Key pattern
Key pattern is the generic term for an interlocking geometric motif made from straight lines or bars that intersect to form rectilinear spiral shapes.[1][2][3] According to Allen and Anderson, the negative space between the lines or bars of a key pattern “resemb[es] the L- or T-shaped slots in an ordinary key to allow it to pass the wards of the lock.”[4]
Key patterns have been discovered and used in ornamentation by a number of global cultures in human history, and are thought to largely have been designed independently of each other.[4][5] The earliest examples of key patterns are seen in textile ornaments from Mezin, Ukraine, dated to approximately 23,000 B.C.[5][6] Key patterns were also common in textile and ceramic ornamentation during the Neolithic period, with examples found among archeological discoveries in present-day Fiji, Peru, Mexico, Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Greece,[4][5][6] as well as in pre-Christian Celtic art.[1][2][3] Many extant examples of early medieval Insular art, such as stone decorations and illuminated manuscripts, also feature key patterns.[3][4]
Celtic mazes and Greek frets are examples of well-known designs that are considered to be key patterns.[2][4][7]
References
- ^ a b Hull, Derek (2003). Celtic and Anglo-Saxon art : geometric aspects. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-549-X. OCLC 52695754.
- ^ a b c Bain, Iain (1994). Celtic key patterns. New York: Sterling Pub. Co. ISBN 0-8069-0740-1. OCLC 29428299.
- ^ a b c Thickpenney, Cynthia (2020). "Making Key pattern in Insular art: The Harley Golden Gospels and Kilmartin Cross". Peopling Insular Art: Practice, Performance, Perception. Cynthia Thickpenny, Katherine Forsyth, J. Geddes, Kate Mathis. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78925-455-6. OCLC 1180971230.
- ^ a b c d e Allen, J. Romilly; Anderson, Joseph; Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1903). The early Christian monuments of Scotland. Edinburgh: Printed by Neill & co., limited. p. 308.
- ^ a b c Radovic, Ljilana; Jablan, Slavik (2001). "Antisymmetry and Modularity in Ornamental Art" (PDF). Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science [Conference Proceedings]: 55–65.
- ^ a b Jablan, Slavik (2005). "Modularity in Art". Modularity : understanding the development and evolution of natural complex systems. Werner Callebaut, Diego Rasskin-Gutman. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-26969-8. OCLC 62098419.
- ^ Özkar, Mine; Lefford, Nyssim (2006). "Modal relationships as stylistic features: Examples from Seljuk and Celtic patterns". Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 57 (11): 1551–1560. doi:10.1002/asi.20431. ISSN 1532-2890.