it is probable that shape
influences embellishment through the peculiar bias given by it to the
taste and judgment of men prior to or independent of the employment of
ornament.

COLOR IN TEXTILE ART.

Color is one of the most constant factors in man's environment, and it
is so strongly and persistently forced upon his attention, so useful
as a means of identification and distinction, that it necessarily
receives a large share of consideration. It is probably one of the
foremost objective agencies in the formation and development of the
esthetic sense.

The natural colors of textile materials are enormously varied and form
one of the chief attractions of the products of the art. The great
interest taken in color--the great importance attached to it--is
attested by the very general use of dyes, by means of which additional
variety and brilliancy of effect are secured.

Color employed in the art is not related to use, excepting, perhaps,
in symbolic and superstitious matters; nor is it of consequence in
construction, although it derives importance from the manner in which
construction causes it to be manifested to the eye. It finds its chief
use in the field of design, in making evident to the eye the figures
with which objects of art are embellished.

Color is employed or applied in two distinct ways: it is woven or
worked into the fabric by using colored filaments or parts, or it is
added to the surface of the completed object by means of pencils,
brushes, and dies. Its employment in the latter manner is especially
convenient when complex ideographic or pictorial subjects are to be
executed.

TEXTILE ORNAMENT.

DEVELOPMENT OF A GEOMETRIC SYSTEM OF DESIGN WITHIN THE ART.

INTRODUCTION.

Having made a brief study of form and color in the textile art, I
shall now present the great group or family of phenomena whose
exclusive office is that of enhancing beauty. It will be necessary,
however, to present, besides those features of the art properly
expressive of the esthetic culture of the race, all those phenomena
that, being present in the art without man's volition, tend to suggest
decorative conceptions and give shape to them. I shall show how the
latter class of features arise as a necessity of the art, how they
gradually come into notice and are seized upon by the esthetic
faculty, and how under its guidance they assist in the development of
a system of ornament of world wide application.

For convenie