillers. This figure runs out into a face-shaped head-piece which at first sight

one might take to
be a convention-
alized human
face : in this case
the eyes would
be denoted by
spirals, the mouth
by the figure con
nected with these,
and the four
tooth-like forma
tions would repre
sent tusks not

unlike those identified by Hein ' on the demon-shields of the Dayak. Nevertheless,
in this as well as in the following figure (9), the Gilyak in the village of Chai on
the northeast coast of Saghalin Island, from whom these patterns were obtained and
information concerning them sought, decidedly
denied that these figures have any relation to the
human figure ; and it seems also that the form of (\3,

the outline of this pattern is solely due to an

pectively.

adaptation and assimilation to the space occupied by the object itself. Fig. 9
consists of a structure of spiral ornaments, whose width gradually lessens as it
proceeds upward from the broad base, until it ends in a narrow neck surmounted

A. R. Hein, Die bildenden Kunste bei den Dayaks auf Borneo (Wien, 1890), pp. 41-85.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

by a figure apparently treated like a face, but in semblance only, — a circle above,
two crescents on the sides, their convex sides turned towards each other, and
below them a lozenge standing on its point. In the trapezoidal under figure we
observe three rows of spiral ornaments placed one above another. In this design
are found numerous conventionalized fishes.

CIRCLE-ORNAMENTS. — In a few ornaments the circle is also used as a funda
mental form. Figs. 10 and n are both Gilyak birch-bark patterns used for an
embroidery that was plaited into the hair of little children in ancient times, but is

now out of fashion. Both of these consist
of combinations of circles and spirals. In
Fig. 10 the motives are arranged in a
series of horizontal rows, only two of

FIG. 10 (,',«» d). Birch-bark Pattern for Embroidery. Tribe,
Gilyak. Height, 17 cm.

which contain spirals. In Fig. 11 five rows may be distinguished, the two upper
ones being perfectly symmetrical.

In Fig. 6, Plate xv, we observe a new motive of the circle-ornament, obtained
by describing circles so that they intersect each other.

THE COCK. — The animal which plays a predominant part in the ornamental
art of all the Amur peoples, and is more frequently reproduced than all other
animals together, is the cock. This circumstance is the more conspicuous, since
the cock is not a native of the Amur country, but was introduced from China,
and recently, of course, by the Russians. Nowadays there are some Gold who
raise poultry in their houses. The Gilyak on the northeastern coast of Saghalin,
excepting a few who had chanced to see a Russian village, never saw a cock,
but they know and explain it by their ornaments. They call it piikx, a word
apparently derived from the Goldian and Olcha word pokko, that may be traced
back to fakira gaslia of the Manchu language. Another Goldian term, chokd,
appears likewise in Manchu, and is perhaps allied to the Mongol takiya.

20 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

Since the cock is a new-comer in that region, it is not surprising that it plays
no part in the mythology of the natives, as it does with the Chinese. In their
opinion, the cock is a symbol of the sun, because it announces the rising of the
sun. Besides the earthly cocks, there is a heavenly cock, which, perched on a
tree, sings at sunrise. This tree is the willow, which also symbolizes the sun.
The cock is sometimes called in Chinese " he who enlightens the night ; " and the
sun, "the golden cock." Besides, it belongs to the class of animals that protect
man from the evil influences of demons. Live white cocks are sometimes used
in funeral rites.

Regarding the representation of the cock in Chinese art, only a few general
facts may be stated, as this branch of research is little explored, and investiga
tions of ornaments have unfortunately been almost neglected. Japanese art is
based wholly on Chinese, and the ground on which it stands is somewhat better
known. The ordinary domestic fowls are frequently depicted by Japanese artists,
the cock being the favorite among them. It is painted on hanging scrolls, and
modelled in wood, bronze, porcelain, and other materials. Most frequent and
admired is the painted design of a cock standing on a drum (taiko) ; and in this
case the sides (or one side) of the drum are decorated with a triskeles (tomoye or
mitsutomoye). This is the well-known circular diagram divided into three segments
(see Figs. 2-9, Plate xvi).

Single Cocks. — On Plate vi we have four examples of the cock drawn true
to nature. Fig. i shows the typical form of cock cut out of paper, and used as
a pattern for embroidery. Head and eye are circular, the beak semicircular.
On the head is a bipartite crest shaped like a fish-tail. To the back is attached a
quadrifid wing, and a tripartite tail almost convoluted. The feet are missing.
On the body is a conventionalized fish, the upper border-line of which runs
parallel to the outline of the cock's body ; the under border-line, shaped partly
like a brace, partly like an invected line, being composed of three portions,
indicating head, body, and tail. Fig. 2 is an embroidery-pattern representing
a similar type of cock, but with some remarkable differences. This cock holds a
fish in its beak. The motive is, of course, far from being realistic. It does
not convey the idea that the cock devours the fish : its meaning is purely em
blematical. The wing-feathers are indicated by four teeth, projecting from a line
generated from the beak, which line continues into a scroll parallel to the out
line of the body, and representing a fish-tail. The tail-feathers are highly
developed, showing six parallel flukes. The body is cut into a double spiral.
The space between the beak and neck of the cock is so formed as to represent
a bird's beak.

Fig. 3, Plate vi, is a weaving-pattern, whether of Chinese or Japanese
provenience is uncertain. It consists of circular fields in which are designed
realistic cocks, whose somewhat stiff forms are attributable to the technique
of weaving. Comb, beak, eyes, feet, feathers, plumage, and, in all, nine wing
and tail feathers, are indicated. There are slight but delicate differences in

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate VI.

xW?

/^-%w

Decorative Art oi' the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 21

the forms of the bodies, the attitudes, and the manner of stepping, of the single
birds.

Fig. 4, Plate vi, is an ornamentation on the surface of a birch-bark hat, the
rim of which is covered with an uninterrupted sequence of double spirals sending
off little branchlets. In the main field three naturalistic cocks standing upright
are observed, beak and eye being indicated, a circle being placed over their heads,
and, what is most singular, two long stretched-out feet with spurs are to be seen.
The pinions are represented by a semicircle with a recurved hook on one side ;
the tail, by a spiral with short appendage of a form similar to that on the rim,
above which are three tail-feathers. On the body we see a picture of a fish
consisting of two parts, — the head and the tapering body. It is worthy of note,
in what graceful forms the outlines of the bodies of the two animals are adapted
and assimilated to each other.

Fig. i, Plate vn, represents the side of a Goldian birch-bark basket. The
decorative field is enclosed by a triple border consisting of a meander, an invected
line, and a row of braces which are apparently derived from the form of the
cock-spur, and which I have therefore styled " spur-ornaments." The rectangle
is divided into two parts which are separated by three figures, — a carp realistically
drawn («), a large conventionalized fish with long prominent fin (/;), and a
small conventionalized fish (c). In the field on the right two cocks are visible,
their heads turned downward, and in their beaks trichotomous fishes convention
alized in the same form as in c. The four tail-feathers are turned upward ; and
the bent feet, stretched out to both sides, are remarkably long. The feet of the
bird on the right terminate in a mucronated process, in a style assimilated to that
of the tail-feathers, whereas on the other side they run parallel to each other.
The space between these two birds is filled with drawings of fishes, — between
their heads the rather natural-looking fish d ; between their tail-feathers the tail of a
fish (e), apparently lacking a head ; and between their bodies the rosette/, the four
leaves of which show the same form as the fish-body in </. On the other side of
this rectangular field we see two cocks, one above the other, the upper of which
is looking toward the left, and the under one toward the right. The style of
drawing of these two birds tallies with that of the other two, except that the eyes
are not indicated by dots, as in those, and that they hold in their beaks, not one
fish, but each two fishes. Both of these fishes are scalloped on the upper edge ;
but in the lower fish, that terminates in a scroll, the scallops are more sharply cut.
In the body of the under fish the design of a bipartite fish is represented, and
runs parallel to the outlines of the fish. In the upper cock the pinions are
symbolized by a spiral, which, however, is disconnected from its body ; whereas in
the lower cock, in lieu of spirals, are two comma-shaped figures (g; li) which
seem to be derived from the fish-body. To the extreme left, beyond //, is
a very curious form of a conventionalized fish, made up of a circle and a
curved serpentine stripe. The feet of the cocks are fashioned in the same
way as those of the neighboring birds on the other side, except that here

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

an oval-shaped figure is inserted, connecting the body with the stripes in
dicating the feet.

Combined Cocks, Type A. — Figs. 2 and 3, Plate vn, repTesent two Gilyak
bear-spears made of iron. The greater part of the design is inlaid with silver, and
the portions shown in hachure are inlaid copper and brass. On the blade of Fig. 2
are two single cocks symmetrically arranged, each with a circle in front of the
beak, the body and tail shaped like a fish. This circular object was explained to me
by natives as a grain of wheat that the bird is about to swallow ; but this expla
nation seems to have arisen after the true and original meaning had been forgot
ten. It is rather more probable that the circle which is generally between two
cocks facing each other, or in front of a single one, represents the sun, which,
according to Chinese mythology, belongs to the cock. In fact, the sun is repre
sented on mythological pictures of the Gold as a simple circle, or as two concen
tric circles, with two diameters at right angles to each other. This particular
type of single cock appears doubled in Fig. 3 in such a way that the two roosters
face each other, and hold one circle in common between their beaks ; this is the
attitude called " combatant " in heraldry, and this frequently occurring typical
device we shall designate for brevity "Type A." On this blade we see, all
together, two symmetrical pairs of such combatant cocks, easily distinguished as
birds, particularly by their crests ; feet and wings being omitted, as in the preced
ing case, and only the tail-feathers denoted. Besides these approximately natu
ralistic cocks, which are explained and recognized as such also by the natives,
there are other purely geometrical designs on these blades, which seem to have a
certain connection with the cock-ornament, although we cannot prove that they
are derived and developed directly from it. The native interpreters deny that
they mean cocks, or have anything to do with them. In Fig. 2 we see, next to
the single cock, a combined figure placed around a circle, and terminating in
a helical line ; if there were an indication of a comb, the components of this
figure might be regarded as cocks. The following figures consist of a pair of
combined triskeles connected by an oval, two arms of the triskeles being spirals.
There is also a geometrical repetition of the combatant cocks on Fig. 3, the heads
ending in simple scrolls, and the tails in convoluted forms. The animal at the
upper end of this blade is explained to be a fox devouring a carp, and that on the
raised medial line at the lower end is said to be a lizard. There is also a lizard
on the corresponding part of the other spear, and, a little farther below, a
flat fish.

Fig. 4, Plate vn, shows an embroidery made of reindeer-hair, probably of Ya
kut origin. We observe here the type of the two combatant footless cocks, whose
beaks, heads, eyes, long-extended bodies, and four tail-feathers each, are distinctly
marked. In the beak of each is an oval object, the two uniting into one figure.
Under these cocks we observe a symmetrical geometric figure composed of
spirals and curves, which, however, is nothing more than an ornamental sketch
showing, as it were, the reflected images of the cocks above. Corresponding

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat, Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate VII.

Decorativu Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 23

parts in the real image and its counterpart are designated by the same letters.
The head of the cock a, for instance, is expressed by the spiral a' ; the oval
b corresponds to the portion b', somewhat more extended, and connected with the
body c'. The tail-feathers d and e are reproduced below in a scroll d', with
a semicircle c' attached to it.

Fig. 5, Plate vu, represents an ornament on the upper part of the leg of a
pair of boots from the Orochon on Ussuri River. These boots are made of elk-
skin. The decorated section consists of two fields, the upper ornaments being
painted on fish-skin in red, blue, yellow, and black ; those below being cut out of
fish-skin dyed black, and attached with red, yellow, and blue thread to a piece of
cloth, which is sewed to the elk-skin. There are two combatant cocks standing
upright in the lower design, and, what is most remarkable, they even have spurs
in the form of a brace, which is rarely found on other patterns. On the paint
ings the same picture is reproduced, showing the cocks also with spurs and
a spiral and some strange figures in the body, the latter of which may perhaps be
traced back in part to the design of a spur.

Fig. 6, Plate vn, is an embroidery-pattern cut out of paper, and is used on
the upper of a woman's shoe. It shows the cocks, Type A, in a nearly heraldic
attitude, the heads treated merely ornamentally, the wing-feather as a scroll, and
the tail as a fish-tail. Fig. 7 is a paper pattern for embroidering gloves, the
larger portion on the right being used on the back, and the other for the thumb,
the motive being exactly the same as in the foregoing figure with slight modifi
cations in form. These show how the same pattern is assimilated to an altered
space, additions and omissions being made according to the variation in the space
to be filled. In this way on the larger design the forms of the body, tail, and wings
have been correspondingly enlarged. On the smaller piece the comb has been
omitted on account of lack of space, and the two-lobed wattle of the larger
cocks has shrunk into one small knob. In both groups, fishes are attached to
the wing-feathers : on the right side of the pattern a little fish is clinging to the
outer line of the scroll, whereas in the smaller cocks it lies inside of the scroll, and
forms its starting-point. In both figures the cocks lean toward a wave-line, having
on the under part curved prongs agreeing in form with the cock's tail-feathers.
In Fig. 6, where the same motive occurs, we see a close connection between this
part and the cock itself, so that they form a real unit. In Fig. 7, however, the
cock itself has a highly developed tail-feather immediately adjoining its body, so
that we meet with two tail-feathers, one above the other, on these designs. The
question arises, Does the under tail-feather suggest the existence of another,
strongly conventionalized cock, or is it merely an ornamental addition ?

Figs, i and 2 on Plate vm represent embroideries designed for trimming the
pocket of a shirt. Here two combatant cocks are grouped around a central ver
tical axis. In the one figure, head, eye, body, wing and tail feathers, are clearly
to be distinguished. The feet are missing, and on the body of each bird is a con
ventionalized fish, the head and tail of which are discernible as separate parts.

24 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

These two cocks are resting on a simple geometrical figure, which is perhaps to
be regarded as a strong conventionalization of another cock. The pattern Fig. 2
becomes intelligible by comparing it with the preceding one. It represents a
stage of conventionalization much further advanced than is seen in the first one.
The body is merely indicated by a spiral, neck and head simply by the continua
tion of the scroll-line bent upward and slightly curved to the side, the tail being
in the form of an ornamental double fish-tail. The bifurcated arms projecting
on either side above the two cocks are meant for fishes, which are essentially
characterized by the form of the tail.

The question as to how the motives hitherto discussed, especially the com
batant cocks, were derived from Chinese art, whether entirely or partially, cannot
as yet be satisfactorily answered. Notwithstanding this fact, some material may
be adduced from which to draw nearer to the solution of this problem.

Some Chinese Prototypes. — Fig. 3, Plate vin, a Chinese weaving-pattern of
the nineteenth century, is inserted here simply to illustrate the idea of the com
batant birds as employed in Chinese art. Here two pairs of such birds are
grouped around a floral device, so that the style of the head and the body of the
bird depends largely on that of the foiling, and thus shows certain deviations from
the forms seen in our Siberian patterns.

Figs. 4 and 5 of the same plate are likewise weaving-designs, from the Konig-
liche Kunstgewerbe Museum in Berlin. Although the origin of these fabrics is
given in the catalogue as " Orient, I7th-i8th centuries," yet without doubt they
are of Chinese creation, at least as regards the pattern. In the centre of Fig. 4
we see a conventionalized tree (a), at the top of which are two bird-heads (b) beak
to beak. Two heads of the same style are visible at the foot of the tree, but at a
short distance from each other. A perfect representation of the cock appears in
c : the comb (designated by three lines), the pinions, the tail-feathers, the feet
(indicated in a way similar to that of the comb), are all shown. Under the throat
is a rectangle, which seems to correspond to the circular object that the bird usu
ally holds in its beak in the Siberian designs. That all forms are square here which
are round there, is due solely to the technique of weaving. The cock with out
spread wings, its head stretched forward, is represented in the figures marked d ;
whereas <? reproduces the bird in a walking attitude, with head erect. Both these
cocks (d and e) are placed sideways, so that their heads nearly touch each other.
In the corresponding figures, f, one may recognize the cock in a standing or
squatting position, the two being combined in the picture ^ into one escutcheon-
like unit, the heads looking in opposite directions. The smaller design above (//)
shows an advanced stage of conventionalization of the same conception ; and in
i, still farther above, only the head and crest of the cock are distinguishable. The
combination of these three figures, g, h, and /, together with the lateral types b
and the additional ramifications (/) on either side, seem to indicate that the artist
may have intended to suggest, in the figure as a whole, a tree. On this pattern,
then, we meet with five different types of cock. The style of design shown in

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.. Vol. VII.

Plate VIII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 25

Fig. 5 is allied to the preceding. In the centre are two birds perching to the
right and left of a tree. Very likely a cock is intended in this case, the crest on
the head being visible, the wattle under the throat, the feet, the outspread wings,
and the tail-feathers. Above the tree and the two large birds we observe three
small birds, one of which seems to be perched on the top of the tree, which recalls
perfectly the perching cocks on Siberian fish-skin garments (see Plates xxix
and xxx). The form of the tail, and, still more, the object held in the beak,
admit no doubt as to its significance. Also the various patterns employed on either
side of this picture remind one, in their exterior form, of some compositions oc
curring on the fish-skin garments, although an exact identification is impossible.
The parts projecting from the hatched portions, and particularly those branching
off from the vertical line below, appear to represent bird-heads. Still more diffi
cult to explain is the row of six figures across the bottom. In the upper part of
these may be recognized cocks, which in the three figures on the right-hand side
hold their heads bent to the right, and on the other side to the left. In the
rooster on the left the eye is missing, which is not the case in the birds on the
right side. Slight deviations from symmetry may also be noticed in the figures
above. It is possible, and very probable too, that other pictures of cocks or other
birds may be contained in this composition.

Combined Cocks, Type B. — There are also combinations of two cocks, their
backs contiguous, and necks bent in opposite directions, which for convenience
we shall call "Type B." This occurs on Fig. i, Plate ix, a pattern cut out of
birch-bark, that serves as a foundation for an embroidered pocket. The bodies
of the birds consist here of mere compound spirals. The heads are not repre
sented, from lack of space, but the oval objects belonging to them are visible.
The curved offshoots at the bottom of the spirals seem to indicate feet.

The ornaments represented in Fig. 2, Plate ix, are cut out of birch-bark and
sewed to a birch-bark hat. They are put on in three rows around the hat, each
row containing four double cocks executed in an ornamental style. In the outer
most row on the border the tail-feathers are easily discerned. The body is indi
cated by a spiral, to which a circle is joined. The two heads are placed together
so as to form a rhomboidal figure. These eight cocks are dyed blue. On the
edge between the tail-feathers are four single pieces dyed black. These are
ornamental survivals of the cock's spurs. The cocks in the middle row have their
heads distinctly marked, and two circles on each side of the neck. Their bodies
have nearly the shape of the triskeles. These are colored red, but the heads are
not dyed at all. The circles are blackened. The cocks of this row are ornamen
tally connected with those in the outer circle at their heads, and with those of the
inner row at their tails. This central row shows the most conventionalized forms
of the cock. If we imagine a line drawn through the two points where the tail-
feathers of the outer row come in contact and where those of the middle row
meet, we shall be able to distinguish the two united cocks of the third row.
Here the two heads have coalesced into an ellipsoid which has a circle on either

26 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

side, and the bodies are adapted to the top of the conical hat. Heads and circles
are colored blue, and the other parts are blackened.

In Fig. 3, Plate ix, is reproduced a painting on the upper part of a pair of
fish-skin leggings. Across the extreme upper edge is a border of black ; and of
the two ornamented fields below, the upper is red, the under one blue. The lat
ter is edged with a narrow red band. The lines of the pattern are painted with
black China ink. In the illustration, only a portion of the leggings is repre
sented. The ornament, however, is continued to both sides, and terminates at
some distance from the seam. The design is painted on a special piece of fish-
skin, which is sewed to the material of the leggings proper. In the under section
we see on the extreme sides a band-spiral terminating in a fish-tail. This one is
continued toward the other side so as to form a double spiral, one of which
is disconnected and represents a conventionalized fish of semicircular form.
Under the central pair of spirals are three pairs of corresponding fishes, one
below another, the undermost of which is connected with the spirals by a hook
resembling a bird-head. The upper of these three pairs of fishes finds its coun
terpart in the figure placed above the central spirals by way of rounding off the
design. That this device also has arisen from the combination of two conven-
tionalix.ed fishes, is perceived by a glance at the corresponding design on the
upper section, in which the head of the fish is distinctly marked off from its
body. On this border we see spirals connected with fish-tails, and in the centre
compound but disconnected spirals. Above, on the spirals, are visible tiny off
shoots, looking, as it were, like survivals of bird-heads.

An embroidery-pattern made of birch-bark, for use on an ear-lappet, is shown
in Fig. 4, Plate ix. Above and at the base of this pattern are two distinct
groups of roosters. In the upper group the heads (<i) are turned upward and
away from each other ; the body is represented by a closed spiral, the interior of
which assumes the conventional form of a fish. In the under group the head of
the cock (/;) is cut out of birch-bark, body and feet being likewise indicated, and
the pinions by an exaggeratedly large spiral. Here also occurs the type B.
What significance the additional arms terminating in the circles c, in the centre
of the figure, may have, is hard to decide : they are either ornamental fillings, or
perhaps reminiscences of the circular figures connected with the cock. The same
may be said of the circular forms d.

