| The enormous success of the decorative
designs of Dong-Son and Late Chou origin with the peoples of Indonesia
was probably due to the fact that prior to their introduction purely
ornamental art. as far as it existed at all, was of a very simple
geometric character. In contrast to the commemorative and symbolic
motifs of the original, monumental style of the Indonesians the creations
of present day decorative art are to a considerable extent "art
for art's sake". This does not mean that religious and magic
ideas do not play an important role in Indonesian art. However, it
is significant that motifs relating to ancestor cult, sacrificial
feasts, head-hunting, or the magic propagation of fertility and wealth
are in many cases derived from the older, monumental style.
According to the above writer, there are thus three styles, which
have each contributed something of their own to the formation of
the multiform decorative art of the Indonesian peoples: the monumental
style, connected with the original Neolithic culture of tile indigenous
population, the Dong-Son style, and the late Chou style. As Heine-Geldern
also explains, the Dong-Son style made its influence felt almost
everywhere in the Archipelago, whereas the Late Chou style only
penetrated to some islands, particularly Borneo.
Cultural influences which appeared later, such as Hinduism and
Buddhism, will not be examined for the present.
The oldest of tile three styles, hereafter referred to as Neolithic,
is characterized by conventionalized frontal-type figures of ancestors
often of starting realism, as well as by magic symbols such as buffalo
horns, human heads, various animals, renderings of the so-called
tree of life etc. In addition fairly simple geometrical ornaments
are also to be found.
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