nds, upon which disk-like and semilunar figures representing human
faces are stitched, covering the surface in horizontal rows. To the
center of these rosette-like parts clusters of tassels of varying
sizes are attached. The fringe, which is twenty inches deep, is
composed entirely of long strings of tassels, the larger tassels
supporting clusters of smaller ones. There are upwards of three
thousand tassels, the round heads of which are in many cases woven in
colors, ridges, and nodes to represent the human features. The general
color of the garment, which is of fine, silky wool, is a rich crimson.
The illustration can convey only a hint of the complexity and beauty
of the original.

[Illustration: FIG. 314. Tassel ornamentation from an ancient Peruvian
mantle.]

We have now seen how varied and how striking are the surface
characters of fabrics as expressed by the third dimension, by
variation from a flat, featureless surface, and how all, essential and
ornamental, are governed by the laws of geometric combination. We
shall now see how these are related to color phenomena.

COLOR PHENOMENA.

_Ordinary features._--In describing the constructive characters of
fabrics and the attendant surface phenomena, I called attention to the
fact that a greater part of the design manifested is enforced and
supplemented by color, which gives new meaning to every feature. Color
elements are present in the art from its very inception, and many
simple patterns appear as accidents of textile aggregation long before
the weaver or the possessor recognizes them as pleasing to the eye.
When, finally, they are so recognized and a desire for greater
elaboration springs up, the textile construction lends itself readily
to the new office and under the esthetic forces brings about wonderful
results without interfering in the least with the technical perfection
of the articles embellished. But color is not confined to the mere
emphasizing of figures already expressed in relief. It is capable of
advancing alone into new fields, producing patterns and designs
complex in arrangement and varied in hue, and that, too, without
altering the simple, monotonous succession of relievo characters.

In color, as in relieved design, each species of constructive
combination gives rise to more or less distinct groups of decorative
results, which often become the distinguishing characteristics of the
work of different peoples and the progenitors of long line