decoration (say, as most
frequently happens, it is to fill a panel of a given shape and size), we
are bound to consider form in relation to that particular panel, to the
subject we propose to treat, and the method by which the design is to be
produced, or the object and position for which it is intended. This
generally narrows the range of possible choice. Firstly, there is the
shape of the panel itself. A well-known exercise for the Teacher's
Certificate under the Department of Science and Art is to give a drawing
of a plant adapted to design in a square and a circle. Now in the
abstract one would be inclined to select for a circular fitting
different forms from those one might select for a square filling, since
I always consider that the shape of the space must influence the
character of the filling in line and form. Still, if the problem is to
fill a square and a circle by the same forms, or an adaptation of them,
we must rely more and more upon difference of _treatment_ of these
forms, and not try to squeeze round forms into rectangular space, or
rectangular forms into circular space. In a rose, for instance, it would
be possible to dwell on its angular side for the square, and on its
curvilinear side for the circle. Anyway, we should seek in the first
place a good and appropriate motive.

[Illustration (f049a): Filling of Square Space.]

Supposing the design is for wood inlay, we should have to select forms
that would not cause unnecessary difficulty in cutting, since every form
in the design would have to be cut out in thin wood and inserted in the
corresponding hollow cut in the panel or plank to receive it. Complex or
complicated forms would therefore be ruled out, as being not only
difficult or impossible to reproduce in the material, but ineffective.

[Illustration (f049b): Filling of Circular Space.]

[Inlay Design]

A true feeling for the particular effect and decorative charm of inlaid
work should lead us to limit ourselves to comparatively few and simple
forms, treating those forms in an emphatic but abstract way, and making
use of recurring line and form as far as possible. We might make an
effective panel, say, for a casket, or a clock-case, or a floor, by
strictly limiting ourselves to very few and simple forms--say, for
instance, a stem, a leaf, a berry, or disc, and a bird form, or fruit
and leaf forms. It would be possible to build up a