is positive evidence of the existence of a strong
desire on the part of the primitive basketmaker to enhance beauty of
form. It will be observed that the textile materials and construction
do not lend themselves freely to minuteness in detail or to complexity
of outline, especially in those small ways in which beauty is most
readily expressed.

Modifications of a decidedly esthetic character are generally
suggested to the primitive mind by some functional, constructive, or
accidental feature which may with ease be turned in the new direction.
In the vessel presented in Fig. 289--the work of Alaskan Indians--the
margin is varied by altering the relations of the three marginal turns
of the coil, producing a scalloped effect. This is without reference
to use, is uncalled for in construction, and hence is, in all
probability, the direct result of esthetic tendencies. Other and much
more elaborate examples may be found in the basketry of almost all
countries.

[Illustration: FIG. 289. Vessel with esthetic characters of form. Work
of the Yakama--1/4.]

In the pursuit of this class of enrichment there is occasionally
noticeable a tendency to overload the subject with extraneous details.
This is not apt to occur, however, in the indigenous practice of an
art, but comes more frequently from a loss of equilibrium or balance
in motives or desires, caused by untoward exotic influence. When,
through suggestions derived from contact with civilized art, the
savage undertakes to secure all the grace and complexity observed in
the works of more cultured peoples, he does so at the expense of
construction and adaptability to use. An example of such work is
presented in Fig. 290, a weak, useless, and wholly vicious piece of
basketry. Other equally meretricious pieces represent goblets,
bottles, and tea pots. They are the work of the Indians of the
northwest coast and are executed in the neatest possible manner,
bearing evidence of the existence of cultivated taste.

[Illustration: FIG. 290. Basket made under foreign influence,
construction and use being sacrificed to fancied beauty--1/3.]

It appears from the preceding analyses that _form_ in this art is not
sufficiently sensitive to receive impressions readily from the
delicate touch of esthetic fingers; besides, there are peculiar
difficulties in the way of detecting traces of the presence and
supervision of taste. The inherent morphologic forces of the art are
strong and stubborn