Personal Production
It is essential to assume that originally it was customary to personally produce whatever was considered necessary in the way of pottery or weapons, but that eventually certain workers would devote themselves more or less exclusively to producing for the community, being compensated by immunity from other labour, and that this developed in course of time into patronage, and the producer being entirely supported by his craft.
Appreciation from would-be possessors stimulated
| No. 1. | |
| A. Cup, Barrow, Denzell, Cornwall. B. Cinerary Urn, Barrow, Stanlake, Oxon. C. Sepulchral remains, Nilgiri Hills, Sth. India. D. Jug, German sepulchral mounds, Bronze Age. | E. Sepulchral remains, Nilgiri Hills, Sth. India. F. Early English puzzle jug. G. Cinerary Urn, Barrow, Bloxworth Down, Dorset. H. Food Vessel, sepulchral mounds, earliest Bronze Age, Ireland. |
No. 2. A. B. Palaeolithic Bone Carvings.
C. " Etching on Bone.
the primitive craftsmen who, in proportion to their individual skill, would be rewarded, and this naturally led to the establishment of the professional worker and artist.
To appreciate the evolution of art it is necessary to consider the early social conditions.
The primitive life was insular and nomadic, the family or tribe staying in any locality only so long as food was available for themselves and herds; such communities were necessarily pastoral and predatory.
The simple requirements under these conditions would be vessels for storage, conveyance, or cooking, probably pottery; weapons, and doubtless jewellery or objects of personal adornment.
Later by necessity and under favourable conditions they would develop agriculture, which would result in fixity of abode; and this would entail precautionary measures for protection from predatory tribes.
The original camp or stockade for this purpose in time led to the fortress or castle for the protection of the town, and the more substantial nature of these gave rise to architecture.
With comparative security more pacific conditions would prevail, and the simple communal life develop into more complex social distinctions.