Fig. 5, Plate ix, represents a boot, the leg of which is made of cloth, the
foot part of seal-skin, and the upper, the ornaments on which are cut out in
relief, of sturgeon-skin. The lower part of this ornament is made up of two
pairs of facing spirals, which are connected with each other by a heart-shaped
figure. On this heart are drawn two ovals combined as in an 8, that is usually
placed between the beaks of two combatant cocks. For this reason it may very
probably be correct to suggest that the two curves bent toward the border-lines
to the right and left represent birds' necks, and that we have here the same
cock type as occurs in Fig. i of this plate. The upper double spirals continue

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate IX.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 27

into figures resembling the capital letter R. In this appendage the usual form
of the conventionalized fish may easily be recognized.

The knife-case seen in Fig. 6, Plate ix, is manufactured of sturgeon-skin.
The lines of the decorative design, which stand out in relief, are produced by cut
ting the cuticle away with a knife. Considering the brittleness of the material
and the difficulty of its execution, the regularity of the forms and the graceful
sweep of the lines are most admirable. The ornamentation consists of a clever
combination of compound spirals and conventionalized fishes, so arranged that
the whole forms a coherent structure. Above are to be noted two convention
alized fishes with round heads at both ends. Then follow two spirals of four
windings each, terminating in a double loop. Below them is a palmetto-like
figure, from which spirals arise on both sides, and under these are single conven
tionalized fishes. Then follow two spirals joined to the figure above, which seem
to be conceived of as cock-bodies, since the curved band evolving from them corre
sponds to the form of the cock's neck.

A tapestry of rather old Japanese workmanship is represented in Fig. 7,
Plate ix. The motive of the pattern is a double spiral, of a somewhat angular
form, due to the technique of weaving. Here are seen spirals with two
offshoots, and again others in pairs, one of which has four branchlets and
the other one branchlet. These embellished spirals appear in the same manner
on our Siberian patterns, where they have undoubtedly been proved to be
closely connected with the cock-ornaments. This Japanese pattern may also
tend to symbolize conventionalized birds, in which heads, body-spirals, and feet
may be discerned.

Fig. i, Plate x, shows part of the decoration on the side of a birch-bark basket.
The leading motive is the realistic representation of cocks of Type B, the tail-
feathers being turned toward each other, and the heads on opposite sides, but so
turned that the birds look at each other. Under each of their beaks is a circle.
The wing-feathers are characterized by three, the tail-feathers by four, lobes.
Fishes are drawn on their bodies, but of two different forms, which agree in the
two outer and two inner cocks respectively. In the former the tail tapers to a
point, while in the latter it is bifurcated. The two inner cocks have, besides, a
circular figure just below the neck, which is missing in those placed outside. The
cocks are encircled by double lines, which are gracefully adapted to the form of
the body, and are adorned above with flame-shaped lobes approaching in form
those representing wing and tail feathers. In the centre of the design are two
strongly conventionalized cocks, whose heads lie on the extreme sides, turned in
the direction of the cocks above mentioned. Body and wing-feathers are marked
by two equal spirals. This entire decoration is bordered above and below by a
chessboard-like pattern. The vivid power of motion which pervades this whole
composition shows a wonderful degree of artistic ingenuity.

In the next illustration (Fig. 2, Plate x) is seen a painting across the top
of the right-hand portion of a pair of fish-skin leggings. The ornament itself is

28 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

blue ; the two under border-lines, blue and red. In the centre we see two roosters
with distinctly marked heads and eyes. The body is symbolized by a band-
spiral which starts from a circle in the centre. The neck is a continuation of the
border-line running parallel to the winding of this spiral. To the beak of each
rooster is attached a spiral wound to the right, the termination of which is made
into a bird's beak with a circle just like the central spiral. Above it is a conven
tionalized fish with distinct tail ; and below it a scroll rolled into a beak at the
end, with a circle at its tip. Particularly worthy of note is the abrupt manner in
which the well-executed head of a cock, with the usual oval object in front of it, is
placed under the scroll to the right, — another evidence of the fact that any spiral
can be made to symbolize a cock's body.

Fig. 3, Plate x, represents an embroidery on the upper part of a pair of leg
gings made of Chinese silk. The background consists of black silk cloth (hatched
in the drawing), the spaces between the embroidered lines being covered with
white silk. This design is mainly filled up with two opposite swans fashioned
like cocks, the long arched necks running parallel to their oval-shaped bodies.
The heads, treated in the form of scrolls, are turned away from each other, and
are provided with beaks stretched outward. Each body is divided into halves
for the purpose of ornamentation. In the outer half are designed neck and head
of a cock, a circle in front of the latter ; the inner halves are formed of simply-
wound spirals. Between the two halves is inserted a conventionalized fish, which
continues above into another, tripartite fish, standing upright. It is an example
of the same kind of opposite fishes rampant as in Figs, i and 9 (pp. 16, 18), and
frequently elsewhere. The ornament is bordered above by a spur-line embroidered
in green. On the upper edge are represented triskeles, singly and combined.

Fig. 4, Plate x, represents part of an ornament embroidered on a girdle of
black velvet, out of which the patterns are cut. The edge of the velvet is seamed
with chain-stitching. The threads selected are all of dull colors. All negative
parts are filled up with light yellow cloth (hatched in the drawing) ; the positive
ornament, therefore, is formed by the cut velvet parts. It is a device composed
of a succession of two different figures, one of which has a circular form, the other
an ellipsoidal. Complete symmetry is carried out inside of these figures on either
side, as well as above and below. The velvet, being a somewhat stiff and un
handy material, is not favorable to the formation of lines, and thus a degree of
conventionalization is attained that makes the development of the ornament in
the oval drawing hardly recognizable. What we observe are a fish-tail, an oval
body, and a figure distributed symmetrically on both sides, in which, as a rule, the
beaks of the opposite cocks are united. If we take for granted that the cock's
head is in this part, its tail must needs be recognized in the fish-tail, which occurs
not rarely. If, however, which is also possible, we see the cock's head in the
smaller, under branch of the fish-tail, and attribute to the larger branch perhaps
the hint of a wing-feather, then we have here also the type of the opposite cocks,
as in Figs, i, 2, etc. It is therefore possible to recognize in this case the head of

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate X.

6

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 29

the cock at both ends of the body, a kind of Janus-cock. A still more striking
example of the same case is met with in the two following specimens.

These are the decorated sides of birch-bark boxes. In Fig. 5, Plate x, the
whole trapezoidal piece is divided into three fields ; the narrow strip below,
along the edge, being filled up with a spur-ornament. The trapezoid above
it contains two peculiarly conventionalized cocks of Type H. The two outer
cocks have their heads turned downward, and on their bodies a realistic fish,
in which eye, gill, and the conventional picture of a fish are drawn. The tail of
the fish is identical with the cock's head. Each of the two inner cocks shows
two spirals, the larger of which seems to denote the tail-feathers, and the
smaller one the pinions, completed by two parallel projections above it. The
upper of these is shaped into the conventional form of a fish by the addition of a
semicircular figure indicating the fish's head. The two cocks in either half of this
symmetrical ornament are combined with each other by a wave-line, the concav
ities of which the cocks occupy. The same motive is met with in the ornaments
above this trapezoid, only that here conventionalization has advanced much
further. The heads may easily be found by a comparison with the cocks in the
centre below, the bodies being spirals, and the tail-feathers joining above in
purely geometrical figures. On the ground of this stage of conventionalization,
also, the two tapering figures in the right and left corners are to be explained.
These corner figures proceed below, and each forms here a fish rather true to
nature, although placed in a kind of scroll. Head, eye, the curved body, a ventral
fin, and the bipartite tail are discernible.

The pattern Fig. 6, Plate x, is doubly symmetrical above and below, as well
as on the right and the left. The whole ornament can be traced back to a figure
which represents a wave-line, in the hollows of which two types of cock are placed.
One of these types has a remarkably long process at the end of the head, a con
ventionalized fish between the head and this part, its body being indicated by a
spiral. The other type strongly approaches that in Fig. 5, in the interior of the
central trapezoid, with the fish-body attached to the back part of the head, as
there. The wing-feather has here become a spiral, as have also the body and
the tail.

THE FISH. — That the fish plays a very important part in the decorative art
of the Amur tribes has already become evident from various examples in which it
occurred in connection with the cock, sometimes drawn on its body, mostly in
strongly conventionalized form. We shall now enter upon a special examination
of the subject, and demonstrate by some designs how this conventionalization has
developed from the realistic picture of the fish.

In Figs, i and i a, Plate xi, the long and short sides of a birch-bark basket
of the Gold are represented, in which portions of the pattern are cut out of bark
and sewed on the bark forming the basket. In Fig. i the arrangement of the
pattern is very gracefully executed by a finely drawn wave-line, the course of
which is interrupted in the centre by two combatant cocks designed almost true

30 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

to nature. Their beaks cohere. The tops of their heads are combined by
a figure composed of two fish-bodies. Besides, in the body of the two cocks con
ventionalized fishes are incised, and from under their throats depend two fishes
with heads downward, the eyes of which are clearly distinguished. The pinions
are symbolized by a simple scroll. These latter parts described as such have at
the same time another function : they form the body of a conventionalized cock,
being above the realistic one and cut out of bark. The long outstretched heads
of this pair of cocks almost touch each other ; to the head is attached the upper
outline of the body in a slight curve, which joins an upward-extending hook in
dicating the tail. Over these combined figures of cocks are two odd independent
bird-heads, obviously with crooked beaks. To the right and left of this central
oroup we see a repetition of the same picture. Here we are immediately con
fronted by two naturalistic fishes that were explained as carp. In these the head,
the eyes, the ventral fins, and the tail are expressed. Incised on these carp is
the image of a conventionalized fish, whose tail is turned toward the eye of the
realistic fish. The form of the body of the latter is assimilated to the wave-line
above it, which runs off below into a scroll. The knob forming the starting-point
of this scroll represents at the same time the round object held in the cock's
beak ; and this cock's head is really represented in the succeeding circuit of the
curve. These cocks' heads, in their turn, rest on the spirals below, symbolizing
their bodies ; and these spirals are executed in such a way that in their interior a
fish-body with plainly distinguished head, body, and tapering tail, is clinging closely
to them. Furthermore, the spirals above, surrounding the realistic carp, are at
the same time symbolical representatives of a cock's body, except that here, un
like the case below, the cocks' heads are put in a realistic design, but in a manner
similar to that in the upper part of the central figure, in which conventionalized
heads are shown ornamentally connected with the adjoining diametrical line
of the body and tail. The short side of the basket (Fig. i a) is bisected by
wave-lines of a form allied to that in Fig. i. The separation of the fields is
effected by a cluster of three downward-extending fish-heads. On either side of
these are two standing realistic roosters with hooked beaks, triskeles-shapecl
pinions, fishtail-formed tail-feathers, and feet. On both the extreme ends are
drawn two carp true to nature, in an attitude as if about to dive. They are com
ponents at the same time of a spiral ; the form of their triskeles-shaped tails is
nearly identical with the pinions of the two central roosters. In the body of both
carps is seen again a conventionalized bipartite fish. The whole of this fish-
spiral symbolizes at the same time the body of a cock, as is clearly pointed out by
the incised bird-heads visible above it.

Figs. 2 and 2 a, Plate xi, represent the ornaments on the rim of the cover
of a lacquered tobacco-box, the cover of which is seen in Fig. 18. They are
painted red and light green, and bordered by black lines. On the front side of
the rim (Fig. 2) we observe two small and five large equal triangles. In the small
triangle to the left there is a fancifully combined figure, showing in its centre the

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XI.

la

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 31

picture of a fish, from which radiate three cock-heads with circles before their
beaks. The two on the left side are shaped like triskeles, the lower one end
ing in a fish-tail. The bird branching off from the fish on the right side holds its
head turned downward to the left, wing and feet being slightly symbolized by a
short crooked foil, and terminating in a disproportionately extended fish-tail.
The following isosceles is occupied by two conventional, almost heraldic forms of
animals explained by natives as musk-deer (see p. 41 ), whose bodies are usually
treated like that of the cock, their ears standing upright, their faces turned away
from each other, two legs being indicated above the body, and the other two
below it ; the tail a bushy tuft consisting of five curved broaches. The animal is
shaped intentionally in the form of a spiral ; its mouth being the starting-point,
and one of the fore-legs the terminus. Its body is in the form of a fish, and,
besides, in its interior is a bipartite fish adapted to the outline of the body. The
head of this fish is directed downward, its eye distinctly marked by a circle and
its gill by a crescent, which is somewhat bigger in the animal on the right side.
The tendency to introduce fishes into these decorations goes so far as to affect
even the clearness of the fundamental design. In this case the ends of the; fore
most lobe of the tail and of the adjoining hind-leg are so connected with each
other as to leave space for the design of a conventional form of a fish on the hind
part of the deer. To see to advantage the picture contained in the third triangle,
one should invert the illustration. Then it is possible to observe the two long-
stretched heads of the roosters holding a green-colored circle between their beaks,
the pinions being duly indicated by a tricorned branch, the bodies being formed
by graceful wave-lines to which cling two carp full of life and vigor, characterized
in the usual way, and having, besides, a spinal fin. To the; tail of each is joined
an S-shaped fish, to the head of which is attached another fish with a triskeles-like
tail. Only one half of the following central triangle is shown in the figure : con
sequently it contains but one of the combatant cocks. In front of its beak is
visible a conventionalized tripartite fish with a bifurcated tail. I;rom below the;
head of the bird branches out to the left a conventionalized fish consisting of
head and body. From the same point proceeds a curve representing the bird's
breast, and continuing to the left into the pinions, sending three prongs to the
left and one to the right. The last two offshoots form jointly a fish-tail.
Oddly enough, the foot is symbolized by a three-lobed leaf joined on either
side by a branchlet which seems to signify part of a spur. The body, hori
zontally placed, follows the outlines of the fish drawn into it. The tail attached
to this part is formed in a style widely different from the usual cock-tail, being
simply an imitation, or rather adaptation, of the musk-deer tail in the preceding
triangle.

Fig. 2 a shows a portion of the ornamentation a continuation of which con
stitutes the back of the same rim. The division of the ornamented surface is
executed here by an elegant sweep of a wave-line. In the first concavity the
under part of this wave-line forms at the same time the outline of a fish that clings

32 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

closely to it (a). The head of the fish is surmounted by a slight curve terminat
ing in two parallel branchlets to the right (&) and a beak-like figure to the left (Y).
It is hard to decide whether this part is intended for an independent cock, or
merely for the tail-feathers of that larger cock whose head joins the body of the
spiral-formed fish (<-/) and sends off a long beak (<?) in the form of a semicircular
wave. On its head is a crest, the shorter component of which is treated as a
cock's beak (_/), with an oval in front of it ; the other makes a wide curve termi
nating in a fish-tail ( ^), one branch of which contains a dot for an eye, thus indicat
ing a bird's beak, which is corroborated by placing an ellipsoid in front of it.
This whole offshoot has the shape of a triskeles. Returning to the large cock
filling the middle ground of this area, we see the outlines of its body rendered
true to nature, and a scroll on its hind part (d), to which two feathers are
attached, indicating the tail, or, if the figure above the fish-head is correctly to
be interpreted as a cock's tail, the pinions. In the smaller intervening part the
two cocks rampant are easily discernible, their feet united, the long falciform beaks
directed upward and the tails downward, the latter being connected by a pair of
small ellipsoids. In accordance with this, the remainder of this ornament is self-
explanatory : the cock rampant is to be seen single in one of the following fields.

Fig. 3, Plate xi, is an ornament cut out of paper, which was to serve as an
embroidery-pattern of a bag for a strike-a-light. The exquisite gracefulness of
lines and the fine taste here displayed deserve special mention. The two artistic
fishes in the extreme lobes are explained as crucians, with ciliated mouth ; the
whiskers are formed like a cock's comb, the under arm having the shape of a
conventionalized fish. The middle of the centre is filled up with two large
cocks rampant, facing each other, heads and necks recurved, their beaks join
ing in a long curve to which two conventionalized fishes are attached. The
outline of the body of this cock, generally speaking, has the form of a spiral, and
is a well-designed fish at the same time. Above the head of this fish is a spiral
with a closely adjoining strongly conventional form of a fish, this whole figure
being already familiar to us as symbolizing the cock's wing-feathers. Below the
eye of the fish we note a conspicuous crescent accompanied by an ellipse, ap
parently derived from the cock's beak. Close by it is a well-developed fish-tail,
which, if the drawing be inverted, signifies the tail of this latter cock ; in this
case the spiral containing the fish should be considered as its body.

Fig. 4, Plate xi, is an ornament cut out of red paper and pasted on a
triangular cartoon. This object, hung to the wall, was used as a holder for
newspapers by a rich Gold living in Khabarovsk, who, as a gentleman, was
proud of having Russian papers, although he could neither read nor write. The
ornament spread out along the border consists of a succession of spiral triskeles.
The main field is occupied by two spirals with two fishes adapted to the outline
of the first winding. Attached to the ends of these spirals is a triskeles with
two long arms and one short one. The outer arm is continued by a double
triskeles below ; the longer arm of the latter, as well as the adjoining one of the

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 33

preceding, has the form of the cock's beak and neck. These two arms form a
rounding whose space is filled up by a kind of trident. In the upper part of
this decoration two triskeles, with one part shaped like a fish-tail and the other
like a cock's head, are placed together in a way similar to that below.

Fig. 5, Plate xi, is an embroidery-pattern the ornament on the tinder part
of which consists of four spirals. To the outside of each of the inner spirals
clings a conventionalized fish, the form of which has become somewhat stiff
owing to the kind of work. To the outer spirals below is added a triskeles of
the well-known fish-tail form, and at the extreme ends a conventionalized fish
holding the head downward. In the upper part of this ornament we note double
combinations of triskeles in which one arm is rolled in like a scroll, and to which
ovals or circles are joined, as they appear elsewhere in front of the cocks' beaks,
so that here the idea of conventionalized cocks may be the underlying conception.

Fig. 6, Plate xi, shows an embroidered collar. The ornament consists of a
double row. The element of the inner row is formed by a wave-line, which joins
in the centre in a pair of spirals. In the concavities on either side are two
distinctly designed cocks with fishes for their bodies. In this case, the plum
age is marked on the body, not, as elsewhere, outside of it. The outer row of
ornaments is composed of single pieces reproducing, as it were, diagrams of the
cock holding the fish in its mouth, the heads of the cocks being recurved so
that they are turned toward each other ; the fishes have the shape of the triskeles.

Fig. 7, Plate xi, represents the embroidery on a wristlet, the design ex
emplifying a very curious amalgamation of the cock with the fish. The beak
of the cock with the circular object under it is clearly visible, as well as the
form of its body. All the remaining parts, however, are shaped like a fish, —
two dorsal fins, at the same time the bird's pinions ; the bipartite fish-tail, at the
same time the cock's tail-feathers. The close association of both animals, and
their ornamental harmony, have advanced to such a degree, that one might speak
in this case of a cock-fish or a fish-cock, according to the predominance of the one
or the other element. The other spirals occurring here, and the S-shaped cocks
with two circles between their beaks, require no further explanation.

Fig. i, Plate xn, represents the ornamentation on the inside of a birch-bark
basket. It consists of three rows, one above another, the uppermost and under
most containing the same design. The middle field shows at both ends two
naturalistic cocks with long, bent beaks, and bodies in the form of fishes ; the
head of the latter is indicated by a scroll. This fish-body is embedded in the
curve of the wave-line, between the upper end of which and the cock's head is
the design of a crescent-like conventionalized fish, indicating at the same time
pinions. To recognize the pictures in the two central hollows, the plate must be
inverted. Then we see the cock, Type B. It is worthy of note that the conven
tionalized bipartite fishes are attached to the neck of the cock in the rounding
between the neck and the spiral body. In the edge ornaments we observe again
a series of fish-spirals. The fishes form here the starting-point of the spirals ;

34

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

their heads, eyes, gills, bodies, and tapering tails are plainly marked by black
lines. These somewhat angular spirals are rounded off above by a projection in
which a conventionalized fish is drawn.

Fig. 2, Plate xit, is an embroidery for trimming the front and upper edges
of a garment. This is a very good example for illustrating the amalgamation
of the fish and spiral. It is a continuous fish-spiral pattern. The basis of this
ornament is a combination of a pair of double spirals contiguous to each other
in the corner between the upper and front edges. In these spirals we see head

kL^rp

body, and tail of the fishes thoroughly characterized. In the pair of spirals next
below this corner the spirals retain their rigid forms, and the conventionalized fishes
combined with each other are placed around them independently. Their forms
have the usual fish-outlines, as shown by a comparison with the preceding fishes.
The next spiral below differs from the corresponding first one in that the head
is not separated by a special line from the trunk, but only indicated in its form.
The principle of the ornament on the embroidery-pattern in Fig. 3, Plate
xii, is based on the combination of facing spirals, treated partly as cocks, partly

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

35

as fishes. In the pair at the upper end we see the type B inverted ; beak
and head shaped like a fish-tail, a bifurcation forming the pinions, and leaving
between them and the head a space outlining the conventional form of a fish.
The ovals, semicircular curves, and the compound braces placed around the
spirals are well-known appearances to be traced back to the cock-ornament. The
next pair of spirals shows the pronounced figure of a fish, its two sides running
parallel to each other, its head not being especially marked off, as in that seen
in Fig. 2 of this plate. The left side ends in a fish-tail, to which is closely
joined a triskeles or a triskeles-shaped fish, suggesting perhaps that the short
hook of the first-mentioned tail should be regarded as at the same time the beak
of a cock holding a fish.

