THE DECORATI%E ARTS. What has preceded applies to decorative art in general. hut the various means and processes by which men adorn their building., furniture. utensils, and fabrics have given rise to a variety of distinet branches of the art, collectively known as the decorative arts. Chief of these are decorative or mural painting and decorative sculpture. Mosaic and stained glass may be considered as subdivisions of decorative painting when they deal with pic torial compositions. or of ornament when confined to conventional and conventionalized natural forms. Closely related to these are the arts of inlay and of tile decoration. All of these are chiefly subservient to architecture, and have fur nished important elements of beauty in the churches of the Byzantine style (mosaic). the mediceval cathedrals (stained glass in • stern Europe, inlay in Italy 1, in Moorish buildings, and on the exteriors of Persian mosques and medres8ch (tile-work). Closely related to sculp ture are relief-carving, illustrated in the carved details of many styles—capitals. finials, crockets, carved moldings. friezes, and pilasters—and stucco-work, in which the wet plaster is modeled into patterns. a- in Roman wall-decoration, Moorish 'quarry' ornament and wall fret-work, and Italian Renaissance plaster-work.
The industrial decorative arts are those which relate to the adornment of movable furniture, utensils. and fabrics. The four main divisions are based on the materials used. Metal-work in cludes not only decorative work in iron and bronze, but the work of the goldsmith and silver smith. Wood-work as a decorative art includes the designing of artistic furniture, wood-carving, and wood-inlay, or intarsia. art com prises all the decorative work of the potter, in cluding terra-cotta. decorative tiles, and the modeling and painting of all kinds of artistic earthenware and porcelain. Glass-work is closely related to it.. Textile decoration comprises all decoration effected by weaving. embroidery, and needlework: all carpets. rugs, tapestries and hangings. lacework. figured stuffs, and the like. Book-binding. leather-decoration, and typograph ic ornament stand more or less apart from the above main divisions.
This mere enumeration suggests the extent of the field of decorative art and the impossibility of treating the divisions separately in a brief article of this character. In modern times the
palm of superiority in the decorative arts belongs with the Eastern rather than the Western world. For the perfect development of decoration as dis tinguished from the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture which appeal to the higher in tellectual emotions. it would seem as though the most favorable conditions were found where tra dition is most dominant, as among the Moham medan nations. the people of India. and the empires of China and .Japan. The more progres sive Western nations. however superior in edu cation and intellectual culture, fail to equal the decorative design of these Orientals. and produce their own best work chiefly when they follow in their footsteps.
The movement in Europe known as the 'Art Nouveau' or 'Art Moderne' illustrates the West ern impatience of tradition. It is a studied effort to ignore all the so-called historic styles, and to produce the harmony, rhythm, balance, and con trast of good decoration by means of novel combi nations of flowing curves and swaying lines, with occasional recourse to natural forms.
The limits of this article preclude the attempt even to sketch the general principles as well as the historic development of the decorative arts. The technical rules observed by decorators vary with the materials, purpose. and manipulations of the several arts: but all are subject to the controlliug principles which underlie all good art. Order and balance, unity of style with va riety of detail, rhythmic movement and subordi nation of details to the dominant theme are equally valid principles in poetry, ornament, and music.
The literature of decorative art is extensive. but a tirst-rate general treatise on its history and principles is lacking. Among the better known titles may be mentioned Owen Jones, Grammar of went (London, IS56) ; J. Ward, Historic Ornanirnt (London, 1S97) : J. Crowninshield, Mural Painting (Boston. 1883) F. S. -lever, Handbook of Ornament (New York, 1S94): Mane, Orammaire ibis arts df'eoratifs (Paris, 1882) ; Aloyanx, Decorative Composition. The reader is also referred to the articles in this work on the art of various nations and periods; ON GLASS; INLAYING; MOSAIC; PAINTING; POT