attempt at ornamentation is not made.

Ornament is one of the principal means of enhancing the value of the raw
material. A piece of carved wood, or an artistically decorated porcelain
vase, worth perhaps many hundred dollars, if reduced to the commercial
value of the material of which they are composed would be valued at but a
few dollars or cents. The higher the ornamentation ranks, from an artistic
point of view, the greater becomes the value of the article to which it is
applied. Knowledge of good designs is thus evidently important, to the
purchaser of the object ornamented as well as to the designer who planned
it. This can only be attained by cultivation.

To know and appreciate the best ornament should be an aim set forth in any
scheme of general education. This knowledge and appreciation can be
obtained by studying the application of the laws and principles of
ornamental art as exemplified in the works of masters, and also by
endeavoring to apply these principles in designs of our own creation.


PRINCIPLES OF ORNAMENT.

We can only arrive at a knowledge of these principles by a consideration of
the object. In other words, nature and history must be studied. First,
_nature_, for she is the primary source and origin of all good ornament,
whether ancient or modern; and if, as in everything else, we would not
become servile imitators and weak copyists, we must go to the fountain
head. Second, _history_, for by the study of the ornament of past ages we
will not only become acquainted with the highest developments of which
ornamental art is capable, but will moreover broaden our views as to its
object and scope, and will stimulate our own imagination and invention, by