Fig. 12 offers a very interesting pattern as showing the predominating,
all-governing influence of the fish-ornament, for the sake of which all other forms
are remodelled. In a the cock is clearly to be recognized as a bird ; its beak,
however, assumes the form of a fish-tail. On the left, to its trisulcate wing-feather
a conventionalized bipartite fish is attached. Its body is, of course, conceived
of as a fish, and ends above in a fish-tail. In b we see a figure to be defined
neither as cock nor as fish, but to be designated only as cock-fish. The body
has the outer form of a cock's body and a fish incised on it. To the right, in the
interior of the spiral, a fish-head is appended, whereas to its narrow neck two
conventionalized fishes are annexed. Between a and b we see a spiral to which

36 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

a fish-body is clinging, with a head at each end. c is a variation of the type
seen in a. d is a cock without tail-feathers, c is allied to /;, but adorned with
leaf motives. Also f is a cock-formation composed of fishes. In g, //, and ?',
fishes and cocks are, as it were, like arabesques, amalgamated into one composite
whole, the separate parts of which arc hard to single out, since one always glides
into the other, j anil /• show the principle of the cocks of Type B. In/ the
backs of the cocks, strange to say, are replaced by two conventionalized bipartite
fishes rampant. The acme of all these phenomena of cock and fish is reached,
however, in g. Here we observe in the middle a large realistic carp, on the tail
of which is drawn again a fish. At three points this carp is ornamented with
bird-beaks and the usual ovals ; so that this design, when viewed from three
different sides, has the appearance of as many cocks.

F'gs- I3~l 7 are likewise large compositions based on the principle of the
combination of conventionalized, mostly bipartite, fishes with spiral and cock
ornaments. In these conglomerations are shown the endless variation of which
this ornament is capable, and the great effectiveness of the forms in the compo
sition of larger structures. In Fig. 16, moreover, a lavish use is made of leaf and
floral ornaments. In special beauty of forms the large realistic cock on the left
side of Fig. 17 excels.

THE DRAGON. — The Chinese dragon (lung; Gold, mudur) holds a promi
nent place in the mythology of the Gold, and is believed by both these peoples to

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

37

produce rain and thunder. This monster is very popular throughout eastern
Asia, and is a favorite subject in ornamentation.1

Fig. 4, Plate xn, is a decoration cut out of paper, in which the picture of
the dragon is repeated four times. It is laid out in the form of a double spiral,
the starting-point of which is, on the one side its head, on the other side its tail.
To the single spirals are now added offshoots representing the legs of the
monster, so that one might distinguish the form of the dragon as well as the
combination of two triskeles. The curved lines outlining the dragon's body run
parallel to each other,
and are covered with a
row of small triangles
indicating scales. The
upper part of the head
has almost a helmet-
like shape, its mouth
being strongly promi
nent, and its tongue;
quivering. On the face
of the dragon («) there
is a very remarkable
design : in the three
objects, eye, semicircle,
body, is reproduced
the image of the con
ventionalized fish as it
usually appears on the
naturalistic fish -body
or the cock. The con
ventionalized fish oc
curs once again under the head, where it is formed by the outline of the latter
and an added triskeles, representing in this case the whiskers of that mythical
creature.-. The horns on its head are so shaped as to remind one of the cock's
tail-feathers. The one four-broached portion of the horns is also identical with
the design of the dragon's tail on other pictures. On its neck are three claws,
representing its wings or flag-feathers. It is a striking fact that the four fields at
the ends of the dragon-tails are filled with cocks (6), each holding a fish in its
beak, and having their bodies formed like fishes, the symbolical design of the
conventionalized fish being cut out of them. This is placed also around the
spiral wing-feathers in the: characteristic manner. The tail belongs rather te>
the dragon than to the bird, for it consists, which is unusual for a cock's tail, of
two bisected parts, each made: up e>f two offshoots. The picture marked c may
be interpreted as shewing certain stages in the development e)f the: cock-fish
ornament.

1 The dragon of purely Chinese type has already been referred to on p. 4.

Tribe, Cold. Alwu

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

Fig. 5, Plate xn, is another paper pattern representing dragons, likewise in
the form of double spirals, but in much simpler form than in the preceding case.
The head (a) is extended, and has only one horn of the shape of the familiar con
ventionalized bipartite fish. The mouth projects and is wide open. An oval
figure is put under its lower jaw, significant of a bright pearl.1 The serpentine
body is covered, not with scales, but with an ornamental spur-line. The tail (3) is
a bushy tuft with four branches, one of which corresponds to the form of a con
ventionalized fish. Feet and claws are not indicated.

Fig. 6, Plate xn, shows a painting on the upper edge of a pair of leggings,
colored in red and black. In this case two dragons are placed side by side, the

3n of Paper Patter

faces turned away from each other. These are strongly conventionalized, indicat
ing in reality only the open jaws, the scales marked as in the foregoing example.
The tops of the heads are connected by a brace. Both above and below the body
is a foot with claw. The tail consists of a circle and adjoining triskeles-shaped
fish-tail.

Fig. 2, Plate xm, represents half of the decoration on the cover of a
lacquered tobacco-box, the edge of which is adorned with a conventionalized
design of eight dragons in the form of spirals. These are paired so that their
faces, which consist of bifid ovals, are turned away from each other. The horns
are fashioned after the cock's tail-feathers. The heads of the dragons on the long

1 See Grunwedel in Sitzungsberichte der preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin, 1901, p. 215.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

39

side are connected by a brace. Six dentiform projections stand out from the
back. The body terminates in a fish-tail, the shorter arm of which signifies
a foot with four sharp claws, the other being supplied with a bushy tail resem-

bling cock-feathers. In the centre of the middle field is a rosette, the elements of
which are made up of conventional designs of fishes. Above follow two cock-
fishes, each in a spiral. Connected with the central rosette by a narrow band is
an elliptical figure with an ornamental ring inside, between which and the
periphery of the ellipse are delineated triskeles and conventionalized cocks.
Beyond this figure are two opposite dragon-heads.

Fig. 1 8 is also a deco
ration on the cover of a
lacquered tobacco-box, but
here the main field is taken
up by eight large finely-
drawn dragons. This type
approaches in its form
very nearly that of the
cock-ornament. On each
side of the cover the two
dragons above and below
are placed in the form of a F'G- l8 («™)- Covcr of a Tobacco-box. Tribe, GM. Extreme length, 5, cm.

double spiral, tails contiguous, faces turned so that they look at each other. At the
end of both the upper and the lower jaw is a triskeles, apparently signifying cocks,

40 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

as the upper ones have ovals connected with them. Likewise the horns on one
side are characterized by a triskeles in the form of a fish-tail. The two central
dragons are connected by two combatant carp. The dragon-tails are wholly
fashioned after the form of the cock-tails. These may be designated either as
dragons or as cocks with dragon-bodies, so that one may speak of cock-clragons as
well as of dragon-cocks.

On Fig. i, Plate xin, a dragon in front view is sprawled over the cover of
a Goldian tobacco-box, the greater part of which it occupies, in fanciful connec
tion with a chain-band pattern. The head looks similar to that of an elephant.
In the mouth are designed a pointed tongue and two pairs of front teeth. In
general the ornamental treatment recedes as much as possible into the back
ground, that the animal character may receive more emphasis. Ingenuity is
given free scope, in this case, by the introduction of the perfect representations
of the four feet stretched out to both sides, each with four claws.1 The bobtail
also is not a decorative part, but consists simply of seven natural-looking furca
tions. Between the two hindmost claws on each foot is inserted an oblong object
which they seem to hold. The band-ornament along the edge of the cover is so
placed around the monster as to suggest that the animal might be bound with
ropes. The bands start from the ends of the upper and under jaw, and are
twisted into three loops above and three below, which show two, and in one case
four, prominent tips. Several S-shaped figures, which also presumably represent
portions of the band, are inserted between the single knots.

This monster, conveying the impression rather of an enormous python, is
very likely the embodiment of the rain-dragon soaring in the clouds, but hampered
by its fetters in pouring out its blessings on the thirsty land. In this connection
mention should be made of the Chinese and Japanese " cloud-and-rain pat
terns," simple illustrations of which are given in Fig. 3, Plate xm, and in
Fig. i, Plate xiv. The former is a cloud pattern composed of spirals with cocks
resting on them, and of clusters formed by a central spiral with six scrolls
around it. The latter is the device on a Japanese weaving belonging to the
period between the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries. It is constructed
of a combination of semicircles and spirals, and adds another to the already
wide range of objects for which the spiral is a symbol, as, in this case, for cloud-
formation.

Fig. 4, Plate xm, an old Chinese weaving-pattern, gives a somewhat more
graphic account of Chinese notions of atmospheric phenomena. The upper
and lower edges are taken up with two variations of the meander, while the inter
vening part is occupied with an evidently emblematic effigy. This special repre
sentation is designated in Chinese art as a " cloud-and-thunder picture." It
reproduces a dragon, which, as Hirth~ sets forth, in its aerial abode starts the
thunder a-rolling with its hind-paw upraised and stretched backward. The

1 Five-clawed feet are only accorded to the Imperial dragon.

s See Hirth, Verhandlungen der Berliner Anthropologischen Gesellschaft, i88q, p. 493.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

thunder is symbolically characterized by a triskeles, one arm of which is enclosed in
a semicircle. Below it the lightning is represented by a trident. The meandrian
patterns are also a symbolical equivalent for thunder, so that this whole repre
sentation might be called the best illustration of the deductions of Hirth in the
paper quoted before.

THE MUSK-DEER. — Foremost among the animals which play an important
part in the productions of this art, after the cock and the dragon, is the musk-deer ;
at least the creature portrayed in the following examples is explained by the natives
as such. It is rather naturalistic on some of the larger zoophoric compositions ;
but, under the pressure of the leading gallinaceous motive, it undergoes such
conventional transformations, especially in its double character, that the dif
ference between the construction of its forms and those of the cock is hardly
perceptible.

In Fig. 2, Plate xiv, not only has the deer retained the form of head of
the cock, but it has also been invested with its beak grasping the fish. The
head is adorned with
antlers which are
made up of two tris
keles joined by a
heavy dot. On the
body, and parallel
with its outline, are
cut out two conven
tionalized fishes side
by side. The two
hind-legs are formed
in the same way as
the tail, consisting of

two slightly undulating curves. The two animals are rampant, their fore-legs
united in a straight bar.

Fig. 3, Plate xiv, represents a paper pattern for embroidering a pair of ear-
lappets. The two figures (a) on both sides are combatant musk-deer of more
conventionalized form than the preceding ones ; only their heads, with ears
upright and mouths open, have a somewhat natural appearance. Their bodies
are shaped like the fish whose form is cut out of them. Two large dots
serve to express the feet. The tails consist of one falcation and a combination
of two triskeles with an oval knob. The lines b are wave-lines ending below in a
form reminding one of the cock's tail-feathers. The ornamental figures c and d
signify the last stage of development of the cocks of Type A, that is, of the
combatant cocks, d showing two combatant fishes in lieu of cocks' bodies. The
oblong crenations (e) around the edge are apparently derived from the constitu
ents of the cock's wing-feathers.

On the side of a birch-bark basket (Fig. 19), are delineated two combatant

42 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

musk-deer in crouching attitude, and invested with cocks' crests. The feet unite
below in a trefoil. On their bodies are fishes, gracefully outlined. Each deer
runs out into a fish-body, the forked tail of which is visible, and to which a
collateral fin is attached. The style of execution of these fishes is such, that
the space between them and the body of the musk-deer remains the usual con
ventional form of the fish.

ANIMAL PIECKS. — Of other animals which occur in the ornamentation of
these tribes, aside from those hitherto noted, the following deserve mention : wild
duck, wild goose, swan, eagle, swallow, elk, reindeer, roe, fox, dog, crucian, lizard,
frog, snake, and insects. The following animal pieces demonstrate the supreme
degree of zoophily innate in the minds of these people, who display such a
wonderful amount of creative power in these productions so full of freak and
fancy.

Fig. 4, Plate xiv, shows a pattern cut out of paper, which is divided by
winding curves into ornamental fields. The birds marked a were explained as
wild clucks. In form they can hardly be distinguished from the cock. The bird
seems to be conceived of by the artist as swimming. On its head is a horn
like piece, formed on the one side by a conventionalized fish, on the other by two
parallel pikes. A conventionalized fish, consisting of two separate parts, is cut
into the body as in the cock. The wing-feather is a scroll ; the tail, of the
conventional fish-form. The figures b are two circle-ornaments to which are at
tached, above and below, birds' heads.

In the paper pattern, Fig. 5, Plate xiv, we see a very remarkable, graceful
combination of various animals. In the centre, four musk-deer (a) are grouped
around a lozenge-shaped figure. The head is formed in exactly the same style as
that in Fig. 3 of this plate. The body looks very odd, because it is moulded like
that of a fish, to the head of which cock-spurs are added to indicate the feet of the
deer. In the heart-shaped fields above and below are two frogs (V) with four
outstretched legs formed like fishes, and with two fishes indicated on their bodies.
At the extreme ends are four crucians (<$), covered with triangular scales. Between
these and the musk-deer are placed four pairs of wild swans, each pair having one
body in common, but distinct necks and heads, — one naturalistic head turned
inward, whose gracefully arched neck rests on a wave-line, giving at the same
time the outline for the bird's body ; the other head, turned outward, being
ornamentally conventionalized.

Fig. 6, Plate xiv, represents a paper pattern showing a design for embroi
dering a shirt. In the centre is a circle, around which are grouped four tortoises
(a), strongly conventionalized. Around it, on both sides, two bands forming
four circles and two ellipses are symmetrically arranged. In every circle there
is a roe (Cervus capreolus L.), b ; two snakes (muiki), d ; and a bird (c], called
tewerko, the species of which I have not yet been able to determine. Each
ellipse contains a frog (Rana temporaria L.), e ; two spiders (atkomama), f;
and two gadflies (shigaxfd), g. Outside of these figures a number of animals are

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XIII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

43

represented standing along the edges of the pattern. There are four mosquitoes,
k ; four chimney-swallows (fftrundo rnstica L.), i ,• four snakes, d; four stags
(Cervns elaphus L.), j ; and four fawns (Ccrvus capreolus L.), k.

FIG. jo (,',",). Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold, j na

In the paper pattern shown in Fig. 20 the same picture is represented eight
times. In it the following animals are represented : a jumping tiger (a) with open

44 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

jaws, the fore-legs with paws outstretched, with only one hind-leg, and tail
upturned ; an eagle grasping a fish in its beak (<f), this conception being very
likely derived from the cock holding the same little creature in its beak ; a flying
wild duck (V) ; a musk-deer with a design of a conventionalized bipartite fish on
its body (d} ; a fox lying in ambush (e) ; frogs (/^and^) ; a horse and its rider
(/<;) ; an eagle flapping its wing and having a foot with three outstretched claws
(z') ; what is said to be a glutton (/£).

Fig. 21 represents nearly one-fourth part of a paper pattern that is divided
again into two symmetrical parts. The ornaments are distributed over four
large and twenty-six small quadrangular and ten triangular fields. In the large
rectangle to the left are united four strongly conventionalized dragons, whose
heads merge into the geometrical figure a, and whose tails are distinctly marked
in the palmate figure b. The body itself is not drawn, but merely symbolized by
spiral windings.

On the small squares surrounding the large figure just described, a number of
animals are shown. The three small squares designated as c contain representa
tions of spiders formed in a way similar to that of the dragon's tail. I n one of them
are drawn the outlines of three conventionalized fishes, d represents a raccoon-
like dog (Cam's procyonoidcs or viverrinus) with five cross-stripes ; e is a young
musk-deer ; f, a frog ; and g is a wild duck in the act of flying, the wing
being marked by a trapezoid containing an inscribed smaller trapezoid ; h is a roe
with neck turned backward ; z, a cock with outspread wing and erect tail-feath
ers ; j is a wild reindeer ; k is identical with d ; I is a wolf ; and m represents a
wild goose.

Proceeding to the triangles at the bottom of the design, we find a doe looking
backward {«) ; to the left of it a conventionalized deer with recurved cock-neck ;
o is a lizard.

The large squares on the right are divided by bands into a number of fields,
which are also filled with animal figures. In the lower square we find to the left
an elk (/>), above which are three quadrupeds, one of them a stag ; q is a double
eagle with body in common and outspread wings ; r is a wild duck ; 5 is a
panther; and t, a jumping tiger. In the second square are seen roes (u) with
rebent necks ; v, a duck ; w, a swallow ; x, a frog ; y, a flying wild duck (cf. g] ;
2, a galloping hound.

Fig. 22 is a pattern for a blanket, cut out of paper. There is a central
piece with an upper and lower edge. The main ground is taken up with two
dragons wound in the form of spirals, the heads (a) of which lie in the termini of
these spirals. The space inside of the dragon-spirals is occupied by represen
tations of animals, which correspond to each other on both sides. As a sort of
decorative csesura, a large frog (<$) and a smaller adjoining one are inserted.
The intervening spaces between the dragons above and those below are filled up
with four tortoises (V). Close against the dragon's head a fox is leaning, followed
by a wild duck (d} on the other side of the head. In e is represented a branch

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XIV.

mtom

Decorative Art. of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

45

consisting of three parts, with leaves and blossoms, f is a musk-deer ; g, a stag ;
//, the cock running out into a fish-body ; i, a conventionalized bird ; j, a roe.
Outside of the dragons we observe a conventionalized tree with roots (three

^U ggiigg 83

?

;•» ran p

taiL^a

^T<

•aM«f

FIG. 2! Iff,.) Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. I nat. size.

semicircles in succession), trunk, boughs, and foliage, by which is indicated
symbolically the primeval forest, the so-called taiga, where the whole, animal
kingdom nests, k denotes a swan floating on the surface of the water, with a

46 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

cross on its body1 (the ellipse forming the body is repeated to furnish the
connection with the dragon) ; above it is the design of a squirrel (/). m is a
duck with a fish in its bill ; n, a lizard ; o, an elk ; /, a musk-deer ; q, a cock ; r,
a duck perching on the side-branch of a tree, as on the fish-skin garments ; s, a
lizard ; t, a carp ; u, a swan with open, upturned beak ; v, a roe. The edge is
cut by means of jagged lines into rectangles, and each of these again into four
triangles. In the first triangle at the extreme left is an eagle with outspread

pinions, almost in the fashion of our escutcheon eagle. In the opposite triangle
there is a lizard, and below it a snake. In the two central triangles are two
eagles and two roosters standing opposite each other.

LEAF AND FLORAL ORNAMENTS. — Not only does the delineator manifest his
artistic spirit as a skilful faunist, but, to a certain extent, the flora also occupies
his attention. Leaves and floral forms occur partly as independent ornaments
in connection with other elements, partly in close combination with the cock and
fish ornaments. Especially single portions connected with the latter are treated

See Globus, Vol. LXXIX, 1901, p. 70, and cf. Figs. 3 and 14.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nnt. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XV.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 47

as leaves, chiefly the heads of conventionalized fishes, and the round object held
in the beak of the cock.

Fig. i, Plate xv, represents a carved Goldian wooden dish. In the middle,
around a large circle, are grouped four smaller ones showing peculiar forms of
svastika. Two opposite fields inside of these have coarse cross-hatchings, two
others fine ones. The same kind of hatching occurs in the central circle, which
shows the heads of four realistic does holding in their mouths a young fawn.
One of the large animals has seized it by the head, a second by the tail, a third by
the fore-leg, and the fourth by a hind-leg. The deer are so drawn that their
outlines form likewise a svastika. The rim of this dish is covered on the sides
with clinging vines, leaves, and blossoms of various kinds and forms, and, on the
ends, with flower-spikes. To the four corners at the extreme ends are attached
four animal heads in open-work carving. It is hard to say what species of animal
is meant.

In Fig. 2, Plate xv, is seen the cover of a wooden box. This composition
is remarkable for the reason that the middle piece of the ornament is not shaped
symmetrically, the only symmetry visible being in the arrangement of the
ornaments across the upper and lower ends. Below we see a three-lobed leaf.
Two leaves of the same kind, though not of the same rigid geometrical form, are
found in the central part. The whole is intended, perhaps, to signify the bough
of a tree, whence perhaps also arises the irregular arrangement of the single
parts.

The next design shown on Plate xv (Fig. 3) is that of an embroidered
tobacco-pouch, the edge of which is trimmed with sable. The stitches employed
on the edge are a triple row composed of feather-stitch in the centre with chain-
stitch either side of it. In the middle field chain-stitches are mostly used,
the leaf parts being worked in satin-stitch. In the right and left upper corners
of the central rectangle we observe two three-lobed leaves, under which are two
cocks holding triskeles-shaped fishes. There is a red leaf near the fish and
a light-green leaf on the cock's body, both seeming to represent the well-known
round object. From these cocks branch off toward the middle two double spirals.
The smaller, outer spiral has its starting-point in a large two-lobed leaf held in the
beak of the cock ; the other, inner spiral, from a petal with three lobes grouped,
rosette-like, around a circle. Within this spiral is delineated a conventionalized
fish, whose body is assimilated to the winding of the spiral, and whose tail tapers
to a point. The heads of these fishes are worked in satin-stitch, in the same
manner as the leaves, with dark red. On the lower edge of the rectangle are
placed blossoms consisting of five petals in pyramidal arrangement.

