Abstract
It has generally been the practice of analysts to use object-specific features (e.g., Hodder 1982) or holistic, Gestalt configurations (e.g., Willey 1962) to define styles. In this paper I will focus on an alternative approach which emphasizes the more basic properties of form, such as line, color, texture, symmetry, and orientation. I will argue that such basic properties of form lie at the heart of the concept of style. Specifically, I will discuss how study of the different states that can be taken by the basic property of symmetry can enhance our understanding of consistencies in decorative pattern in cultural contexts.
No style of painting could ever be analyzed fully by an exposition of its geometrical structure, but such an exposition is critical to understanding the basic principles upon which a more extensive elaboration of the many issues of style can rest.
Hagen 1986:178
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Belov, N. V. 1964 On One-Dimensional Infinite Crystallographic Groups. In Colored Symmetry, edited by A. B. Shubnikov, N. V Belov and others. Pergamon, New York. Pp. 222–227.
Berlin, Brent, and P Kay 1969 Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Brett-Smith, S. C. 1984 Speech Made Visible: The Irregular as a System of Meaning. Empirical Studies of the Arts 2:127–147.
Buerger, M. and J. S. Lukesh 1937 Wallpaper and Atoms: How a Study of Nature’s Crystal Patterns Aids Scientist and Artist. Technology Review 39:338–342.
Coxeter, H. S. M. 1985a Colored Symmetry. Proceedings of the M. C. Escher Congress, Rome, Italy.
Coxeter, H. S. M. 1985b The Seventeen Black and White Frieze Types. Mathematical Reports of the Academy of Sciences, The Royal Society of Canada 7:327–331.
Crowe, D. W and D. K. Washbum 1985 Groups and Geometry in the Ceramic Art of San Ildefonso. Algebras, Groups and Geometries 3:263–277.
Dember, W N. and J. S. Warm 1979 Psychology of Perception, 2nd ed., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.
Dye, D. S. 1974 A Grammar of Chinese Lattice. Reprinted by Dover, New York. Originally published 1937. Harvard-Yenching Institute, Monograph Series, 5-6. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Federov, E. S. 1891a Symmetry of Regular Systems of Figures. Proceedings of the Imperial Saint Petersburg Society, Series II, No. 28:1–146.
Federov, E. S. 1891b Symmetry in the Plane. Proceedings of the Imperial Saint Petersburg Society, Series II, No. 28:345–389.
Grünbaum, B. and G. C. Shephard 1980 Satins and Twills: An Introduction to the Geometry of Fabrics. Mathematics Magazine 53:139–161.
Grünbaum, B. and G. C. Shephard 1983 Tilings, Patterns, Fabrics and Related Topics in Discrete Geometry, Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung 85:1–32.
Grünbaum, B. and G. C. Shephard 1987 Tilings and Patterns. WH. Freeman, New York.
Grünbaum, B., Z. Grünbaum, and G. C. Shephard 1986 Symmetry in Moorish and Other Ornaments. In: Symmetry: Unifying Human Understanding, edited by I. Hargittai. Pergamon Press, New York. Pp. 641–653.
Hagen, M. A. 1986 Varieties of Realism: Geometries of Representational Art. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hall, R. L. 1977 An Anthropocentric Perspective for Eastern United States Prehistory. American Antiquity 42:499–518.
Henry N. F M., and K. Lonsdale 1952 International Tables for X-Ray Crystallography, Vol 1. Kynoch Press, Birmingham, UK.
Hodder, I. 1982 Symbols in Action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hodder, I. 1986 Reading the Past. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hunt, E. 1977 The Transformation of the Hummingbird. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Lockwood, E. H. and R. H. Macmillan 1978 Geometric Symmetry. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Makovicky E. 1986 Symmetrology of Art: Coloured and Generalized Symmetries. In: Symmetry: Unifying Human Understanding, edited by I. Hargittai. Pergamon Press, New York. Pp. 949–980.
Minsky, M. and S. Papert 1974 Artificial Intelligence. Condon Lectures, Oregon State System of Higher Education, Eugene.
Munn, N. D. 1973 Walbiri Iconography. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
O’Neale, L. M. 1932 Yurok-Karok Basket Weavers. Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, No. 32(1). University of California, Berkeley.
Schattschneider, D. 1978 The Plane Symmetry Groups: Their Recognition and Notation. American Mathematical Monthly 85:439–450.
Senechal, M. 1975 Point Groups and Color Symmetry. Zeitschrift für Kristallographie 142:1–23.
Van Esterik, P. 1979 Symmetry and Symbolism in Ban Chiang Painted Pottery. Journal of Anthropological Research 35: 495–508.
Washburn, D. K. 1977 A Symmetry Analysis of Upper Gila Area Ceramic Design. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 68. Harvard University, Cambridge.
Washburn, D. K. 1983 Symmetry Analysis of Ceramic Design: Two Tests of the Method on Neolithic Material from Greece and the Aegean. In: Structure and Cognition in Art, edited by D. K. Washburn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp. 138–164.
Washburn, D. K. 1984a Symmetry Analysis of lca Valley Ceramics: Insights into Ica-Inca Interactions. Manuscript on file with author, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Washburn, D. K. 1984b Dealers and Collectors of Indian Baskets at the Turn of the Century in California: Their Effect on the Ethnographic Sample. Empirical Studies of the Arts 2:51–74.
Washburn, D. K. 1986a Pattern Symmetry and Colored Repetition in Cultural Contexts. In: Symmetry: Unifying Human Understanding, edited by I. Hargittai. Pergamon Press, New York. Pp. 767–781.
Washburn, D. K. 1986b Symmetry Analysis of Yurok, Karok, and Hupa Indian Basket Designs. Empirical Studies of the Arts 4: 19–45.
Washburn, D. K. 1990 Style, Classification and Ethnicity: Design Categories on Bakuba Raffia Cloth Transactions, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.
Washburn, D.K., and D.W Crowe 1988 Symmetries of Culture: Theory and Practice of Plane Pattern Analysis. The University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Washburn, D. K., and R. G. Matson 1985 Use of Multidimensional Scaling to Display Sensitivity of Symmetry Analysis of Patterned Design to Spatial and Chronological Change: Examples from Anasazi Prehistory. In: Decoding Prehistoric Ceramics, edited by B. Nelson. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. Pp. 75–101.
Weiting, T. W. 1982 The Mathematical Theory of Chromatic Plane Ornaments. Marcel Dekker, New York.
Willey, Gordon R. 1962 The Early Great Styles and the Rise of the Pre-Columbian Civilizations. American Anthropologist 64:1–11.
Woods, H. J. 1935a The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Design. Part I: Point and Line Symmetry in Simple Figures and Borders. Journal of the Textile Institute, Transactions 26:T197–210.
Woods, H. J. 1935b The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Design. Part II: Nets and Sateens. Journal of the Textile Institute, Transactions 26:T293–308.
Woods, H. J. 1935c The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Design. Part III: Geometrical Symmetry in Plane Patterns. Journal of the Textile Institute, Transactions 26:T341–357.
Woods, H. J. 1936 The Geometrical Basis of Pattern Design. Part IV: Counterchange Symmetry in Plane Patterns. Journal of the Textile Institute, Transactions 27:T305–320.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Washburn, D.K. (1995). Style, Perception, and Geometry. In: Carr, C., Neitzel, J.E. (eds) Style, Society, and Person. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1097-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1097-4_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1099-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1097-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive