As stated in the Introductory section, we will commence our studies
of the art of existing savages by a brief account of the decorative
art of a limited area rather than wander over the earth’s surface in
order to cull random examples of ornamentation. It is not sufficient to
collect patterns or designs in illustration of a theory; in pursuing
such a course one is, so to speak, as likely to gather tares as wheat,
and they may become inextricably mixed. In my studies I have preferred
to limit myself for a time to one particular district, and to gather
together all the available material from that locality. The region
selected was British New Guinea. By putting together all the objects in
our possession known to come from any one locality, I found that the
technique of the decoration and the style of the ornamentation were
characteristic. It soon became apparent that British New Guinea could
be divided into several artistic regions; and so it became possible to
allocate to a definite district objects in museums whose exact locality
was unrecorded. But this is not sufficient; it is one thing to allocate
a particular pattern or group of patterns and designs to their place
of origin, but quite a different matter to trace out the history or
significance of the ornamentation.
In some cases the origin of a design is obvious on the face of it; in
most it is easy to suggest an origin; in others even the most fertile
imagination is at fault. In studies such as these the investigator
should restrain from theorising as far as possible; it is a dangerous
game, for more than one can play at it, and the explanation is as
likely to be wrong as right. The most satisfactory plan is to gather
together as much material as possible, and it will generally be found
that the objects tell their own tale, and all that has to be done is
to record it. When the meaning is not plain, the fault lies in the
imperfection of the series, unless very great conventionalisation has
already occurred, and it is wiser to wait for authoritative information
than to theorise.
One great advantage in the method of confining attention to a limited
area is that similar designs very probably have a genetic connection,
whereas this is by no means the case if objects from different regions
are compared together.
I have recently[4] published a somewhat detailed study of the
decorative art of British New Guinea, to which I may refer the reader
who desires to enter into more minute details. In the following account
I shall first sketch the main characteristics of the art of each
æsthetic region, and finally I shall discuss the influences which act
on the decorative art of these and other districts of New Guinea.
[4] _The Decorative Art of British New Guinea: A Study in
Papuan Ethnography_, Cunningham Memoir, No. x., Royal Irish
Academy, 1894.