Fig. 4, Plate xv, represents an embroidered border. In the lower part, on
a black ground, we see leaf-forms in connection with triskeles, and in the centre
two rosette-like blossoms at the starting-points of two spirals. In the upper por
tion, with red background, all fish-heads and circular forms are treated as leaves,
their surface being filled in with satin-stitches, while the remaining parts are

48 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

merely represented by lines of white chain-stitching. This process is therefore
at the same time a device by which to make out easily the somewhat obscure
cocks and the fishes.

The embroidered waistband, Fig. 5, Plate xv, consists of a rectangular
central field and an ornamental border. In the central field a very interesting
geometrical formation of the cock is met with, combined with single small curves
and triskeles. In the illustration the outlines of this cock have been strength
ened to show more clearly the type of this bird. The border is composed of
a succession of continuous double spirals connected with two and three lobed
flowers. At the same time the spirals symbolize cocks' bodies.

Fig. i, Plate xvi, represents the upper front border of the half of a collar
of a woman's embroidered dress. The ornament shows clearly the way in which
leaves and blossoms appear in connection with spirals. One of the arms of the
triskeles attached to the spirals is treated like a leaf.

Fig. 6, Plate xv, shows a paper pattern presenting a purely geometrical
formation of flowers or blossoms, the single parts of which are circles, semicircles,
and ovals.1

There is a certain power of attraction between cock and plant ornaments,
leading sometimes to a perfect amalgamation, which may be illustrated in the
following specimens.

In Figs. 12-14, Plate xvi, are reproduced paintings on three Goldian bows.
Fig. 12 shows a combination of a tendril-like ornament with a cock-ornament.
The outer side of the bow (Fig. 12 a) is divided into ten fields ; but the five fields
on the one side do not symmetrically correspond to the five on the other side, in
which the same ornamental parts appear in different combinations. In this
pattern the motives of the cock and of the fish ornament are so strangely mixed
up with leaf and floral designs, and the two are so closely assimilated to each
other, that it is sometimes hard to decide what is an ingredient of the cock and
what of the plant ornament. In the centre of the field a (Pig. i 2 a) there is an
obvious representation of the cock, with head, body, and spur, holding a conven
tionalized fish in its beak, to which is attached, on the right, a petal. It would be
difficult, however, to determine whether the first design on the left is meant to
represent a leaf or a fish. In the field b we observe likewise a cirrose leaf, in the
middle a conventionalized fish of the characteristic form, whereas all plant portions
are adapted to this style of the fish, both here and in the central field c. In rt'we
see another cock with a fish in its beak. Its tail-feathers, which in design are
like a fish-tail, form at the same time the component of a petal. In a similar way,
in field e is a cock with a fish, on a stalk proceeding from a five-lobed leaf. This
ornament terminates at the other end in a trifoliate leaf.

On the inner side of this bow (Fig. isb, Plate xvi) the ornament on the
left-hand side begins with a leaf-tendril, which is continued to the end by a long
undulating line. It may be that in this wave-ornament the curve itself is con-

1 Cf. what is said about the circle-ornament, p. 19.

Memoirs Am. Mus Nat. Hist.. Vol. VII.

Plate XVI.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.. Vol. VII.

Plate XVII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, TIIK DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 49

ceived of as something real, as it is entirely filled with conventionalized fishes, or,
if one prefers, with leaves which have adopted their forms. These patterns coin
cide to such a degree, that, in the two designs terminating this ornament on the
right side, it might appear doubtful whether they are to be looked upon as cocks,
fishes, or leaves: they combine in their forms all three meanings.

The outer side of the specimen represented in Fig. 13, Plate xvi, is divided,
for the purpose of decoration, into two fields, each of which contains the painting
of a scaled dragon. The parts of its horns have the form of conventionalized
fishes (Fig. 132). On the body, below, is visible a foot with scales like those on
the body. To its body are attached, besides, three cock-spurs, which would here
seem to indicate feet. The tail is coiled around into a spiral, as in the cock, and
connected with it is a stem bearing six leaves. The inner side of the bow is
divided into two unequal parts (Fig. 13 b). The element in the left field is a wave-
line. Inside of each curve of the line, both above and below, is a cock-spur, which,
in this connection, is meant to represent a leaf. This is one of the remarkable
instances where the function of the ornament is different from what it would
appear to be. In the field on the right side are represented similar figures, but
with freer arrangement. Three oval-shaped leaves are added, and a flower-bud
with two petals on either side of a central ovary. This ornament is completed
on the right by the representation of three conventionalized fishes.

In Fig. 14, Plate xvi, is reproduced a bow, the outer side of which is sep
arated into two equal parts in the same way as the others. The fundamental
motive of this ornament is a wave-line from which extend either simple curved
branchlets or ornaments in the form of triskeles. Connected with one of these
triskeles we see a conventionalized fish (Fig. 14 a, a), whereas in the branchlets b
and c we recognize heads of cocks, from the typical figure of the fish connected
with it, and from the circle drawn in the fish. The head of the cock connected
with the fish is easier to recognize in d ; in c the figure of the circle appears at
the point of the beak. In /" a new combination is reached through the addition
of a semicircle to the spiral, which forms with it nearly an X. g and It show the
same type of cock with the fish, only inutile wing-feathers are indicated by the
addition of a spiral. The fish in the beak has in both cases the same well-known
form, the only part properly indicated being the bipartite tail. In / we see two
triskeles united into one figure ; and iny'a new style of conventionalization of the
cock-ornament. It is most remarkable that the artist has used new forms at each
offshoot of this wave-line, and exercised his imagination to a great extent to
obtain new and varied modifications of the same theme.

Fig. 14 b, Plate xvi, represents the decoration on the inner side of the same
bow. In this case also there is no symmetrical treatment inside of the wave-line,
but the maker has striven to vary as much as possible the motive in each con
cavity. This illustration is of great value for the study of the evolution of the
cock-ornament, for it shows a great many stages in its development. At a
we observe the beak of the cock holding a round object and at the same time the

50 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

fish, the dimensions of whose tail are exaggerated in comparison with the other
parts of the ornament. In the field b may be seen, suspended from a tendril, two
graceful little cocks rampant, under the beaks of which is a circle. Their bodies
approach closely the fish-ornament. At first sight the figure c might seem to con
vey the impression of a leaf or flower ornament ; but the horn-like offshoot on the
right side of this leaf cannot be explained in this case : it is obviously to be regarded
as a cock holding a fish, as is especially shown on comparison with the follow
ing ornament ; the seeming flower-bud is a combination of fish-heads, and the
circle drawn into it is that belonging to the cock. In d are reproduced two com
batant cocks, which, however, are distinguished from those in b by being joined
together and placed around a circle. The cock to the right has its tail turned
upward, and that on the left side downward. In the field c the cock may be recog
nized as drawn true to nature, with eye indicated, the circle at its beak. Feet and
spurs are designated by a long lobe. The end of the tail terminates, strange to
say, with the body of a fish, /"shows the cock, in spite of its conventionalization,
clearly outlined : the circle in front of its beak, and in front of the circle the fish,
consisting of three parts, — head, body, and curved tail. Parallel to the fish-tail
run the cock's feet, which are indicated by a long falcation, as in d. The tail-
feathers of the cock are conventionalized like the fish-tail. In g, head, neck, four
tail-feathers, and two concentric circles around the beak of the bird, are visible. //
represents a cock with fish, closely allied to that in c, the cock terminating in a fish
tail disproportionately large. In i is shown one of the most remarkable and
instructive designs within the scope of this entire ornamentation : there are two
triskeles here, in one of which one arm is much shortened through adaptation to
the available space ; that these pure triskeles, however, are interpreted as cocks,
or at least were formerly so conceived, results from the fact that between them
are two circles, as usually appear with combatant cocks. / illustrates a type of
combatant cocks with the circle between their beaks, but, for the rest, soar
ing with outspread wings, three feathers of which are indicated, k presents the
two cocks again in the form of pure triskeles in a way similar to that in i ; here,
however, only one circle appears between them. The field / offers a design
analogous to //, except that in the former the fish-tail is turned upward, and
to the cock to the right a prong indicating feet has been added. The form m is
allied to those in /' and k, only that here three circles — two greater ones surround
ing a lesser middle one — are represented. The general style of form of the orna
ment in n is nearly identical with that in j, but with some slight modifications,
while o is intermediate between the designs of c and h.

One would hardly imagine that the leaf-patterns thus far treated were originally
invented by the Hast Siberian tribes. The purely conventional forms in which
they appear, as well as their connection with other ornamental parts, make their
derivation from Sino-Japanese art very probable. Primitive tribes generally pay
little attention to the vegetable world ; and the Gilyak, and especially the Gold,
reveal a surprising degree of ignorance concerning the plants in their immediate

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

5'

neighborhood, not to mention the large trees the wood of which is valuable
to them as timber. As soon as I tried to gather information regarding the names
of plants, I was directed in both tribes to consult the women, who indeed proved
to have a much more detailed and deeper acquaintance with flowers and fruits
than the men, apparently because they are accustomed to collect berries, roots,
and certain herbs and leaves, as food for the household. This inefficient knowl
edge of the flora makes it difficult to realize that these peoples should have made
an independent attempt to allot a space to plants in their ornamentation ; and
since the groundwork on which all its other parts rest is borrowed from their
teachers, one would hardly err in supposing that this element also originated

from the same source. Although I am unable at this time to present exactly
corresponding patterns from the realm of Chinese art, the weaving-patterns
on Plates \\\\, \\iii, and in Fig. 23, point out sufficiently well that leaf and
floral ornaments occur in China and Japan in combination with spirals and
triskeles, no less than on the Amur.

The Japanese weaving-pattern in Fig. i, Plate xvn, is a composition of maple-
leaves and chrysanthemums. The most remarkable feature here is the association
of the conventionalized plants with the mitsutontoye. These tomoye seem to be
devised in their outlines as serrated leaves. They are surrounded by a border
showing forms of single and compound triskeles in exact accord with formations
on our ornaments. A close connection, consequently, may exist between the
triskeles and the tomoye. A selection of the latter, obtained from a native

52 l.AUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

Japanese book, is presented in Figs. 2-9, Plate xvi ; and in Figs. 10 and n of
that plate are shown arabesque rings derived from the same source.

Fig. 2, Plate xvn, represents clusters of leaves as well as of triskeles, both
arranged inside of circles. The foliage reproduced in Fig. i, Plate xvm, has
developed shapes reminding one of the forms of our cock-ornaments. The two
confronting creatures in its centre may be prototypes of our musk-deer. As to
Fig. 2, Plate xvm, as well as the ornamentally related Fig. 23, conventionalized
cocks seem to be interwoven with vegetable ingredients; the latter, particularly,
illustrate stages of development almost identical with those represented on the
Golclian bows on Plate xvi.

Up to this point in our investigations we have treated our subject from an
analytical standpoint, defining the different elements as they occur in ornamenta
tion. We shall now take into consideration its synthetical side, and show how the
various motives are employed on different groups of ethnological objects.

BASKETS. — As to the technical methods employed in the designs on birch-
bark baskets, the following occur: i. The lines are incised in the bark material
with the sharp point of a knife, and these incisions are sometimes partially dyed
(Plate xix) ; 2. Patterns are cut out of thick bark and sewed to the bark of the
basket with a few short, hardly visible stitches ; 3. Only the uppermost layer of
the bark is cut out, so that the ornament stands out in relief from the lower bark
layer ; in this case the raised parts are usually blackened (Plates xx, xxi).

The ornamentation around the basket shown in Fig. i, Plate xix, is made
up of two closely joined constituents. On the left side there is a pair of facing
spirals, symbolical representatives of cocks' bodies, as suggested by the two
down-stretched heads with pointed beaks, surmounted by two round figures. In
the centre of the design on the right-hand side we note two lozenge-shaped figures
placed one above the other, the upper one being connected on either side with a
large triskeles, and forming with it the bipartite form of a conventionalized fish.
These triskeles may stand as an abbreviation for the cock. They terminate below
in a knob, the course of the spiral which might here be expected being interrupted,
and a cock-spur inserted to fill the space. From the under lozenge a pair of facing
spirals of one winding proceed downward. The edge above the main design is
decorated with a continuous spur-line.

Fig. 2, Plate xix, shows a design on the cover, and 2 a that on the side, of a
box. The former is divided into four rectangular fields grouped around a lozenge.
The two fields above and the two below contain two combatant cocks (white),
the tips of whose beaks are connected by an ornamental figure the extremities
of which are formed like cock-heads with pointed beaks. The body has an ellip
soidal form. A thickened knob and a somewhat larger projection apparently
characterize the wing-feather. We see the tail in the shape of a fish-tail, one lobe
being fashioned into a conventionalized bipartite fish, the other having the form
of a bird's head and neck, under which another conventionalized fish is visible.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.. Vol. VII

Plate XVIII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Veil. VII.

Plate XIX.

L-

. : • •'-:-• s/ •'' / ' >.i -;=-— 1_- - — — — -' ~=

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 53

To the latter is attached a bird's beak with an oval under it, forming, with the
adjoining corresponding figure in the field below, a geometrical, almost heart-
shaped design.

The foundation of the ornament in Fig. 2 a, Plate xix, based on simple
symmetry only, is a double spiral ; the body of the inverted cock, Type B, whose
collateral curved branchlet distinctly marks the head, being formed by the inner
spiral, the beak grasping a fish with down-stretched circular head, and tail upturned.
The interior of the outer spiral may be described as a triskeles, or, better, as a
fish-tail the two lobes of which are shaped like cock-beaks. The upper one holds
a circle ; the under one, a trichotomous fish, which it grasps between body and
tail. There is a violation of the rules of symmetry here, in that the negative
space between this fish and the cock's beak forms a bipartite fish on the right side
only.

In Fig. 3, Plate xix, is seen a front view, and in Fig. 3 a a back view, of
a basket. The central figure on Fig. 3 was explained to me by a native as a
human face ; nevertheless I am distrustful of such an interpretation, which
stands quite alone, and seems to be merely an invention of my informant.
The ears and mouth would then be indicated by scrolls. On either side of this
design are grouped several fishes in graceful arrangement. Above is a fish with
broadened head. This head bears an incised conventionalized bipartite fish, which
is above the large fish to the right of an incised fish-tail, and another in the lower
right-hand corner. Under the large fish we observe a coiled fish with a roundish
head.

In the upper part of the ornamentation on Fig. 33 are two cocks rampant,
having affixed to their beaks circles which coalesce with them. In the nega
tive sections we see a cock's beak between this circle and the positive cock,
and another beyond its neck and resting on the outline of its back. On the'
body, extended forward, is incised a conventionalized fish with tapering tail,
which — a deviation from symmetry — cuts the whole body on the left-hand side
only. The tail is formed of two parts, — - a scroll, with a fish-tail cut out inside of
it ; and a long projection below, representing a bird's beak with attached head
and large incised circular eye. From this head a spiral winds off downward,
symbolizing, as it were, the body of this cock. The centre is taken up by a per
forated lozenge-shaped figure, from which extend on both sides two conventional
ized bipartite fishes. The two triskeles in the extreme corners at the base also
represent fishes with scroll-like heads. The manner in which the negative
portions are reflected from the positive images, in designs of this kind, is very
remarkable.

Fig. 4, Plate xix, which represents approximately a quarter of a birch-bark
tray, shows the design incised on its bottom. It is reproduced here not so much
because it offers especially characteristic features in this connection, but rather on
account of its eminent beauty and the careful execution of work of similar technique.
It belongs to the same category as the band and chain patterns already described.

54 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

The eye-like circles serve to mark certain termini and resting-places for the bands.
Some of the negative portions have assumed the shape of fishes.

The ornament which occurs on the side of the basket shown in Fig. i, Plate
\x, is composed of three sections. The upper starts with a brace in the middle,
forming on each side the upturned heads of two cocks with a circle in front of
their beaks, except in the case of the cock on the extreme left, where it is missing.
These facing birds are connected by two curves, producing a spur. The middle
ornamental portion commences under the point of the brace above with two con
ventionalized bipartite fishes, whose long-extended bodies follow the outline of the
upper brace-line, and finally terminate in a compound spiral. Three heavy
dots, one between the heads, another on the body, the third over the coiled tail,
denote1, the course of this ornamental fish. The third and lowest row in this
design starts in the centre with two scrolls, appended to each of which is a fish
tail in triskeles form. Farther along, the outer winding of these spirals runs
parallel to the fish-body above it, to form on the other side the outlines of a
conventionalized bipartite fish. This is completed by a parabolic curve to which
three leaves are attached ; and this figure is so combined with the cock's head
above, that it forms at the same time the body, tail, and wing-feathers of that bird.

In the centre of the decoration on another basket (Fig. 2, Plate xx) we
observe a vertical axis to which are fastened two cocks (ii) of Type B, standing
erect, recognizable as such only by their attitude and feet. As for the rest, head
and body bear the form of fishes. The same type, devised as fishes, is shown
in c and/". The tail of c ends in two lobes, so arranged that its outlines form a
conventionalized bipartite fish. The fishes at /are combined into a purely orna
mental design. In b we see a different but simple style of fish. This figure forms,
with the adjoining scroll, another fish. Between a and b is inserted a spiral,
whose starting-point is adorned with two leaves. It passes over into another spiral
(d.) This second spiral seems to symbolize the body of a cock, whose head lies
in the base below, its beak holding the triskeles-shaped fish c.

The foundation of the ornament on the basket represented in Fig. 3, Plate
xx, is based on the double spiral, whose ingredients /; and g are doubled so as to
form facing spirals. /; is a compound spiral starting in a rounded fish-head, and is
at the same time the symbolical expression for a cock's body, with head visible at
a. The oval c, placed under the throat, is the same object which, in other cases,
the bird seizes in its beak. The two opponent birds are connected by an arc con
sisting of two spurs, and sending down in the middle a cross-formed trefoil (d)
which has its counterpart below, resting on a wave-line. The other spiral (jf) is
so shaped that it includes a fish, the head of which joins the two united triskeles
e and/, the latter of which forms, with the adjoining curve, a conventionalized
fish.

Fig. 4, Plate xx, shows a tall basket for holding spoons and chopsticks. It
is usually suspended from the wall. The upper half has a cylindrical form ; the
lower, a quadrangular. There is a double ornament here. The upper one is cut

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XX.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 55

out of a piece of blackened bark, which is sewed around the basket ; the under
design is incised into the bark. Between the double spirals d and /of the upper
ornament is inserted the picture of a cock : its head (tt) sending forth a long
falcate beak ; the usual oval (/>) under its throat ; its pinions symbolized by the
scroll c, over which a crescent-like spur is placed ; its spurred feet marked by a
triskeles. Enclosed in the: spiral d we see two conventionalized bipartite fishes,
their heads contiguous. Under this spiral is the figure of a spur (c), which suggests
that this spiral is considered as a cock's body. The scroll / symbolizes likewise
a cock's body, as is indicated by the two parallel falcations with adjoining oval, in
g, apparently signifying the bird's head and beak. The circle // above this spiral
is the object usually found in connection with the cock, and above it is in reality
a cock's head cut out of the bark, over which is placed the conventionalized
bipartite fish with head turned downward ; so that here a double cock is united
in the same spiral. The design on the under portion is a triple structure.
The central field is occupied by two cocks, heads pointed downward, an oval
under each of their throats, the bodies indicated by scrolls, each encircling a con
ventionalized bipartite fish, the tails being simply prominent knobs. Above
and under this bird are triskeles-shaped fish-tails, the; outer arm of the upper
one being shaped like a bird's beak, and the inner arm of the under one wound
into a scroll.

Figs. 5, 5 a, Plate xx, and Figs, i, i a, Plate xxi, represent the four sides
of a basket. In Figs. 5 and 5 a the under and side edges are covered with key-
ornaments ; the upper edges with a chess-board decoration, which latter also
appears in Fig. i, Plate xxi. On these three designs the frequent use of the
St. Andrew's cross is particularly noticeable. In Fig. 5 are two conventionalized
cocks in the form of double spirals placed longitudinally, and combined orna
mentally in a medial vertical axis. The heads are in the form of fish-tails, the
beaks being characterized by prolongations of their under arms. The tail is a
long tapering falcation stretched downward tangent to the circle filling the under
half of the trapezoid. A similar type is met with in Fig. i, Plate xxi.

The concavities in the upper part of Fig. 5, Plate xx, are taken up by two
realistic carp, each with a crescent-like fin. It is rather singular that the drawing
on these fishes should vary on the two sides. On the right, fish-head and eye
are distinguished by two concentric circles. The conventionalized fish on its
body shows a distinct head in circular form, and the body under it has the comma
shape of the Japanese magalama. The head of the carp on the left-hand side is
of ellipsoidal shape, its gill being specially indicated by a brace, one arm of which
is prolonged into a semicircle from which depend two successive loops, — one
large, the other small. Another remarkable departure from symmetry may be
observed in Fig. 5 a, where are seen two conventionalized cocks, each holding two
circles in its down-stretched beak. The right one shows the conventionalized
bipartite fish under the tail, while in the left one the bipartition is replaced by the
simple rounded fish.

56 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

The general framework of the ornament presented in Fig. i, Plate xxi, is
almost the same as that shown in Fig. 5, Plate xx, but particularly in the lower
portion, where two facing scrolls are surrounded by two conventionalized fishes
having a curved body in common. The cocks above have two circles in their
mouths, as in Fig. 5 a, Plate xx. The field represented in Fig. ra is treated
merely in a geometrical way, two wave-lines filled in with triskeles extending
along both sides.

