Art decorative, " The first spiritual want of a barbarous man," says Carlyle, " is
decoration." That want began to develop itself ages before the time of which we have
any certain record; and the same thing is still to be observed among tribes of savage men at
the present time. He — the savage, the barbarous man— scratches patterns on his weap-
ons, his paddles, his tools and utensils of all sorts, and on his own body as well; next he
begins to weave stuffs for his wearing, and to trace in their texture, patterns — first geo-
metric, then imitations of animal and vegetable life — in short, he learns to decorate
whatever he wears or uses, and to find pleasure in the object beyond its use, a pleasure of
the eye, a delight in Beauty; and so he gradually creates a new and wonderful thing — the
Artistic Sense.
ART AT HOME. ir
I am sorry to say that in these later days of civilization we often see ornament dis-
tinctly hindering use. See to what a pass civilization has brought our fire-irons, things of
every-day use and necessity. A century or so ago they were lightly made, of a size and
shape to be held and used easily, and they did their work well; then, as luxury and osten-
tation increased, the poker, and the shovel, and the tongs became larger and heavier, so
as to look massive and handsome, and as if a good deal of money had been spent upon
them; their shape was altered to suit new and unreasonable notions of elegance — they
began to be made of burnished steel and lacquer-work of a lustre easily tarnished -and
laboriously renewed; and finally they left off work altogether, being too fine for it, and
were obliged to be provided with a humble deputy to do it for them. Of the same kind
are candle-sticks that must be preserved like exotics under a glass shade, or call it ex-
tinguisher; curtain-poles so gilded that the real work must be done by iron ones hidden
behind; and cushions and footstools meant for repose, and to that end studded with hard
cold beads. Now such ornament as that is clear waste and folly, and wrong from the
very beginning.
The instinct for ornament in earlier stages of civilization is never found to lead to
such sacrifice. The savage does not so over-decorate his paddle, his knife, his tomahawk,
as to render it useless, and a real and capable workman or workwoman has the same
instinct; and to recur to what I said just now, here should come in the practical knowl-
edge, that I suppose we all of us possess in some direction and in some degree, and which
we should be proud of possessing.
Page 6
Presented as published in 1891. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Art decorative, " The first spiritual want of a barbarous man," says Carlyle, " is decoration." That want began to develop itself ages before the time of which we have any certain record; and the same thing is still to be observed among tribes of savage men at the present time. He — the savage, the barbarous man— scratches patterns on his weapons, his paddles, his tools and utensils of all sorts, and on his own body as well; next he begins to weave stuffs for his wearing, and to trace in their texture, patterns — first geometric, then imitations of animal and vegetable life — in short, he learns to decorate whatever he wears or uses, and to find pleasure in the object beyond its use, a pleasure of the eye, a delight in Beauty; and so he gradually creates a new and wonderful thing — the Artistic Sense.
ART AT HOME.
I am sorry to say that in these later days of civilization we often see ornament distinctly hindering use. See to what a pass civilization has brought our fire-irons, things of every-day use and necessity. A century or so ago they were lightly made, of a size and shape to be held and used easily, and they did their work well; then, as luxury and ostentation increased, the poker, and the shovel, and the tongs became larger and heavier, so as to look massive and handsome, and as if a good deal of money had been spent upon them; their shape was altered to suit new and unreasonable notions of elegance — they began to be made of burnished steel and lacquer-work of a lustre easily tarnished -and laboriously renewed; and finally they left off work altogether, being too fine for it, and were obliged to be provided with a humble deputy to do it for them. Of the same kind are candle-sticks that must be preserved like exotics under a glass shade, or call it extinguisher; curtain-poles so gilded that the real work must be done by iron ones hidden behind; and cushions and footstools meant for repose, and to that end studded with hard cold beads. Now such ornament as that is clear waste and folly, and wrong from the very beginning.
The instinct for ornament in earlier stages of civilization is never found to lead to such sacrifice. The savage does not so over-decorate his paddle, his knife, his tomahawk, as to render it useless, and a real and capable workman or workwoman has the same instinct; and to recur to what I said just now, here should come in the practical knowledge, that I suppose we all of us possess in some direction and in some degree, and which we should be proud of possessing.