er,
and, though varied in detail, shall yet be equivalent in quantity. The
same sort of feeling would govern the case of designing two masses of
fruit and foliage, say, forming two halves of an oblong panel, which,
though starting on the symmetric plan from the centre, are not intended
to be alike in detail; or in a frieze composed of a series of formalized
trees, where it was desired to have each different, say, to express the
progression of the seasons, it would be the sense of the necessity of
equivalents which would govern the decorative effect.

[Illustration (f058): Quantities and Counterchange of Border and Field
in Carpet Motives.]

[Quantities in Design]

[Illustration (f059): Sketch to Illustrate Value of Different Quantities
in Persian Rugs.]

Such considerations naturally lead us to the question of the use of
_quantities_ in design--the ornamental proportions of ornament, or the
contrasting distribution of form and line. For the mere repetition of
ornamental forms over surfaces and objects without reference to
proportion or structure is not decoration. The perception of appropriate
quantities in design is really the decorative gauge or measure of
effect.

[Illustration (f060): Sketch to Illustrate Value of Different Quantities
in Persian Rugs.]

In designing a bordered panel--or say a carpet--we might decide to
throw the weight of pattern, colour, or emphasis upon either the field
or border. Supposing the field had a dark ground upon which the
arabesque or floral design was relieved, in the border it would be most
effective to transpose this arrangement, making the ground light, and
bringing out the border design dark upon it. Or, if the motive were
reversed, giving a light ground to the centre, with the pattern dark,
the border might be brought out on a dark field. Or, again, for a less
emphatic treatment the quantities of the pattern itself might be almost
infinitely varied, massive forms and close fillings contrasting with
open borders and united with intermediary bands.

[Illustration (f061): Sketch to Illustrate Value of Different Quantities
in Persian Rugs.]

These intermediary bands or subsidiary borders are very important in
Eastern rugs and carpets, and their quantities very carefully
considered. A Persian designer, for instance, would never leave a blank
unbroken strip of colour to surround his field; his object is not to
isolate the qu