On the basket, Fig. 2, Plate xxi, the ornamented portions are cut out of
bark and appliqueed to the box. The ornaments are symmetrically arranged
above and below, as is shown by the inserted auxiliary lines. The rectangle
enclosed by them is the fundamental ingredient of the whole series ; slightly
varied, however, in the corresponding design beyond the vertical medial axis.
Here occurs the interesting case of two cocks united in one figure. At the points
a and b two combatant cocks meet, the right one (a) running out into a scroll to
which the body of the cock b runs parallel, whereas on the other side the body of
the cock corresponding to a only borders on the scroll which belongs to the body
of the cock /; on that side. To speak from a purely ornamental point of view,
there is a lozenge in the centre (c) with two perforations, which sends forth four
scrolls to the sides and a three-scalloped figure above and below.

Fig. 3 of the same plate represents a profusely and richly decorated basket,
colored in red, black, and blue. The upper edge (a), divided into small sections,
contains strongly conventionalized cocks of Type B. Those in the hatched parts
have their necks, heads, and beaks lying at the extreme ends of a wave-line, their
bodies being indicated by two united triskeles. In the other, larger fields the
beaks are recurved ; and between neck and spiral body is a circle, which seems to
hint at a misplacement of the circle usual in front of the beak. In the central
part there are several large fields (It, c, d ) bounded by a wave-line. In field c
there is a pair of facing spirals in the centre, framed by combined semicircles.
Above this figure are two confronting cocks ; under their two circles, a two-lobed
leaf. There is a three-lobed leaf under the two spirals. On either side of these
is a pair of fishes with heads contiguous. In field d prevails a tasteful com
position of spirals, two upright fish-heads being inserted below. The lower edge
(e) is composed of double spirals shaped into triskeles by tangential offshoots.

Fig. 3 a is the cover to the box represented in Fig. 3, the edge being adorned
with the same decorative line as in Fig. 3, e. The central field shows in the
middle the same spiral structure as in Fig. 3, c, around which six scrolls are
grouped.

EMBROIDERY-PATTERNS. — Fig. i, Plate xxn, is an embroidered border
covered with a double row of ornaments. The upper row is based on a combina
tion of two figures, — two conventionalized combatant fishes and two united cock-
heads shaped like the letter X, large ovals being attached to the middle piece
which joins them. In the under row there is a wave-line, the single components
of which are fashioned like bird-heads with pointed beaks. A similar formation

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plnte XXI.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes,

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OK THE AMUR TRIBES. 57

is added to the facing spirals filling the hollows of the wave-line that open down
ward, while in those opening upward appears a doubling of the same figure as
that in the upper row ; that is to say, from the middle vertical axis proceed two
pairs of beaks to both sides, the lower, smaller ones being adorned with ovals.

On the collar in Fig. 2, Plate xxn, occurs a design of similar style, except
that in the under part the two ovals are put side by side between the two out
stretched heads. The border ( Fig. 2 a), made for the same robe as the collar, is
embroidered with a double pattern. In that to the left the wave-line is formed
likewise of cock-heads, between which are confronting conventionalized fishes of
two different forms alternating with each other.

In the following embroideries the single parts constituting cock and fish
ornaments are more or less torn apart, displaced, and partly distorted ; so that it
is hard to define in every case exactly what represents a cock or a fish, or where
the beginning or ending of these creatures is. We see, for instance, in Figs. 3, 4,
43, and 5, Plate xxn, simple and compound triskeles in various styles and com
binations, grouped together with spirals. A comparison with the forms hitherto
described undoubtedly proves them to be derived from components of the cock.
The high degree of distortion gives so much individual freedom of choice as to
interpretation, considering the ambiguity of the significance of the single pieces,
that it would be a hopeless task not only for the Western student of these orna
ments, but also for the cleverest native connoisseur, to draw any conclusion as to
the details of this ornament. At this point a geometrical stage opens up, where
realistic explanation is hopeless, and beyond the pale of which no one can go.
That there is, however, an undeniably close continuity between these various
degrees of evolution is evidently shown by Figs. 6, 6 a, 6b, all patterns belonging
to the same garment. While, as regards Fig. 6, we can but feel like declaring
our non possumns, still we are able to decipher the two cocks with their downward-
bent beaks and oval bodies in Fig. 6 a, and even the two conventionalized fishes
placed together in a figure the geometrical character of which seems to be strongly
emphasized, at first sight, in the upper part of this ornament. In Fig. 6b it might
be possible to distinguish the cock-beaks, through the circles placed in front of
them, on the spiral to the left, as well as the cock filling the concavity of the fol
lowing wave-line ; but in this case it is next to impossible to state with certainty
which part is to be looked upon as head or tail, granting that these two possibili
ties are admissible.

The preceding remarks apply also to Figs. 1-3, Plate xxm. Only the two
combatant cocks over the last pair of spirals in Fig. 2, and the two conventional
ized fishes turned away from each other in Fig. 3, may be recognized as such
with any degree of certainty.

In the following designs a definite group of ornamentations is exhibited.
There is a double principle active in them, — that of displacement and that of
combination.

Fig. 4, Plate xxm, shows a silk collar. The design consists of two ele-

58 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

ments, — one being the figures cut out and buttonhole-stitched to the founda
tion ; the other, the designs embroidered on these pieces. The former consists
of two pairs of cocks in disconnected parts. The heads and beaks of the two are
formed by two triskeles united into one figure ; the bodies consist of two of the
cordate figures with appended fish-tails or scrolls. The embroidery on these
body-pieces is composed of representations of contiguous cocks in two different
forms. In both cases the animal is adapted to the cordate leaf on which it is
worked. As to the one form, the neck is recurved in an arch. A fish is substi
tuted for the body ; a spiral with an adjacent parallel lobe, for the wing-feathers ;
and two huge, almost circular falcations, cleft in the middle, for the tail-feathers.
The other type has as body a spiral, the prolongated outer winding of which
forms the upstretched neck, whereas the plumage is indicated by an annexed
semicircle with an attached offshoot running downward and closing a two-foliated
leaf. These two forms of cocks, so far as their relation to each other is concerned,
represent Type B. The graceful cordate leaf-forms are reproduced in Figs. 43,
5, 5 a, 5 b, but more freedom is displayed in the use of foliage in the figures
inside of them. In Fig. 4 a, even the fishes held in the cock's beak are embroidered
in the same style as leaves. In the first two fields are two cocks curiously placed
one above the other, and connected with each other on the inner side by an arc.

Fig8- 5> 5 a> ar>d 5b, Plate xxm, show the foundations of an embroidery-
pattern, the ornaments being cut out of paper and pasted on the underlying cloth,
to be worked around. In the first leaf on the left-hand side of Fig. 5 the com
bination of two cocks is clearly visible. The one cock holds a realistic spiral-
formed fish in its beak, and has a fish-body whose head is indicated by a spiral
and the tail by a semicircular appendage. The adjoining cock has seized in its
beak two circular objects adapted for embroidering as leaves, and has a strongly
marked tail of three long prongs. In the following leaf the two cocks are united,
and hold between their beaks a large bipartite fish, while the three wing-feathers
of the lower cock have adopted the form of this same fish-body. Also in Fig. 5 a
we meet with a field containing two superposed cocks. In the two central leaf-
forms the upper birds are combatant, the lower ones opponent and inverted.
The upper cock has one leaf above, and another under, its neck, the origin of
which is to be explained by the fact that the upper leaf represents the leaf-like
treatment of the head, the under one that of the well-known circle. For the
body of this cock is substituted a fish, and another realistic fish with recurved tail
is attached to the spiral above it. At the place where the tail turns upward is a
leaf. Two leaves supply the place of a scroll in the body of the lower cock. On
the outer leaf the lower, inverted cock holds in its beak a bipartite fish with the
tail pointing upward. Its spiral-formed body sends off to the side a branchlet in
the form of a bird's head with an oval under it, so that here again a cock seems
to be intended. The superposed figure resembles one of the forms seen in
Fig. 4 of this plate.

Fig. 5 b, Plate xxm, is constructed of three cordate leaves, so arranged

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXIII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXIV.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 59

that the outlines of the three form another heart-shaped figure. Under the
indentation of the upper heart is a circle, three oblong leaves radiating from
it, — one below, and two on the sides. Its two crescent-shaped lobes are occupied
by two confronting fishes coiled into spiral form with tapering body and tail.
The two lower hearts agree, in the representations on them, with the two central
ones in Fig. 5 a.

Fig. i, Plate xxiv, is an embroidered pattern. The upper part is taken
up by two facing cocks rampant, head and body formed after the fish type. As
cocks they are recognizable merely by their two feet. Between these feet are
two bird-beaks combined into a geometrical figure in the centre of the lower,
wider section of the design, bearing a triskeles, one arm of which is likewise beak-
formed, and the other two convoluted into a scroll. The oval into which the
under arm runs out is at the same time the head of a conventionalized bipartite
fish, which, as it would seem, is drawn on a cock's body whose tail is formed
by the triskeles just referred to. The beak is lowered as if about to touch the
circle under the throat. The branches intended to indicate crest and pinions are
above the head. The remarkable features in this representation are the manner
in which the single portions making up the three cocks merge into one another,
and the fact that many parts belong to the three types in common.

Fig. 2, Plate xxiv, is an embroidered pattern in triangular form. In this
pattern we observe on both sides three distinct single cock-beaks, — the uppermost
bent upward, the middle one outward, the undermost still more curved and turned
inward, — all three set with ovals or circles, probably survivals of head and eye.
On the edge below are two separate long-stretched conventionalized tripartite
fishes with spoon-formed tails. The same types, standing upright, and connected
below with each other, appear in the upper part of this ornament. Also the
long branches of the two facing spirals under them are composed of two pairs
of cock-beaks which join at their points. In verification of the fact that this
principle of displacement occurs also in the area of Sino-Japanese art, a Japanese
weaving-pattern is represented in Fig. 3, in which bird-heads having only a long
neck are placed parallel to spirals and alternating with them, as in our ornaments.
Also the long offshoots of the spirals agree with our conventionalized fishes,
as well as the adjoining bipartite figures.

The next three embroideries (Figs. 4, 5, 6, Plate xxiv), each of double
symmetry, are usually united into groups of four, and sewed to sleeping-mats. In
Fig. 4 there is a lozenge in the middle, around which cluster four compound
spirals, between the inner and outer windings of which are spur-lines. At the
upper and lower extremities of this pattern are two smaller triskeles-spirals which
proceed from the larger ones. On either side of the large spirals two triskeles
are placed, the two outer ones striving after the fish-form, the other two after the
cock-form. The square patterns seen in Figs. 5 and 6 are cut out of velvet and
outlined in chain-stitch. If we look at one of the quarters from one of its outer
corners in the direction of its diagonal, we shall see that the fundamental

60 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

element of the ornament in Fig. 5 consists of two superposed confronting cocks.
The spirals which represent the tails are rolled outside in the upper pair, and
inside in the lower ones. On either side of the upper cock is a conventionalized
bipartite fish. Both of these and also the large cocks form ornamental figures
with the adjacent corresponding cocks or fishes of the neighboring rectangles.
Fig. 6 illustrates a structure related to that of the preceding one. Four
heart-shaped figures (/>) are clustered in the centre in a square. Above their
points, in the direction of the diagonal of the square, in each of the four
quarters, is a cross, its two side-arms terminating in spirals (c), and its rounded
extremity (a) being adorned with a pair of fishtail-formed triskeles.

•Fig. i, Plate xxv, represents an embroidered quadrangular piece placed
on its point, used on the cape of a winter hood. The ornament represents a
spiral structure that decreases in size as it proceeds upward. In the centre (black)
are two cocks rampant developed from the fish-form ; to the right and left of
these, two conventionalized birds, their necks and heads stretched upward. The
confusion of the single ornamental parts here has been carried to such an extent
that the circular object has been taken away from the beak and placed in front of
the two falcations of the tail, which thus convey the impression that they are
beaks. In corroboration of the idea of the wing-feathers, which are expressed
by the upper of the two tail-flukes, appears by the side of it a parallel crescent.
This distortion proves sufficiently well that the conception of ihe original
meaning of the ornament has diminished in clearness. Almost all elements of
this decoration, aside from the pure spirals, are either birds' necks with beaks, or
spurs, or small ovals. The original types are on the verge of being dissolved
into single disconnected and sometimes misunderstood parts : the principle of
symmetrical and tasteful arrangement, however, is still observed.

An embroidered pattern for a pair of wristers is shown in Fig. 2 of this plate.
The edges are decorated with single spur-lines above and below. The same
style of line is also used to surround other figures. In the uppermost section
of the ornamentation we find two facing combatant fishes, ending below in
spirals, their heads surrounded by a figure formed of two spur-lines. Below
them is a four-leaved rosette. Between two pairs of facing spirals are observed
two conventionalized bipartite fishes in the act of swimming; farther below, two
cocks rampant whose heads are connected by a semicircle. Over the spirals
forming the tails of these birds are bipartite fishes.

We will now turn to some fantastic compositions occurring on embroidered
material. On the triangular pattern of raised embroidery (Fig. 3, Plate xxv)
are, in the upper part, two combatant musk-deer with two legs and scrolled tails.
To the right and left of the compound facing spirals under them we see two long
outstretched bird-heads, the upper line of which is formed by a brace. The
outlines constituting the head continue downward into two parallel spirals. The
ornament on the embroidered band (Fig. 4) is made up of two semicircles. In
the two ends of each are visible two cock-heads side by side, with two circles

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXV

Decorative Art, oi' the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 61

in front of them forming together the figure 8. Their bodies are composed
of a spiral with a semicircle resting on it. The two symmetrical figures are
combined below by a spur, which they have in common.

On the collar (Fig. 5, Plate xxv) belonging to the same series of patterns,
we observe, in the centre, two confronting upright fish-cocks. On either side of
them are two others, whose bodies are produced by placing two fishes together in
the form of a spiral. In the lower field the cock-beaks hold, instead of the usual
fish, the figure of a plant-form, — a kind of trefoil.

The riband seen in Fig. 6, Plate xxv, belongs to the same garment as the
collar above mentioned. Here are facing spirals. From the sides of those rolled
upward project cock-heads with semicircles under the throats, resting on the outer
windings of the spirals ; from those rolled downward issue inverted cock-heads
with ovals placed on the backs of their necks.

The ornaments on the following patterns (Figs. 7-10, Plate xxv,) are treated
in arboreal style. The figures represented are used to trim shirt-pockets.
Fig. 7 shows two cock-beaks turned downward, and encompassed on the sides
by spur-lines, both holding a three-lobed rosette. At the lower extremities of
the under arcs are two leaves, consisting of three circles each ; and near the same
ends of the arcs are two fishes moulded in the style of leaves. In Fig. 8 four dif
ferent forms of conventionalized fishes lie close together (a, b, c, d ), three of them
(6, c, d} clustered around a circle. Farther below is a conventionalized tripartite
fish (e} ; f is also an imitation of the fish-body, but is here developed into a
palmetto-like floral pattern. A figure of similar character occurs in the lower part
of Fig. 9. The latter was evidently intended for the trunk of a tree sending
off spiral-formed boughs, the edges of which are adorned with three single leaves.
Fig. 10 illustrates a plant-like design of allied style in the under part of the orna
ment, the lateral branches being indicated by long, narrow fish-forms (large ribbed
leaves), and the centre filled with a small two-lobed leaf, below which issues
another large one. In the upper part we have two conventionalized fishes
attached to a pair of facing spirals. In the corners beyond the fishes are two
triskeles-shaped cocks characterized as such by the conventional form of the fish
in their respective beaks.

Fig. 11, Plate xxv, is added here because it shows a pattern pertaining to
the same robe as the four preceding ones. There is a palmetto-like figure in the
centre, from which branch off on both sides arabesques built up of triskeles.

Figs, i and la, Plate xxvi, show a woman's embroidered mitten made of
reindeer-skin covered with cloth. The former represents the back, and the latter
the palm. The spaces between the single lines are filled up with zigzag stitches.
On the back of the mitten is a tree-like formation, in which two two-lobed leaves
are attached to opposite sides of a stem, the two on the left being embroidered in
ereen satin-stitch, those; on the ri^ht in lilac. This tree is crowned with a heart-

o o

shaped figure enclosing a bifoliate red-colored leaf. The five leaves contained in
the ellipse below are all light green. Tendrils adorned with triskeles grow round

62 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

this tree. On Fig. la the embroidery is placed on the thumb of the mitten.
The motive is here the same, — composed of a triskeles form, an S-shaped figure,
the under part of which is cordate in shape and encloses two leaves in red.

The skin glove pictured in Fig. 2 of the same plate is covered with velvet
bearing a chain-stitch embroidery in silk. The pattern is an artistic structure of
fanciful combinations. On the top are two heraldic combatant cocks, whose
heads are formed by an oval («), from which the plumage goes off into three
depending branches. On the marginal branches (6) is drawn, with the aid of
a spur-line, a bipartite fish ; and a similar figure occurs also in c and d in connec
tion with spirals. In e two leaves are enclosed again in a heart-form, f is the head
of a cock placed sideways, and g its tail. In the pointed end of //- are united two
cock-heads holding in common the leaf ?', while on the outside appears the
exquisitely curved bird-neck j bearing the leaf k. In the interior of the under
most spiral is the body of a conventionalized bipartite fish embroidered as a leaf
(/ ), the head of this fish being held by the beak m. This figure is surrounded by
a line.

Fig- 3> Plate xxvi, represents an elk-skin garment, obtained from the
Tungus on the Ussuri. A series of figures is spread over the surface of the
back, the decorations being painted in blue, red, and yellow. Only the part over
the hips is cut out of fish-skin and appliqueed to the garment. In a we see two
opposite single cocks, built up essentially from purely geometrical ingredients.
The head consists of two superposed semicircles, the lower of which runs out into
a recurved arc. From that issues a branch in the opposite direction, to form with
the scroll a triskeles, expressing the fish held in the cock's beak. The body
is formed of three semicircles which unite at their ends, and enclose two crescent-
like fishes. The feet are in the shape of an anchor-formed combination of two
triskeles ; the outer arm of the outer triskeles in both cocks being shortened into
a knob, the inner forming a semicircular claw. The cock on the right side has
below it an additional figure that repeats a schematic outline of the foot. The
tail is a very intricate formation, — below a spiral, which appears as a continu
ation of the under outline of the body. The upper outline is continued into a
strongly conventionalized cock with a circle on its head and a fish-tail beyond.
Between the tails of the principal cocks and those appended appear the R-formed
figures enclosing the image of a bipartite fish. The cocks b and c stand side
ways, and also consist of geometrical elements. The manner in which they are
evolved is shown by a comparison of these figures with d. At the sides of d
we observe anchor-formed appendages. These are carried out in b and c in such
a way that one arm of the anchor forms the head and neck, the other the tail, of
the cock. Whether the anchor-formed type d has been developed from b and c,
or, better, whether d is a prius which served as a foundation for building up b and
c, must still be regarded as an unsolved problem. In the same figures two addi
tional groups have been produced, the one in the middle in combatant attitude
with spiral body, the other at the top with recurved beaks. This latter, inverted

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII

Plate XXVI.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 63

form appears in normal position in the under portion of e, only that here a slight
wave occurs in the comparatively long neck. The point of this figure (e} is crowned
by a trefoil, under which, in the figure on the right-hand side, is a cock type closely
allied to the under one, except that here the beaks are more extended in a down
ward direction without tapering. On the left-hand side is a case of asymmetry,
since there, instead of thick lines like those in the figure on the right, occur sim
ple lines of the same form, but inverted. There are five figures exactly alike
(/). These form, above and below, a narrow tapering structure. In this
picture the negative parts show the type of the confronting tripartite cocks in
the fish style, which is so hard to distinguish from the conventionalized fishes
themselves.

Fig. 4, Plate xxvi, represents a painting on the upper part of a pair of
leggings made of elk-skin. The ornamental organization is executed here by two
opposite double spirals near the upper edge, separated from each other by a lon
gitudinal wedge, the fish-tail end of which joins a pair of facing spirals. Over the
left double spiral is a long-stretched cock (a) in green, with a tail like that of a
pheasant. The lozenge shape of the body and the engrailed line forming its edge
are most remarkable. Strange and unique in its kind is the fact that this horizon
tally placed cock (a) occurs in combatant attitude with the vertically placed cock
(<$), whose body likewise is shaped like a lozenge ; the latter, however, does not run
out into a tail, but into another inverted cock-head turned to the left, which, in its
turn, is represented in combatant position with an inverted cock (e), whose body,
also lozenge-shaped, runs off above into a fish-tail. We are again surprised in this
design to note, on the corresponding side, an arrangement of types bearing the
same relation to each other as a to b, but the two cocks d and e are placed on a
horizontal plane. The cock d has likewise the tail of a pheasant. The line
forming the back, however, is an uninterrupted curve, as the proper form of the
cock's body is in general retained here in a much higher degree than in a and b.
d a.n<\ c have an engrailed line consisting of three arcs, marked more strongly in
e than in d. Over d and e are two combatant cocks of more distinct forms than the
two birds over a. The fish-like cock is represented in the designs f and ;>.
Each of these holds two fishes in its beak, — a conventionalized one (//, i), and
a rather realistic one (j, k) with the eyes marked. Worthy of note is the
asymmetry between the two space-filling conventionalized fishes / and ;;/ on the
one side, and the fishes u and o on the other. It is hardly necessary to call
special attention to the cock-heads united in the figure p, nor to those on the
adjoining leaf-forms below.

