the elements of celtic art - carmichael, e. k

7/29/2019 The Elements of Celtic Art - Carmichael, E. K

1/36

THE ELEMENTSOF CELTIC ARTBY

E. K. CARMICHAEL, M.C.

PUBLISHED BY AN COMUNN GAIDHEALACH AT114 WEST CAMPBELL STREET, GLASGOW

1922Price One Shilling


2/36

i. I


3/36

THE ELEMENTS OFCELTIC ART


4/36


5/36

THE ELEMENTSOF CELTIC ART

BYE. K. CARMICHAEL, M.C.

PUBLISHED BY AN COMUNN GAIDHEALACH AT114 WEST CAMPBELL STREET, GLASGOW

1922


6/36

LAURISTON CASTLELIBRARY ACCESSIUN

real Ilritain by T. and A. C(jnstable Ltd.tlic lidinbingli Univerbity Press


7/36

The first two chapters of the following- werewritten at the request of the Arts and IndustriesCommittee of An Comunn Gaidhealach for childrenof thirteen years of age and over. They are nowbeing published as an. introduction to the study andapplication of Celtic Art, and a third chapter hasbeen added, more for the benefit of grown-ups.The author hopes that this little book will

stimulate some one to produce one more worthyof the vast subject whkh he has only been ableto hint at in thes6- p-ages.

Teanroit, Beauly,18/8/22.


8/36

The illustration of the Thames Shield isreproduced by permission of the Director ofthe British Museum, and that of the ArdaghChalice by permission of the Council of theRoyal Irish Academy.


9/36

THE THAMES SHIELD[British Museum)


10/36


11/36

CHAPTER IBefore you can understand about the Art of theCelts, you must first know what Art is, and whatuse it is, and how it began.Art is the making of things beautiful, and the

purpose of that beauty is to make us glad whenwe see it. The world seems a better place tous, and life more worth living, when we seesomething that pleases us ; and if the beautifulthing is something that we can use, we feel wecan do better work with it. This is even trueabout clothesmost of us like to wear niceclothes. Don't you feel happier if you are wear-ing pretty clothes ? But even our clothes mustbe suitable for whatever we are doing.

Probably the first ideas of Art, even amongprimitive man and savages, were connected withreligion ; but this is a big subject and need notbe entered upon here.They first began by decorating the person, bycutting the hair in peculiar ways and painting

the face and body, and later on by wearing beadsand ornaments and then skins and clothes.When people began to make weapons, and have

A 2 9


12/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARThouses and furniture, they gradually got the ideaof making- their weapons and furniture prettyby putting patterns on them. They saw, how-ever, that merely putting a pretty pattern ona sword handle or a clay pot did not necessarilymake a handsome sword or a handsome potthey found that the shape of the article had reallymore to do with its beauty than the decorationthat was put on to it. These ancient people didnot often make things only for the sake of theirbeing pretty ; they made things because theyrequired to use them, so that the usefulness ofan article, and not its beauty, was the firstpurpose in making it. Thus if a man weremaking a sword, he would pay far more attentionto making it a good sword than to making itbeautiful, and he would not allow any shape tobe given to it, or any ornamentation to beput on to it, that would spoil its balance orinterfere with its usefulness. And if a man weremaking a stool, he would first try to make it asstrong and steady and comfortable to sit uponas possible. Then, as far as he could withoutspoiling its strength, steadiness and comfort, hewould design its shape or outline so as to makethat as elegant as possible ; to do this he mightmake these six pictures, and choose the one heliked best, as you can do.

lO


13/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTNow in deciding which of these designs he

would choose, he would see that No. 3 wouldnot be a strong stool, and that No. 4 would notbe very steady, and that No. 5 and No. 6,besides being rather affected and unnatural,would require curved legs. For these he wouldhave to find bent branches that were the rightshape, or to bend wood with steam so that itwould stay bent. In this way the wood that

