8000 Years of Ornament: An Illustrated History of Motifs

Designs based on plant, animal and human forms, as well as geometric motifs, recur in all cultures and all periods. This handbook analyses and explains, with 600 line drawings, the most important decorative motifs from prehistory to the present day. Eva Wilson demonstrates that there are a finite number of decorative ideas in art across the world. The spiral, swastika and lotus, for example, are among a core group of striking designs which reappear across the centuries. In some cultures their use is symbolic, while in others they are purely ornamental. The author draws on examples from all over the world to show how important decorative motifs occur spontaneously and are re-invented repeatedly in different cultures.