The embroidery in Fig. 5, Plate xxvi, is worked on the lower part of the
back of a garment. The same design is found on both sides. In the middle is
the trunk of a tree with an ornamental top, and sending off three main boughs to
both sides. Two musk-deer with heads turned so that they face each other are
embroidered at the place where the lowest pair of boughs branch off. The tips
of these boughs are adorned with trifoliates ; on their sides are two roes which

64 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

seem to be climbing up. On the second boughs blossom two quinquefoliate
flowers, the petals of which are grouped in the form of hooks around a circle.
Between the two flowers are two large tortoises ; over these, cocks placed sideways,
with a two-lobed leaf behind them. To the right and left of the large tree-trunk
are two smaller trees decorated at their tops with a trefoil surrounded by triskeles-
formed branches. From the trunks of these trees proceed to both sides cocks
that appear, as it were, to be growing out from the tree. The ground on which
the trees stand is characterized by a line sending off downwards at both ends four
offshoots corresponding to the cocks' plumage. At a short distance from the tops
of the small trees are two elks with antlers. In the escutcheon-like piece in the
upper right-hand corner of the embroidery are to be seen two conventional forms
of musk-deer with faces turned away from each other.

Fig. 6, Plate xxvi, represents an embroidered shirt. In the centre of the
longitudinal border (a) are two combatant fish-cocks with a bifid crest on their
heads and a spur-line combining these. In the other concavities are pairs of
strongly conventionalized opposite musk-deer, their necks recurved so that they
face each other, with erect ears, spiral bodies, and two long curved legs. This
type is nearest to that described in the preceding figure. The ornament on the
two pockets (6) is composed of two portions. The upper part contains two
scrolls, oval in shape, the outer winding of which continues in the form of a
conventionalized bipartite fish, the ends of which are connected by a spur-line.
Lying within the scrolls are two inverted cocks, whose type is derived from that
of the fish just mentioned, except that here a tripartition is employed. Both
from this fact and from the crest marked on the head, the gallinaceous character
of this theme is indicated. The under part is taken up by a group of two
parallel tendrils, the lower of which encloses a quaclrifoil ; and the upper, four
spirals grouped around a lozenge-like rosette. In the two under lateral tendrils,
which issue from a branch, the conventionalized bipartite fish is used to connect
the two. The field c shows an interesting variety of the conventional dragon.
There are two creatures represented in confronting attitude. The heads are two
simple scrolls. The bodies are indicated by spirals wound three times. In the
outer windings a portion is marked off on which the scales are characterized by
three short teeth. The outer spirals, forming double spirals with the dragon
bodies, are set with three claws to indicate the feet. Over them the tail of the
dragon is symbolized by three cock-feathers. The two serpentine lines lying
between the tails and the bodies are explained as snakes, a further ornamental
expedient to characterize the animal nature of this creature.

Fig. i, Plate xxvn, represents an embroidered shirt of the Gold. From
the collar, down both sides of the front opening, is a border (a) composed of
double spirals consisting of two parallel lines. These double spirals are so inter
locked that the outer winding of the scroll at one end merges into the inner line
of that at the other end, and vice versa, the outer line of both scrolls being
adorned with a double triskeles. In the fields b and c ornamental trees are

Memoirs Am. Mus. Not. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXVII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 65

designed. Two opposite hearts divide the latter field. In the upper heart are
four semicircles used as supports for leaves ; the under heart shows a tree-trunk,
the top of which is adorned with an oval leaf ; while semicircles, crescents, and
ovals are represented as leaf-bearing boughs. The lateral fields are occupied y
fish-cocks with one head at the end of the fish-tail and two heads superposed
over the fish-head. In b two branches are carried out as bird-beaks, each holding
two leaves. There is a similar motive on the upper, smaller pockets, only there
a cruciform leaf-cluster appears between the two deflected beaks.

On the border extending from the collar to the bottom of the woman's
embroidered silk dress seen in Fig. 2, Plate xxvn, the artist has pictured
single groups of facing spirals connected with conventionalized fishes, displaying
the enormous variations of which these simple forms are capable. Among the
twelve consecutive groups a-l, there are only three corresponding pairs ; viz.,
e and g, i and /(•, j and /.

On the garment in Fig. 3, Plate xxvn, we see combinations of two
fish-spirals. One of them contains the same motive as i in Fig. 2 ; that is,
spirals with two conventionalized bipartite fishes united into one figure and
placed around them. The other motive is a recurved spiral worked out as a
fish-body, with tail in the form of a triskeles. On the bottom edge, fish-bodies
are gracefully twined close around the spirals, that terminate alternately, below,
in cock's heads.

Fig. 4, Plate xxvn, shows a dress embroidered with white chain-stitching on
a black background. The ornaments on the two longitudinal borders might be
designated as continuous cock-spirals, for, in spite of their scroll character, the
original cock motive is still rather conspicuous. Exactly in the middle we
observe what are obviously cocks of Type B, their backs turned toward each
other. The beaks are strongly marked. The ovals are under the throats, and
the two bodies are connected above by an arc, inside of which two conventional
ized fishes are designed. At the beginning no less than at the end of this
pattern the beak with the roundish object in front of it is distinctly visible in the
fishtail-shaped triskeles; also in the other triskeles next to the central figure the
head stands out distinct from the beak of the bird, and this motive occurs
also on the collar. On the upper part of the pockets sewed to both sides we
note an odd figure not as yet met with. Within two crescents we find two
conventionalized fishes, and over their heads the head, eye, and beak of a cock ;
while over each fish-tail rises the head of a musk-deer, its two ears erect. Two
combatant cocks and two deer, their heads turned so that they are looking at
each other, are accordingly united in this one figure.

In Fig. i, Plate xxvm, is represented a woman's silk-embroidered coat.
On it are seen two perching cocks (a) standing opposite each other, and holding
fishes in their mouths. Under each of these single cocks is a pair of combatant
cocks (ti) showing a much more advanced stage of conventionalization. In the
cocks placed sideways (c) the pinions as well as the tail-feathers are expressed

66 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

by conventionalized cocks, d is the terminating figure of a wave-line, — a spiral,
with a fish-body attached below, and two cock-feathers above. The same
motive is employed in the representation of the cock e. f shows the type of two
inverted combatant cocks. The body is formed here by a fish, which continues
into another fish placed around the spiral of the wing. The tail is indicated
by three feathers, and the feet by a scroll with lateral offshoot, g corresponds
almost to the type B, only that here the head of the fish in the bird's body
is placed above, and its body below. Besides, the spaces between the cocks'
bodies and the separating vertical axis form again conventionalized fishes. In
/i, i, and j are to be seen spirals adorned with cocks' wing and tail feathers.
A remarkable design is k, where the two cock-feathers in the interior of the
oval figures represent the missing spiral lines. Finally, in / leaf-ornaments have
also been employed, partly in the form of two contiguous circles, partly in that
of ellipses enclosing a heart-shaped figure.

Si'i'X'iMEXs MADE OF FISH-SKIN. — We have several times met with chess-board
patterns (see Fig. i, Plate x ; Figs. 5, 5 a, Plate xx ; Fig. i, Plate xxi), notwith
standing the fact that the game of chess is not known to any of the tribes of the
Amur region. Two other examples follow here.

Fig. 2, Plate xxvin, shows the design on a tobacco-pouch made of
roe-skin, the interior of which is covered with fish-skin. Here are quadrangular
fields covered with chess-board patterns composed of pieces of white and black
fish-skin, which alternate with other fields of plain roe-skin. The ornament cut
out of fish-skin on the inner side of the lappet is subdivided into three parts.
The upper part contains a pair of facing spirals, around which cling two
conventionalized bipartite fishes, the eyes marked by small circles. Between
their bodies is a trefoil. In each of the two lower symmetrical fields are two
superposed spiral cocks, each of the under ones holding a trefoil in its beak.

Fig. 3 of this plate represents an apron which is a kind of fish-skin patchwork.
There are three rows of squares containing alternately chess-board patterns
and other decorations. In the former, light and dark strips are interlaced as
in braid-work, the number of checks varying from seven to nine. The spaces
between the squares and the separate rows are filled up with long stripes,
alternately white and black, arranged in most cases diagonally. There are two
different ornamental figures in the other squares. In the one are four pairs
of facing spirals, grouped like a rosette around a figure consisting of two
trefoils. This ornament is cut out of fish-skin and sewed on a piece of dark-red
cloth ; the other figure is sewed on black cloth. In this latter, four conventional
ized cocks are grouped around a lozenge. The figures across the lower edge
are likewise cut out of fish-skin, sewed on, and colored alternately light brown
and bluish green. The fish-skin threads used here are red, green, blue, lilac,
and violet.

-^Fig. 4, Plate xxvm, is a Goldian hunter's cap made of roe-skin, lined
with blue Chinese cotton. The crown is topped with two tassels and a sable-tail.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nnt. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXVIII.

T~ 3

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXIX.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 67

The edtre is covered with a strip of black and one of red cloth, between which are

O

narrow stripes of yellow. These, as well as the ear-lappets, are trimmed with
applique ornaments cut out of fish-skin. The elements of the ornament running
around this cap are distorted cocks, arranged in pairs around trefoils in the lower
row, and in double pairs attached to the upper and lower points of a quaclrifo-
liate lozenge in the upper row. This case, together with the two preceding ones,
proves that fish-skin is sometimes used merely as decorative material.

On Plates xxix and xxx we have eight representations of decorated
fish-skin garments, which are worn exclusively by women. The ornaments are
cut out of pieces of fish-skin, and are generally colored blue ; they are then
sewed with fish-skin thread to a piece of fish-skin of a shape adapted to the size
and form of the ornament. A great number of such single patterns are then
symmetrically put together on the garment itself. A different method is
employed only on the garment in Fig. i, Plate xxix. Here we have three
layers of fish-skin, the undermost representing the skin of the garment proper ;
the uppermost showing the ornaments in their cut-out forms. Between these
two layers is inserted a middle layer, which serves as a background to the
ornament proper, throwing out distinctly the negative parts as well as the outline
of the ornament. It extends a little beyond the edges of the uppermost layer,
which is sewed to this one. The middle layer is dyed partly light red, partly
blue, so that the edges of the negative parts of the ornaments appear in these
colors, setting off the monotonous color of the underlying plain fish-skin. There
are three neat naturalistic perching cocks (a) with trisulcate tails and open beaks.
Very curious are the downward-stretched cock-heads in b, alternating in the
intervening figures with triskeles corresponding to them. If the eye were
marked in the latter, they could hardly be distinguished from these realistic
heads. The constituents of the long-extended figures marked c may be ana
lyzed in a similar way. There is an embroidery on the collar of this garment
showing various two-lobed leaves and a trefoil surrounded by the outlines of
a heart.

Nearly all forms of cock and fish ornaments are represented on the following
specimens. We observe the cock with wings outstretched, in a of Fig. 2, Plate
xxix, probably perched on an ornamentally devised tree, and crowing, for its
beak is open. Its body is shaped like a fish, the head of which, formed by a
circle, lies in the back part ; and another fish, enclosing a large dot, is marked
off in this same body. The cock placed sideways (<£) is similarly formed. It is
likewise crowing ; but tail-feathers and wing-feathers are represented by only
three curved lines, whereas the former (a) shows four parallel curves for the tail,
and even six for the wing. Inside of the fish-formed body b the head of the fish
is marked by a scroll and a circle similar to that in a above it. The cock on the
border to the left side (f) has undergone some further alterations, because the
artist was obliged to adapt its shape to the double circular lines which enclose it.
It shows a wattle under its throat, and has a fish-body. Its pinion is formed by a

68 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

composition of two adjoining beaks, at the end of which is a two-lobed leaf. The
form of the tail deviates from all other hitherto known forms, and is merely the
product of a purely ornamental assimilation to the given space. The pattern
d deals in a striking way with the subject of the two combatant cocks. The
heads are distorted, and have shrunk into scrolls, including the circles attached to
them. The wing-feathers placed under the heads are symbolized by spirals, each
with a lateral process ; i. e., the spiral-triskeles ; but the symbolic expression of
the tails claims an undue amount of space, quite out of proportion to that occu
pied by the parts just described. Four exaggeratedly long tail-feathers are indi
cated on either side, the space between them being filled with a pair of united
triskeles, and under them a hook-formed figure. In the interior of the figure
suggestive of an ornamental tree, below the cock a, we observe two realistic fishes
(e), whose eyes and gills are characterized in the usual way ; on their bodies
is a conventionalized bipartite fish, the tail extending out into a compound
triskeles, one of the arms of which is continued into a scroll. The figure which
separates these fishes contains in its negative parts two upright bipartite fishes,
which occur also on the sides of the design f in the familiar R-form. In the
middle of_/"are two naturalistic fishes rampant, without any spirals on their bodies,
but marked with two parallel ventral fins. The R-formed fishes are also to
be found under the two facing triskeles marked^; In // two triskeles are con
ceived of as two combatant cocks, chiefly characterized by the two combined
circles, one of them being held by each. The large figures marked i are com
pound, rather complicated, ornamental arrangements, which are built up of
spirals, trigrams, leaves, and conventionalized fishes, and elements of the cock-
ornaments.

The garment represented in Fig. 3, Plate xxix, in general resembles very
much that in the preceding figure. There is a perching cock (a) with open beak
and trichotomous wing and tail feathers. At the end of the fish-shaped body is
a spiral, and on the under outline a small solid circle. The enclosed cock (b) with
fish-body and oddly ornamental tail tallies exactly with the bird in c, Fig. 2.
There are two inverted fish-cocks in c, a pair of fish-spirals in d. A very graceful
group of four fishes is placed in the form of a spiral around a quadrifoil (e).
Inside of f lie two fishes united in a horizontal position over a pair of facing
spirals, the upper outline of the fishes forming a brace. In g\ fishes of the same
type are situated under the spirals ; further, in the upper part are two opposite
fishes rampant. Here as well as in h occur two-lobed leaves. There are two con
ventionalized lateral cocks in the design h. i should be compared with d in the
preceding figure. The tail and wing feathers are ornamentally fashioned by the
aid of spirals, triskeles, and leaves.

Whereas the ornamentation of the garments in Figs. 2 and 3, Plate xxix,
is based on two horizontal rows, that of Fig. 4 of the same plate is composed of
three rows. The cock a holds a distinctly marked fish in its beak ; furthermore,
a conventionalized fish is designed on its body, and another added to one division

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 69

of its comb. To the spiral forming the pinion is attached a cock's beak turned
to the right, with a circle below it. In the second row is the representation of
another erect realistic cock (fr) with bent beak and bipartite tail. In the two
figures c we note a conventionalized tree, on the two side-branches of which two
cocks are perching. Of very peculiar shape are the cock-fishes d. Their heads
and bodies have fish shapes ; they terminate, however, in a three-lobetl cock-tail.
Their heads are turned away from each other. There are spiral fishes to be met
with in c, f, and^. k is a musk-deer with fish-body ; its hind-leg is a cock's beak
with the oval. In / are represented two cocks with their heads turned downward,
which bear, strange to say, triskeles-formed fishes on their heads, and have, be
sides, fish-shaped bodies. The fish-heads in which they end have two small
erect prongs of the same form as the ears of the musk-deer. In /• and / the
double wave-lines are made use of as supports for cock-heads, of naturalistic rep
resentation in /(', of conventional form in /. in and n show the use of the facing
spirals, which are joined in n to fish-bodies above, and on the sides to conventional
ized cocks. In o the negative portions of the inner facing spirals are two con
ventionalized bipartite fishes ; on either side of them, and at the bottom of this
figure, are two strongly conventionalized cocks holding circles in their beaks.

As regards the ornamentation on the garment in Fig. i, Plate xxx, the
rather naturalistic cock a is represented with four-pronged pinions and tail-feathers.
A conventionalized bipartite fish is designed on its body. Exactly the same
forms are shown in cock b, placed sideways, c, d, and e illustrate the combatant
cocks fashioned as on an escutcheon. They are most elaborate in c. Here the
head of the cock is designated by a heavy dot surmounted by a semicircle,
the beak being characterized by a smaller semicircle. Attached over its head is
a triskeles-shaped fish. The bodies of the two cocks are united into a heart-
shaped figure, to which are joined on either side the strongly marked, long wing-
feathers. The tail added under the cordate figure is treated as an independent
ornamental element, in which, properly speaking, a conventionalized cock with
fish-shaped body, wing and tail feathers, is to be recognized, d represents heads
and bodies of cocks in the form of erect fishes. Their gallinaceous character,
however, is sufficiently preserved by the four-lobed tail and the spur below it,
which latter they have in common. In c the heads have vanished ; the heart-
formed body, as in c, a spiral wing-feather, and a double-toothed tail-feather, are
visible. In f are two inverted conventionalized fishes placed around facing
spirals, just as \\\ g : in the latter case, however, the fish-heads are set with cock-
beaks which run parallel to the winding of the spiral. Of the different repre
sentations of the fish, the following are to be found here, h contains two
confronting erect fishes of naturalistic forms, with eyes, gills, a design on their
backs, fins, and spiral-formed tails. In i we see two fishes projecting from the
sides in an almost straight horizontal direction, whose heads are set with two off
shoots formed like cock-feathers. In j the fishes arise likewise from the sides,
but the heads are turned upward, and the bodies are coiled and have four fins.

70 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

Another fish proceeding from a wave-line is k. Here the semicircular hook on
the head, continuing the line of the gill, is placed toward the outside. The two
outlines making up the body do not unite to form the tail, but run parallel to
each other. Another group of fishes is connected with spirals, as, for instance,
in /. They are used as continuations of two facing spirals, together with which
they are enclosed in a figure. In m seems to occur a fish-cock, as the two hook-
like offshoots from the head of the fish appear to show ; perhaps the same is the
case in n. In o the fish joining the spiral is not completely drawn, as its outer
edge line remains parallel to the winding of the spiral. The most conventional
ized design of all is/, the characteristics of which afford insufficient ground for
explaining it positively as fish or cock.

The cock a in Fig. 2, Plate xxx, is composed in a striking way. It holds
a triskeles-formed fish in its beak ; its body is shaped like a fish. Its pinion is
represented as a cock-beak with a circle under the throat. The tail consists of two
sections. The upper circular curve is combined with two conventionalized fishes
(not visible in the illustration) ; the lower part is a cock-beak holding a fish, both
so connected that they enclose a small circle. In the same way is built up the cock
b, which is placed sideways. In c a conventionalized cock joins a spiral, d and
e are designs constructed from single ingredients of the cock and fish ornaments,
/shows in the interior two confronting bipartite fishes in an upright position and
two bipartite fishes proceeding from the scrolls on the outside. In g two con
ventionalized combatant cocks unite in an ornamental device in the pointed upper
structure. The figure h below is identical with c. In i we observe four coiled
fishes grouped around a central lozenge. Their bodies are scaled like that of the
dragon. Just as here, so in/ we meet with two scaled, very realistically formed
fishes in the concavities of the wave-line. At its terminus sits a dragon (/) with
open jaws and two three-clawed feet. Its tail is a fish. In form it is like two
combined triskeles.

The back of the garment in Fig. 3, Plate xxx, is covered with a series of
more compact figures. The single ingredients of the same are generally to be
traced back to cock-ornaments. In a the heads of the two cocks side by side are
turned away from each other, and a circular object is held in each of their beaks ;
while in b the beaks are turned toward each other, and between them are two
objects, just as in c, where the tails are better characterized, d is composed of
two pairs of superposed cocks, the lower of which are surrounded by border
lines. In the figures e, f, and g the principle of the four spirals grouped around
a lozenge comes into play. In /two lateral cocks are added to the under spirals ;
and underneath, two opponent cocks with conventionalized fishes in their beaks.
Fig. // is identical with d. An odder variation of the fish-cock is visible in i.
There is here a spirally wound fish with a bipartite crest. It terminates in a
spiral tail, and has two cock feet placed as if in the act of walking ; j is a distorted
cock in which the principle of misplacement is conspicuous.

The whole design of Fig. 4, Plate xxx, is built up of vertical and horizontal

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.. Vol. VII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

7'

rows. On the top is perched a crowing cock (a), with open beak and a fish on
its body. Next to this in form come the cock placed sideways (<$) and one flying
(c}; the latter surrounded by a line, its tail quadrilobate and its wing-feather
trisulcate, whereas the reverse is the case in a. Of fishes, we see four realistic
ones coiled around four spirals (//) ; two appearing as continuations of spirals,
and each enclosed in an oval (e) ; the cock-fishes with heads downward (y) ; and
the fishes adjoining the spiral in^, consisting of one piece only. As regards the
design seen in //, it should be compared with c (Fig. i) and h (Fig. 3) of this
plate, and especially with / in Fig. 3, Plate xxix.

AINU ORNAMENTATION. — We will now cast a brief glance at the ornaments
of the Ainu. This tribe still holds a rather exceptional position, due, on the one
hand, to their isolation in the southern
part of the Island of Saghalin, and, on the
other hand, to their indolent, passive
character. Notwithstanding their resem
blance to the neighboring Gilyak, many
an invention and many an idea is met
with which is wholly their own, and is
not found in any other tribe. Generally
speaking, the subject of ornamentation
among these people is a very intricate
one, since three blended elements must be
distinguished, — a special overwhelming
Japanese influence ; loans from the neigh
boring Amur tribes ; and perhaps certain
dregs of their artistic ideas, which are to
be considered as almost wholly their own
property. There is no doubt that a great
many figures and patterns might receive
proper explanation by comparing them
with the art of the Gilyak and the Gold.

