Note 31 — Chapter V · THE INTERPRETATION OF ANDAMANESE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS: CEREMONIAL (continued 3)

To complete the discussion of ornament in general it is necessary to refer very briefly to the ornamentation of objects such as bows, canoes and baskets. Such ornamentation consists of (1) incised patterns (on bows, etc.), which may be compared with the scarification of the body, (2) painting with red paint and white clay (bows, canoes, skulls, etc.), or with prepared wax (Nautilus shell cups, etc.), (3) patterns made with the yellow skin of the Dendrobium (baskets, etc.), and (4) shells attached by thread (baskets, baby-sling, etc.). The important point to note is that the decoration applied to utensils is of the same character throughout as that which, when applied to the body, has been shown to be an expression of the social value of the person. Thus the pattern painted on a canoe with white clay and red paint is the same as that on the body of a dancer. It would seem, therefore, that the ornamentation of utensils is a means of expressing or marking the social value of the decorated object, and it might even be held that the application of ornament to utensils is really a matter of ceremonial. Just as a newly married man is painted with the snake pattern which wears off and is not renewed, so a new canoe or a new South Andaman bow is painted with the same pattern as soon as it is finished, and after this pattern wears off it is not renewed. It is the act of bringing a new canoe or bow into use that is the occasion of the ceremonial expression of its value, if we may so regard the painting. A new relation is established between the society and an object, which thereby acquires a special social value, just as a youth acquires a special new social value at the conclusion of one of the initiation ceremonies. This example is sufficient to show that at least there is nothing in the ornamentation of utensils that conflicts with the explanation of bodily ornament given in this chapter31.