Fig. 24 represents the coat of an
Ainu chief from the east coast of Saghalin.
It is of home make, and woven from
nettle-fibres. The edges are adorned with
dark blue, yellow, medium blue, and dark
blue stripes of Japanese cotton, arranged
somewhat like a key pattern. The dark blue stripes are broad along the inner
side or slit of the garment, and narrow along the outer edge of the border. The
broad ones are covered with a design in embroidery, as are also the narrow ones
in the under part of the coat. The stitch used here is the so-called " couching-
stitch." The narrow band in the lower part shows what is called in our Goldian

72 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

ornaments a continuous spur-line. This motive, only double, is employed likewise
on the other borders, and so intertwined that a long-extended oval figure is
produced. Through the middle of this figure is a red line forming a lozenge in
the centre. The ornamentation across the bottom goes all the way around.
This form of decoration is the typical style for all Ainu clothing. On the upper
part of the back is a crest after Japanese fashion, showing a quadrifoil the leaves
of which are cut out of bright red cloth, and edged with purple.

Fig. i, Plate xxxi, shows a decorated attachment for a belt. Two such
pieces are generally worn together, suspended from the side. A trapezoidal
piece of whalebone is covered with dark red cloth, at both sides with a section of
black cloth, and the upper and lower edges are set with blue glass beads fastened
in clusters of three. The two ornaments sewed on with chain-stitching are
applied in the same manner to both sides of the object. Both forms we have met
with in the ornamentation of the Amur tribes. The same is applicable also to
the decoration on Fig. 2, a bone implement for untying knots, which is adorned
with a band-ornament showing, above and below, two knots especially marked by
round incised hollows. Also here, as in the related objects of the Gilyak pre
viously described, we see a connection between the ornament and the purpose of
the object on which it occurs.

In Fig. 3 of the same plate is shown a knife-case inlaid with bone, obtained
by Professor Bickmore from the Island of Yezo. On the middle longitudinal
bone there are cross-hatched triangles. The other decorations are simple band-
ornaments, the negative portions of which are indicated either by lozenges or
by cross-hachures.

Fig. 4, Plate xxxi, represents a knife-case, from which the handle of the
knife projects. It is likewise from Yezo, and was declared to be an old piece.
The plant-ornament on the handle, the end of which is cut off slanting like a
Gilyak knife, is incised, likewise the flower on the upper part of the case ; but the
group of leaves on the hatched part, like the leaves in the form of superposed
semicircles, stand out in relief. These floral ornaments manifest, in both style
and technique, an obvious Japanese influence.

Figs. 5-20, Plate xxxi, represent small wooden sticks (ikuni on Saghalin,
ikubaskui on Yezo) used in ceremonial drinking-bouts to lift the mustache and
beard to prevent them from getting wet. The pieces represented in Figs. 5-9
were obtained by me on Saghalin. They are old family heirlooms, given away
by their possessors only with reluctance. The following are explanations as to
the carvings on them. The design on Fig. 5 is said to represent a human face
wearing a pair of spectacles. Each of the two glasses is indicated by two con
centric circles having a round hole in the middle. The connecting-piece between
them is likewise cut through, forming a slit. The half-perforated oval projecting
above the upper glass of the spectacles is supposed to be an eye, while below the
spectacles two pairs of nostrils are represented in the form of pointed arches.
The lowest larger hole, the point of which turns upward, indicates the outline of

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXXI.

I

}

10 Jl

9

I

/

Ducorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 73

the nose. On the specimen, Fig. 6, were three incised open-carved seals, one
of which is unfortunately broken off : that in the middle is floating on the surface
of the sea, which is symbolized by diagonally cross-hatched lines ; the other two
animals are resting on shore, the beach being shown by parallel oblique lines on
either side, enclosed in segments. Fig. 7 was interpreted as the representation
of a landscape. All hatched parts signify mountains ; the hatchings themselves,
grass and wood ; and the serpentine lines, valleys and roads. From a merely
ornamental point of view, an irregular interlacement of bands is here presented,
the negative parts of which are taken up with parallel lines. On the lower half
of Fig. 8 is a netting-needle, above it the picture of a sturgeon. Its head is
represented in raised work in the form of a long rectangle. The eye is in the
middle, and the extended head with jaws is reproduced rather naturally in spite
of the geometric treatment. The body is symbolized by a spiral, adjoining which
is the tail, — a rather realistic design with four rings and two crosses. Fig. 9
portrays two sledges driving over the ice, one behind the other. The back parts
of the sledges rise over the stick in open-work carving. In the centre there is a
quadrifoil, the upper outlines of which are connected by means of a band with
a sledge above it. From the mere consideration of these five mustache-lifters
it may be seen that the Ainu have a predilection for open-work sculpture, and
use for representations the fauna of their surroundings and other objects familiar
to them. Moreover, it becomes clear that the forms are partially the same as
with the Amur peoples, and that these very same forms are made to serve as the
basis for a symbolical interpretation. The explanations of these ikimi are of a
purely personal character, being kept in the same family and handed down
together with the ceremonial sticks ; so that under certain circumstances the same
pattern might have different explanations in different families. The pieces from
Yezo (Figs. 10-20), in the collection of Mr. A. C. James, are given place here
partly for comparison with those from Saghalin, partly as an incentive to further
research regarding the peculiar ornamentation of these sticks, and in general of
that of the Ainu. There is certainly no specimen among those from Japan that
shows so realistic and characteristic a mould as ours from Saghalin. Particularly
Figs, ii, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 18 show a strongly geometrical cast, owing to the
continuous repetition of the same forms; while others, like Figs. 10, 12, and 14,
seem to tend towards realistic conventionalizations. Chain-bands occur very
frequently on drinking-sticks. There are two such running side by side in open
carving in Fig. 19. On the stick, Fig. 20, from the lower left side proceeds a
natural scion ; very interesting are four trefoils on it, the forms of which exactly
agree with those on our Amur ornaments.

COLORING. — As already stated, a great number of the decorated specimens
are very rich, and even extravagant, in the variety of their colors, which reaches
its climax in the embroideries, since here the most beautiful dyed Chinese em
broidery-silks are at the disposal of the artist. These silks abound in all imaginable

74 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

tints and shades, whereas the selection of the pigments for painting purposes is,
of course, not nearly so diverse. From the very fact that the silks as well as the
coloring-matters are traded from the Chinese, we may infer that also in tasteful
and artistic arrangement of colors this people has been the instructor of the Amur
tribes. This statement is confirmed, moreover, by the fact derived from actual
observation, that the more the natives are in contact with the Chinese, the nearer
they dwell to a centre of Chinese culture, the more splendidly developed in beauty
of color are their works ; while the farther one recedes from that centre, the poorer
the color-sense seems to grow, and at last to vanish almost entirely. The choice
of colors is not arbitrary, but subject to certain rules of taste, although no definite
formulas can be deduced. It may be asserted that, throughout, to the symmetry of
the pattern corresponds the symmetry of the colors. This symmetry, however,
is not so strictly observed that symmetrical parts must be adorned in all cases
with precisely identical colors : there should be different shades of the same
ground-color, or even sometimes contrasting hues. There may also be the same
set of colors in two symmetrical figures, but with a change in the arrangement.
The brilliant colors occur mostly on shirt-embroideries with white background ;
and the duller hues, in their various shades, on coats and other clothing. A bet
ter knowledge of Chinese art will no doubt throw more light also on this most
attractive side of the Goldian works of art.

To illustrate the appearance and the effect of the colors, five paintings have
been selected for reproduction here (Plates xxxn, xxxin).

Fig. i, Plate xxxn, represents the lateral continuation of the ornament shown
in Fig. 4, Plate xxvi. I have already pointed out the peculiarity of the composi
tion of this design ; here also is shown an entirely new motive not elsewhere ob
served : in the centre are two cocks (a and 6), — a of red color ; b, one half red,
the other half deep magenta, or the shade " American beauty," so called. Al
though the two cocks correspond to each other in their position, they are not
constructed in symmetrical agreement, since the whole composition narrows off
toward the side. The cock a is therefore in erect vertical, and b in reclining hori
zontal, attitude, the latter running out into a long body, with tail coiled into a
spiral. The upper outline is here also an engrailed line, which causes an irregu
lar lozenge to spring up in the middle of the body. The beaks of the two cocks
a and b are curved downward and then recurved, and each holds a conventionalized
bipartite yellow fish, grasping it at a point between head and body. Between the
bodies of the fishes and cocks are two greenish cocks whose forms are assimilated
to those of the adjoining cocks above. That below a is accordingly represented
standing, and that belonging to b in a sitting position. In this way also the ends
of the yellow fishes depend upon the forms of the cocks, and are influenced by
them : the body of the fish a runs parallel to that of its cock, and terminates, like
that one, in a broad plane ; whereas b tapers into a point at the tail, like the green
cock belonging to it. The red cock a is joined by a yellow inverted cock, which
sends off farther below a blue-colored fish. To the left of this one is a magenta

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXXII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 75

cock-head, whose beak seizes a green fish. There are two fishes over the two
cocks a and b. That above a has the head green, the body blue ; that above b,
the head yellow, and the body blue. In this case, consequently, we can speak, at
most, of a harmony, not of a symmetry, of colors. There is, for instance, the
cock c, green as to neck and beak, while the rest of the body is yellow. On the
other hand, the opposite cock is green, and only its upper tail-feather of a red hue.

Fig. 2, Plate xxxii, represents the painting on the upper edge of a boot made
of elk-skin, the outside of which is tanned, while inside the hair is left on. The
decoration is painted on a piece of salmon-skin which is sewed to the elk-skin. A
comparison of this with the preceding specimen shows that fish-skin is a much
better substance for painting, and gives the colors a brighter and more resplen
dent effect. An extraordinary feature of this ornament is, that parts of continu
ous geometrical arabesques, without stepping beyond the pale of their ornamental
character, are shaped into fishes and cocks. Thus the spiral ornament at the
lower edge starts with a bird-head (a) and terminates in a fish-head (b). Just so
a merely ornamental line (V) is treated as cock-head and beak holding an inverted
bipartite lavender-colored fish. Around the spirals are distributed a series of
conventionalized cocks, all of which represent different variations of the same
forms, that is, d, e,f, g, h. In_/ and^ the feet of the cocks are fashioned as two-
lobed leaves. To the pure spiral ^corresponds the spiral j, the interior of which
is formed like a cock. From the lavender-colored spiral line stand off conspicu
ously the red curved beak and the semicircular head-line. Here is demonstrated
one of the reasons for the employment of contrasting colors to mark off distinctly
one part of the body from another, and thus bring it into prominence. Another
characteristic feature appears in the fact that the black tint serves to mark the
wave-line terminating in scrolls, which helps to analyze the composition into its
subdivisions : it affords, as it were, a frame for miniature pictures. To the yel
low color is attributed merely a secondary significance : it serves as a filling for
negative portions, mostly for narrow stripes. Of paramount importance is the
color red, with which the essential parts are painted ; with it is interchanged,
very happily and tastefully, a lavender color, which softens the glare of the red
in a most agreeable way, lending a restful and harmonious effect to the whole
composition.

Fig. 3, Plate xxxii, represents the upper front edge of a fish-skin garment
which came originally, like the preceding specimen, from the Ussuri River. As
regards the use of the colors in this ornamentation, first of all, it should be pointed
out that a difference is made between spirals which serve exclusively for decora
tive purposes and those which claim, besides, a symbolical meaning. The former
are painted with black China ink and surrounded with red lines, the latter with
red color and black border-lines. For the representation of the cock, either red
or blue, or both colors at the same time, are in use, while yellow is limited again
to the filling of intervening spaces and stripes. In this way bipartite fishes, some
of which occupy negative spaces, are better brought out.

76 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

Fig. 4, Plate xxxn, is a painting on the upper edge of a pair of leggings
made of fish-skin. The picture is remarkable on account of its peculiar
coloring, — a light red for the wave-line ending in scrolls, which effects the
ornamental division ; an exquisite magenta for the conventionalized cocks of the
type B ; and a light blue for the figures under the wave-line, which are composed
of two united cocks, their heads being circles and running out into fish-tails ;
a greenish blue for circles, ovals, and united bird-beaks in the form of a crescent.
The background is of a light buff hue ; lemon-yellow is twice applied to the
circular objects of the crescent-shaped cocks and for negative portions, twice
for the heads of conventionalized fishes.

Plate xxxin represents the back of a woman's dress of fish-skin. Part of
the front edge of the same specimen was shown in Fig. 3 of the foregoing plate.
The whole surface is covered with a magnificent painting. The decoration
consists of three vertical rows, the two outer of which tally and are composed of
three single figures each, while the middle series presents a coherent structure.
The ornamental principle from which these have arisen is very simple : there
is a pair of facing spirals in the middle, above and below them are two
erect conventionalized bipartite fishes, and the whole is surrounded by a line
corresponding to their forms. Whereas this figure remains constantly the same,
the appendages on its sides, components of the cock-ornament, vary. Not to
this formal change is due the special charm which this design offers, but rather
to the harmonious variation of its colors, especially'of red, blue, and black.

SOME GENERAL RESULTS. — If we cast a retrospective glance at the
decorative art of the Amur tribes, we are struck most forcibly by the
predominance of the cock and the fish, the manifold combinations in which
these two motives appear, and the strange mingling of the two. These two
inventions stamp the character of the whole ornamentation. If we ask for the
reason, no other explanation can be found than that these particular animals
have an extremely ornamental character because of the great permutations of
their graceful motions, and thus lend themselves admirably to the spirit which
strives after beauty of form. The reason, then, lies in their unquestionable
availability for the ornamental. It is to their gracefulness and beauty of form
that the cock and fish owe their popularity among artists, here as well as in the
Chinese and Japanese pictorial arts. The part which the cock plays in the
mythology and household economy of the Chinese is not so important as to
justify so abundant a use of it in ornature. Since, besides, in the life of the
Amur tribes it plays no part whatever, the mere artistic reason of its adaptability
has decided its use. That such is exclusively the case is seen from all the various
positions of fish and cock which are suggested solely by the tendency to create
new and aesthetically effective forms. This strongly developed form-perception
prevents the production of realistic representations, — which exist without
doubt in embryo, and in early times existed perhaps to a much greater extent, —

Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII.

Plate XXXIII.

Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes.

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 77

as shown in the designs of numerous animals, none of which have endured in
their natural forms, but rather have deteriorated into a style of conventionality
adapted to the cock and fish ornaments, as the musk-deer, the dragon, and so on.
It would almost seem that other groups of animals gain favor and meet with
approval, only so far as they are capable of conforming to the cock and fish
pattern. In these last-mentioned figures we recognize at the same time stages,
second in point of time, which probably arose after the development of the
first-described ornaments.

If we now take into consideration the evolution of the cock and fish
ornaments, we are impressed first by the fact that such differing and numerous
stages of development are met with, frequently even in the same design ; so that
the development appears almost to be based on a juxtaposition in space rather
than on a succession in time. In other words, the question arises, Are we
correct in supposing a definite scale of gradation in the stages of development,
from the cock and fish true to nature, down to the hardly recognizable
conventional patterns ? The whole series of forms does undeniably occur.
These, however, should under no circumstances be regarded as of chronological
sequence ; for it is by no means true that the natural picture of the cock or fish
is sunk in oblivion, and that the conventional form has exclusively taken its
place. On the contrary, we see that the single phases of development are
nothing more nor less than various forms of different kinds of adaptation to
certain spaces or given geometrical forms, mostly spiral. This process of
adaptation, constantly repeating itself in multitudinous ways, has created a large
number of varieties, all co-existing side by side, like the varieties of a zoological
species. One does not exclude the other, but each retains its separate existence,
because art indulges in a wealth of forms, and requires an abundance of varieties
for building up large ornamental compositions.

The strong inward impulse to create new forms is the primary underlying
cause for the rise of the various degrees of conventionalization. Moreover, it is
a further incentive to the simultaneous retention of all these manifold forms, a
great number of which, without the influence of this law, would have perished.
The form-character of this ornamentation had therefore a conservative effect, and
is consequently responsible for its offspring. In spite of this form-character,
however, conventionality is by no means a production of a purely rationalistic
method of speculation. It should not be imagined that the creations of animal
life continued to lose more and more of their original forms, and gradually shrunk
into geometrical devices. On the contrary, the multifarious kinds of convention
alization have their final cause, last but not least, in a faithful observation of
nature, especially in the ability to watch motions, so highly developed in the East
Asiatic mind. The conception of a fish in the form of a spiral is based on a true
observation of that animal in its natural state ; it would never have been drawn
in spiral form, never have clung to a spiral, without a foundation of fact. This
very capacity of the fish for motion, together with the highly cultivated power of

78 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

the people to observe its motions, formed the reason for its adoption in ornamenta
tion. The same remark holds good for the cock. Here we have, perhaps, not a
primitive form from which all others have genetically originated ; rather, a long
series of fundamental forms exists, based on the observation of the various
natural attitudes and motions of this ever-moving bird. We have distinguished
a series of types ; we have found standing, reclining, perching, and perfectly erect
cocks, some with beaks turned downward, others with heads looking backward,
all types which exist side by side, without having developed one from another.
The conventionalizations proper have arisen only through the influence of the
fish-ornament on the cock-type. This is the same process which was above
designated, in a more general style, as an assimilation to existing forms. Thus
the cock, for instance, assumes a fish-body to get a spiral form more suitable for
the entire ornament ; or its tail is represented as a fish-tail, its pinion as a spiral.
Finally, forms are even found in which the whole cock is composed of geometri
cal constituents. These have not been evolved from the form of the cock, but
they are the primary element, the material from which it is constructed. This
ensues — and here we touch another important theoretical point regarding our
ornaments — from the diversity of function of the geometrical components. The
spiral, for instance, may symbolically express all possible things. It may serve
to indicate the cock's body, its pinion, its tail-feather. It may even perform two
or more functions. In Fig. i, Plate xi, the large curve of a spiral is, first, a
geometrical element ; secondly, part of a wave-line serving to distinguish orna
mental subdivisions ; thirdly, it forms the upper outline for the body of a fish
below, naturalistically drawn ; fourthly, it outlines the body of a cock, the other
parts of which are drawn above it. It would be absurd to infer from this that
the spiral is the final result of the gradual conventionalization of such realistic
images : it is rather a given prius, — the origin of which is of no consequence
here, — which is employed for the symbolical expression of the most varied things,
since its forms are so convenient for this particular purpose. Another example
is offered in the brace, signifying the cock-spur ; this symbol indicates also the
feet of the musk-deer (Fig. 5, Plate xiv), the feet of the dragon (Fig. 133,
Plate xvi), and even the scales on the dragon's body (Fig. 5, Plate xn). If a
conventionalized fish appears in place of the body of a cock or even of a musk-
deer, or if it even serves to indicate the horn of a dragon, no one, perhaps, will
conclude from this fact that the conventionalized fish has resulted from the cock
or deer body, but only that this particular form is used as the means to an end,
as an easy expedient for ornamental symbolism of the parts of the bodies of other
animals.

From this proof proceeds another very important and far-reaching conclusion
as regards the triskeles. This also is a given factum used as a foundation upon
which to build other ornaments. The supposition that the triskeles has devel
oped from the outlines of the cock does not prove true at all for the tribes of the
Amur. In no case is the cock represented as a purely geometrical triskeles. In

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 79

a few cases, as for instance on the spears and bows, where the cock has a triskeles-
like appearance, it is always determined, first of all, by the added circle ; secondly,
the single arms of it are shaped in such a way that they admit of recognizing, in
truth, the forms of the bird. We may clearly distinguish also, in these cases,
beak, body, and feet. In the formation of the cocks and fishes the triskeles plays
an active rdle for indicating single parts of the body, but not the whole creature,
and so its functions are extensive. It sometimes interchanges with the spiral.
It symbolizes the pinions of the cock, sometimes the fish-tail, sometimes the fish
itself held in the cock's beak ; in fact, even the horn of the musk-deer and the
dragon's whiskers. As an independent element, having a definite meaning, how
ever, the triskeles never occurs. It is rather a secondary expedient of multifari
ous significations, which, however, by no means appears as a resultant from the
phases of the cock itself. This fact of the multiplicity of the functions of geo
metrical formations confirms again the thorough form-character of this decorative
art, which sacrifices everything to the beauty of lines and forms.

The question may arise as to whether people like the Gold, who are able to
produce such fine work, may justly be classified among primitive tribes. The
Gold, at all events, are promising, and some time or other will undeniably advance
to the rank of a civilized nation, like their ancestral relations the Niiichi and
Manchu, but under more peaceable circumstances, relying on the cultivation of
the soil, industry, and fine arts. There is no doubt but that they are chosen for
their share in civilization, and that they will have a future, if only the Russian
Government will continue to lend its assistance in improving the economic life-
conditions of this intelligent tribe, which numbers so many good-natured and
highly gifted individuals.

LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE I. (See p. 4.)

Fig. i. — Embroidery on Sleeping-Mat. Tribe, Gold. Extreme length, 119 cm. Cat. No. -Jfo.
Fig. 2. — Carving on the Top of a Tea-Table. Tribe, Gold. Length, 42 cm. (Museum fiir

Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat. No. I A 1274.)
Fig. 3. — Neckerchief. Tribe, Gold. Diagonal, 84.5 cm. Cat. No. g>£g.

PLATE II. (See pp. 9-11.)

Figs. i-n. — Carved Wooden Spoons, for use at Bear-Festival. Tribe, Gilyak. About f nat.

size. Cat. Nos. -gV'o, TH*, rlh, T?*r, W*, T!T!T, *YV, *VV, Tf K, T**J, T?fr-
Fig. 12. — Decorated Handle of Fish-Ladle. Tribe, Gold. About f nat. size. Cat. No. -j^V-
Pig. 13. — Decorated Handle of Spoon for Eating. Tribe, Gold. About f nat. size. Cat.

No. T1\"T.
Fig. 14. — Pair of Chopsticks. Tribe, Gilyak. About f nat. size. Cat. No. TT£r.

PLATE III. (See pp. 11-13.)

Fig. i. — Eye-Protector. Tribe, Gilyak. Length, 18 cm. Cat. No. S75°7.
Fig. 2. — Painting on Fish-skin Leggings. Tribe, Gold. Greatest width, 15 cm. Cat. No. 3^.
Fig. 3. — Round Wooden Box. Tribe, Gilyak. Depth, 21 cm. Cat. No. •Jfo-
Fig. 4. — Cover of Tobacco- Box. Tribe, Gilyak. Length, 47 cm. Cat. No. -g^ff-
Fig. 5. — Woman's Knife. Tribe, Gold. Greatest length of handle, 14.5 cm. Cat. No. -pYs-
Fig. 6. — Fish-Scraper made of Elk-Bone. Tribe, Gold. Length, 21.5 cm. Cat. No. -J^T-
Fig. 7. — Board for cutting Fish on. Tribe, Gold. Length, 61.5 cm. Cat. No. ^Ys-
Figs. 8-10. • — Metal Attachments to a Shaman's Dress. Tribe, Yakut. f nat. size. (Museum
fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat. Nos. IA 2818, 2351, 2350.)

PLATE IV. (See pp. 13-15.)

Fig. i. — Reel. Tribe, Gilyak. Length of upper arm, 30 cm. Cat. No. TTf^.

Fig. 2. — Awl made of Elk-Bone. Tribe, Gold. Length, 17011. Cat. No. -j^.

Fig. 3. — Bone Buckle. Tribe, Gilyak. Cat. No. ^'f-

Figs. 4, 5, 6. — Carved Ends of Wooden Dishes. Tribe, Gilyak. Length of end, 21.5 cm.,

24.3 cm., 24.5 cm. Cat. Nos. rj^, T]fr, r]Jr.

Fig. 7. — Wooden Dish. Tribe, Gilyak. Length, 51 cm. Cat. No. -jW-
Figs. 8, 8a. — Wooden Box and Cover. Tribe, Gilyak. Depth of box, 4.5 cm.; cover, 14 cm.

square. Cat. No. -g^T-
Figs. 9, ga. — Wooden Box and Cover. Tribe, Gilyak (Saghalin). Depth of box, S.i cm.;

extreme length of cover, 21 cm. Cat. No. i|§^.

PLATE V. (See p. 15.)

Fig. i. — Wooden Dish. Tribe, Gilyak. Extreme length, 55.5 cm. Cat. No. -gfe.
Fig. 2. — Cover of Tobacco- Box. Tribe, Gilyak. Length, 47 cm. Cat. No. ^yT.
Figs. 3, 4, 5. — Drills. Tribe, Gilyak. Length, 35 cm., 31.5 cm., 29.8 cm. Cat. Nos. -$*$,

70 70
182") "88 f-

[80]

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 8 1

PLATE VI. (See pp. 20, 21.)

Fig. i. — Cock cut out of Paper. Tribe, Gold. Length, 14 cm. Cat. No. Jfa o.

Fig. 2. — Embroidered Cock. Tribe, Gold. 1 nat. size. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin.

Cat. No. IA 1387 £)
Fig. 3. — Chinese or Japanese (?) Weaving-Pattern. About 4 nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe

Museum, Berlin. Cat. No. 94,263.)
Fig. 4. — Birch-bark Hat. Tribe, Gold. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat. No.

IA 386.)

PLATE VII. (See pp. 21-23.)

Fig. i. — Side of a Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat.

No. IA 1204.)

Figs. 2, 3. — Bear-Spears. Tribe, Gilyak. Length, 41.5 cm., 47 cm. Cat. Nos. TJJ¥T> WV-
Fig. 4. — Embroidery made of Reindeer-Hair. Tribe, Gilyak. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde,

Berlin. Cat. No. IA 1824.)
Fig. 5. — Painting across Top of Elk-skin Boots. Tribe, Orochon (Ussuri). Depth, 14.5 cm.

Cat. No. -J5VY-
Fig. 6. — Paper Pattern for embroidering Woman's Shoe. Tribe, Gold. Height, n cm.

Cat. No. -ffsg.
Fig. 7. — Paper Pattern for embroidering Gloves. Tribe, Gold. Length, 33 cm. Cat. No.

iVs b.

PLATE VIII. (See pp. 23-25.)

Fig. i. — Silk-embroidered Ornament for a Shirt. Tribe, Gold. Height, 17 cm. Cat. No. ^\\ d.
Fig. 2. — Silk-embroidered Ornament for a Shirt. Tribe, Gold. Height, i6cm. Cat. No. -5% />•
Fig. 3. — Chinese Weaving- Pattern, igth Century. ^ nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum,

Berlin. Cat. No. 83,1758.)
Figs. 4, 5. — Oriental Weaving-Patterns, 1 7th-i 8th Centuries (?). \ nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe

Museum, Berlin. Cat. Nos. 76,101)0, 76,1085.)

PLATE IX. (See pp. 25-27.)

Fig. i. — Birch-bark Pattern for embroidering a Pocket. Tribe, Gilyak. J nat. size. (Museum

fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat. No. IA 1781 b.)

Fig. 2. — Birch-bark Hat. Tribe, Gilyak. Diameter, 38 cm. Cat. No. ^Vj-
Fig. 3. — Painting on Boy's Fish-skin Leggings. Tribe, Gold. Height of painting, 14 cm.

Cat. No. -ff,a.
Fig. 4. — Birch-bark Embroidery-Pattern for an Ear-Lappet. Tribe, Gilyak. Height, 12 cm.

Cat. No. 5\V/-

Fig. 5. — Woman's Boot. Tribe, Gilyak. Length of foot, 27 cm. Cat. No. Tiao-
Fig. 6. — Knife-Case. Tribe, Gilyak. Length, 25 cm. Cat. No. j^-g.
Fig. 7. — Ancient Japanese Weaving-Pattern. £ nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin.

Cat. No. 84,825.)

PLATE X. (See pp. 27-29.)

Fig. i. — Side of Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. ^ nat. size. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde,
Berlin. Cat. No. I A 1217.)

82 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

Fig. 2. — Painting across Top of Fish-skin Leggings. Tribe, Gold. Width, 10 cm. Cat.

No-rffra.

Fig. 3. — Embroidery on Silk Leggings. Tribe, Gold. Width, 23 cm. Cat. No. -ffe.
Fig. 4. — Embroidery on a Velvet Girdle. Tribe, Gold. Width, 8 cm. Cat. No. -jW-
Fig. 5. — Side of a Birch-bark Box. Tribe, Gold. £ nat. size. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde,

Berlin. Cat. No. IA 1724.)
Fig. 6. — Side of a Birch-bark Box. Tribe, Gold. J nat. size. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde,

Berlin. Cat. No. I A 1211.)

PLATE XI. (See pp. 29-33.)

Figs, i, la. — Long and Short Sides of a Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Length, 11.5 cm.

Cat. No. ff,.
Figs. 2, 2a. — Design on the Rim of the Cover of a Tobacco-Box. Tribe, Gold. Height,

4.7 cm. Cat. No. ^W-

Fig. 3. — Paper Pattern for embroidering Bag for Strike-a-light. Tribe, Gold.
Fig. 4. — Paper Pattern for decorating Newspaper-Holder. Tribe, Gold. Length of base, 48

cm. Cat. No. ^jV
Fig. 5. — Embroidery- Pattern for a Shirt-Pocket. Tribe, Gold. Length of base, 22 cm. Cat.

No. ff, d.

Fig. 6. — Embroidered Collar. Tribe, Gold. Diameter, 38.5 cm. Cat. No. ^ «.
Fig. 7. — Embroidery on a Wrister. Tribe, Gold. Length, 21 cm. Cat. No. {fg a.

PLATE XII. (See pp. 33, 34, 37, 38-)

Fig. i. — Design on the Inside of a Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Height, 17 cm.

(Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat. No. I A 1571.)

Fig. 2. — Embroidered Border. Tribe, Gold. Width, 6 cm. Cat. No. T\"T n-

Fig. 3. — Embroidered Border. Tribe, Gold. Width, 7 cm. Cat. No. ^''i b.

Fig. 4. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Width, 20 cm. Cat. No. 7\°s a-

Fig. 5. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Height, 12.5 cm. Cat. No. T"W e.

Fig. 6. — Painting on Leggings. Tribe, Gold. Width, 10.5 cm. Cat. No. 773°J a-

PLATE XIII. (See pp. 38-41.)

Fig. i. — Cover of a Tobacco-Box. Tribe, Gold. Length, 20 cm. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde,

Berlin. Cat. No. I A 1786.)
Fig. 2. — Half of Cover of Tobacco-Box. Tribe, Gold. Extreme length, 50.5 cm. Cat.

No. ?%.
Fig. 3. — Ancient Chinese Weaving-Pattern. ^ nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin.

Cat. No. 69,165.)
Fig, 4. — Ancient Chinese Weaving-Pattern. \ nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin.

Cat. No. 81,690.)

PLATE XIV. (See pp. 41-43.)

Fig. i. — Japanese Weaving-Pattern, iSthand igth centuries. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin.

Cat. No. 79,46.)

Fig. 2. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Height, 6.5 cm. Cat. No. ^Vs/-
Fig. 3. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Height, 17 cm. Cat. No. ffa *'•

LAUFER, THE DKCORAT1VE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 83

Fig. 4. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Width, 36 cm. Cat. No. ffYs //.
Fig. 5. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Width, 33 cm. Cat. No. 5% ''•
Fig. 6. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Width, 33 cm. Cat. No. ^"3 c.

PLATE XV. (See pp. 47, 48.)

Fig. i. — Carved Dish. Tribe, Gold. Extreme length, 40.5 cm. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde,

Berlin. Cat. No. I A 1231.)
Fig. 2. — Box-Cover. Tribe, Gold. Height, 15 cm. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin.

Cat. No. I A 1269.)

F'ig. 3. — Embroidery on a Tobacco- Pouch. Tribe, Gold. Length, 23 cm. Cat. No. jffi.
Fig. 4. — Embroidered Border for Wristband. Tribe, Gold. Height, 10.3 cm. Cat.

No. /,-V a.

Fig. 5. — Embroidered Girdle. Tribe, Gold. Length, 64 cm. Cat. No. -fff.
Fig. 6. — Paper Pattern. Tribe, Gold. Width, 19 cm. Cat. No 7V3 «.

PLATE XVI. (See pp. 48-51.)

Fig. i. — Embroidered Collar and Front of Woman's Coat. Tribe, Gold. Width of pattern,

6 cm. Cat. No. 7\V
Figs. 2-9. — Various Forms of Japanese Tomoye. (From a Japanese Book.) Fig. fc, basho-

mitsu-domoye.
Figs. 10, ii. — Arabesque Rings. (From a Japanese Book, the same as above.) Fig. 10,

Karakusawa ; Fig. 1 1, tsuruwarabi.
Figs. 12, 123, i2b. — Bow : a, Design on the back ; b, Design on the inside. Tribe, Gold.

Bow, \ nat. size; designs, f nat. size. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat.

No. IA 399.)
Figs. 13, 133, i3b. — Bow: a, Design on the back; b, Design on the inside. Tribe, Gold.

Bow, \ nat. size; designs, about \ nat. size. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin.

Cat. No. IA 1401.)
Figs. 14, 143, 14!). — Bow: a, Design on the back; l>, Design on the inside. Tribe, Gold.

Bow, ^ nat. size ; designs, f nat. size. (Museum fiir Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat.

No. I A 1400.)

PLATE XVII. (See pp. 51, 52.)

Fig. i. — Ancient Japanese Weaving-Pattern. ^ nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin.

Cat. No. 75,922.)
Fig. 2 — Chinese Weaving- Pattern. f nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin. Cat.

No. 79,2062 a.)

PLATE XVIII. (Seep. 51.)

Fig. i. — Chinese Weaving-Pattern. % nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin. Cat.

No. 85,1741.)
Fig. 2. — Chinese Weaving- Pattern, f nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin. Cat.

No. 83,1742.)

PLATE XIX. (See pp. 52-54.)

Fig. i. — Birch-bark Basket. Tungus (Anigun). Diameter, 24 cm. Cat. No. TJf f.
Figs. 2, 2a. — Side and Cover of Birch-bark Box. Tribe, Gold. Length, 17.5 cm. Cat.
No. ,VV-

84

LAUFRR, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

Figs. 3, 33. — Front and Back of Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Depth, 20 cm. Cat.

No. AV
Fig. 4.- — Design on a Birch-bark Tray. Tribe, Gilyak. Length of dish, 24.5 cm. Cat.

No. WV-

PLATE XX. (See pp. 54, 55).

Fig. i. — Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Length, 34 cm. (Museum fur Volkerkunde,

Berlin. Cat. No. I A 1207.)

Fig. 2. — Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Height, 11 cm. Cat. No. A°T "•
Fig. 3. — Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Height, 13 cm. Cat. No. -j^s-
Fig. 4. — Birch-bark Basket for holding Spoons and Chopsticks. Tribe, Gold. Height, 26 cm.

Cat. No. „%-
Figs. 5, 53. — Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Width at base, 15 cm. (Museum fur Volker

kunde, Berlin. Cat. No. LA 1572.)

PLATE XXI. (See pp. 55, 56.)

Figs, i, la. — Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Length of base, 15.5 cm. and 14 cm. respec

tively. (Museum ftir Volkerkunde, Berlin. Cat. No. IA 1572.)
Fig. 2. — Birch-bark Basket. Tribe, Gold. Height, 21 cm. Cat. No. T^V
Figs. 3, 33. — Birch-bark Basket and Cover. Tribe, Tungus (Ussuri). Height of basket, 19.4
cm.; diameter of cover, 34 cm. Cat. No. VVV

PLATE XXII. (See pp. 56, 57.) Embroideries.

Fig. i. — Tribe, Gold. Width, n cm. Cat. No. -5% d-

Fig. 2. — Tribe, Gold. Width of embroidered portion, n cm. Cat. No. ^'-s a.

Fig. 2a. — Tribe, Gold. Width 11.5 cm. Cat. No. Jfa b.

Fig. 3. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 19.5. cm. Cat. No. ^Vs-

Fig. 4. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 4 cm. Cat. No. -$fac.

Fig. 4a. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 4.5 cm. Cat. No. Jfod.

Fig. 5. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 4.5 cm. Cat. No. TV» '•

Fig. 6. — Tribe, Gold. Length of side, 15 cm. Cat. No. Jfa c.

Fig. 6a. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 13 cm. Cat. No. $fad.

Fig. 6b. — Tribe, Gold. Width of embroidered portion, n cm.

Cat. No.

PLATE XXIII. (See pp. 57-59.) Embroidery-Patterns.

Fig. i. — Tribe, Gold.

Fig. 2. — Tribe, Gold.

1* ig- 3- ' — Tribe, Gold.

Fig. 4. — Tribe, Gold.

Fig. 43. — Tribe, Gold.

Fig. 5. — Tribe, Gold.

Fig. 5a. — Tribe, Gold.

Fig. sb. — Tribe, Gold.

d.

Width, 5.5 cm. Cat. No. ^
Width, 5 cm. Cat. No. VVk
Width, 7 cm. Cat. No. -Jfa
Diameter, 34 cm. Cat. No.
Width, 10 cm. Cat. No. ^\°j d.
Width, 9 cm. Cat. No. ^W e.
Width, 1 1 cm. Cat. No. ^VV/
Height, 17 cm. Cat. No. v\\I.

PLATE XXIV. (See pp. 59, 60.)

Fig. i. — Embroidery. Tribe, Gold. Height, 19.7 cm. Cat. No. TVV e.
Fig. 2. — Embroidery. Tribe, Gold. Height, 16 cm. (Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin.
Cat. No. IA 1759.)

LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 85

Fig. 3. — Japanese Weaving-Pattern. ^ nat. size. (Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin. Cat. No.

81,784.)

• Fig. 4. — Embroidery. Tribe, Gold. Height, 29 cm. Cat. No. ^fs a.

Fig. 5. — Embroidery. Tribe, Gold. Length, 21 cm. Cat. No. ^Yr b.
Fig. 6. — Embroidery. Tribe, Gold. Length, 20.5 cm. Cat. No. ^Yr fl'-

PLATE XXV. (See pp. 60, 61.) Embroideries.

Fig. i. — Tribe, Gold. Height, 19.5 cm. Cat. No. ^VV-

Fig. 2. — Tribe, Gold. Height, 18 cm. Cat. No ^\\ a.

Fig 3. — Tribe, Gold. Length of base, 17 cm. Cat. No. B70(|i h.

Fig. 4. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 5 cm. Cat. No. -gW c.

Fig. 5. — Tribe, Gold. Diameter, 20.5 cm. Cat. No. ^§\a.

Fig. 6. —Tribe, Gold. Width, 3.6 cm. Cat. No. ^"r b.

Fig. 7. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 10 cm. Cat. No.

Fig. 8. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 9 cm. Cat. No. J

Fig. 9. — Tribe, Gold. Height, 9 cm. Cat. No.

Fig. 10. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 9 cm. Cat. No.

Fig. ii. — Tribe, Gold. Width, 3.5 cm. Cat. No.

PLATE XXVI. (See pp. 61-64.)

Figs, i, la. — Embroidered Mitten. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. J£o-

Fig. 2. — Embroidered Mitten. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. TY(r-

Fig. 3. — Painted Elk-skin Garment. Tribe, Tungus (Ussuri). Cat. No. ^Yr-

Fig. 4. — Painting on an Elk-skin Legging. Tribe, Orochon (Ussuri). Height, 33 cm. Cat.

No. *%.
Fig. 5. — Embroidery on Lower Part of Back of a Garment. Tribe, Gold. Height of tree

design, 35 cm. Cat. No. ^SV
Fig. 6. — Embroidered Shirt. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. -57S°T.

PLATE XXVII. (See pp. 64,65.)

Fig. i. — Embroidered Shirt. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. -^V

Fig. 2. — Embroidered Silk Dress. Tribe, Gold. Length, 92 cm. Cat. No. Ws-

Fig. 3. — Embroidered Coat. Tribe, Gold Length, iiocm. Cat. No. -Jfc.

Fig. 4. — Embroidered Dress. Tribe, Gold. Length, 86 cm. Cat. No. -Jfc-

PLATE XXVIII. (See pp. 65-67.)

Fig. i. — Woman's Silk-embroidered Coat. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. ^"T-

Fig. 2. — Tobacco-Pouch. Tribe, Tungus (Amgun River). Length, 28 cm. Cat. No. yjfff-

Fig. 3. — Design on Fish-skin Apron. Tribe, Tungus (Amgun River). Height, 48cm. Cat.

No. rBr.
Fig. 4. — Hunter's Cap. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. ^Yz-

PLATE XXIX. (See pp. 67-69.) Fish-skin Coats.

Fig. i. — Tribe, Tungus (Ussuri River). Cat. No. 7Vr-

Fig. 2. — Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. -5%-

Fig. 3. — Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. -^<I.

Fig. 4. — Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. -jYtf-

86 LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES.

PLATE XXX. (See pp. 69-71.) Fish-skin Coats.

Fig. i. — Cat. No. if.

Fig. 2. — Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. ^'V-

F«g- -3- — Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. Tyg.

Fig. 4. — Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. ¥\\-

PLATE XXXI. (See pp. 72, 73 )

Fig. i. — Girdle Attachment. Tribe, Ainu (Saghalin). Cat. No. n7,"4.

Fig. 2. — Bone Implement for Untying Knots. Tribe, Ainu (Saghalin). Length, 10 c

Cat. No. ,%•

Fig. 3. — Carved Bone Knife-Case. Tribe, Ainu (Yezo). Cat. No. j^j.
Fig. 4. — Dagger in Case. Tribe, Ainu (Yezo). Cat. No. -fW
Figs. 5-9. — Ceremonial Drinking-Sticks. Tribe, Ainu (Saghalin). Cat. Nos. T|^, T!^> iJf

•rilir, "ri$T-
Figs. 10-20. — Ceremonial Drinking-Sticks. Tribe, Ainu (Yezo). Cat. Nos. i§, |£, Is, 29, 1

PLATE XXXII. (See pp. 74-76.)

Fig. i. — Painting on an Elk-skin Legging. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. -j-Ys a-

Fig. 2. — Embroidery on Elk-skin Boot. Tribe, Orochon (Ussuri). Cat. No. ^\ a.

Fig. 3. — Painting on Collar of Fish-skin Garment. Tribe, Orochon (Ussuri). Width, 9 cm.

Cat. No. -aVo-
Fig. 4. — Painting across Top of Fish-skin Leggings. Tribe, Gold. Cat. No. 7V's a.

PLATE XXXIII. (See p. 76.)

Painting on Back of a Fish-skin Garment. Tribe, Orochon (Ussuri). Full length, 106 cm.
Cat. No. T.

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