TTT7-n7T\TTT rh 7Kwas at hand would suggest the most naturaland therefore the most artistic shape for thelegs. In No, i the legs come straight down,and you feel that the joint between the legsand the top is strong. In No. 2 the legs aresplayed out only a little, and the joint is nearlyas strong, and the stool looks firmer. In No. 3the legs are splayed still more than in No. 2,and there is still less chance of the stool up-setting, but you feel that the legs may breakaway where they are joined to the top, and it

II


14/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTis just the feeling within you that this shapeis weak and unsuitable for its purpose thatwill make you say that it is ugly. The sameis the case with No. 4, but here it is not theweakness of the joint that you are afraid of,but that the stool is not steady and may upset.There is nothing in itself ugly in having thesupports narrower below than above, for thetwo wheels of a cart, looked at from in front orbehind, are like this, and so are many other things,but in the case of the cart it is to make thewheels stronger that they are closer togetherbelow the axle than above, and so it looksquite well and satisfying. So this is anothervery important thing about Art which can belearned from these pictures that there is agreat tendency for a thing to look well simplybecause it looks strong and suitable for its pur-pose ; but there is also a tendency for a thingto look clumsy and ugly if it looks much strongerthan is necessary. So the man in making thestool must take care that the legs are well pro-portioned to the weight they have to carry.Now having chosen his design, he would makehis stool as well as he was able, but if he wereanxious to make a really beautiful stool he mightthink of decorating it with some patterns. Hereagain the man has got to stop to think. If he

12


15/36

THE ELEMENTS OE CELTIC ARTcarves a pattern on the top of the stool he maymake it uncomfortable to sit upon, the legs wouldbe too thin to ornament except by turning, sohe would probably decide to decorate the top,but not by carving it, but by marking it witha hot poker, or inlaying it with other wood ormetal.

Then would come the question of what patternto put on the top of the stool.Now Art is a thing that is very like language.Every race has got Art of its own, just as everyrace has got a language of its own, and theman who decorates a stool with a pattern or

IT,


16/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTdesign would use the Art of his race in doingso, as it would be the only Art that wouldmean anything to him, just as, were he speaking,he would talk the language of his race, as itwould probably be the only language that heknew.On the preceding page are some drawings show-ing how this man might have decorated the top of

his stool, or any other circular thing, if he were (7)an Egyptian, (8) a Chinaman, (9) a Greek, (10) anIndian, or (i i) an Iberian,^ and last of all (12) howan ancestor of our own might have decorateda circle.

^ Iberian is the name given to the race which inhabited WesternEurope, including this country, before the Celts came in.

14


17/36

CHAPTER IIThe earliest patterns used by the Celts, among-other races, were made up of short, straightlines. They require no description, as you cansee 17 varieties of them in Fig. 13. These are

iimiîiiiiiîiiiiiî

^^/3

very easy for you to copy and make use ofyourselves. The kind of pattern shown in thisfigure is called chequer work, with the exceptionof the two patterns in the last line, which arecalled step patterns, and are really quite differentfrom the others. The best work in Celtic Art

15


18/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTwas done by the people who Hved from 500 B.C.to 1000 A.D. Its appearance was not always thesame throughout that period, nor were the kinds ofpatterns most in favour always the same. But theCelts treated the elements of these patterns inways peculiar to themselves and different fromother people, which you can only learn by studyingexamples of old work.Good Celtic work has the following greneral

characteristics. It is always conventional itnever attempts to represent anything on earthin a natural way and exactly as that thingappears.

Each separate piece of design must be in aseparate panel, and the panel should have a well-marked border round it. You will see that inFigs. 7- 1 1, which are not Celtic, there are two ormore different patterns in each circle, while inFig. 12, which is Celtic, there is only one.The pattern must be complete within the border,

and not (as in Fig. 8) cut off by it. It should fillup the whole panel, as far as the kind of patternused will allow.

Besides these general characteristics there arecharacteristic treatments of each different kind ofpattern, whether spiral, key pattern, or interlace-ment, which also can only be learned by studyingexamples.

16


19/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTSpirals.The oldest form of spiral is just like

the letter S, or Fig. 1 9, and where a number of them

\@\g^

/4are joined or locked together, they form a runningspiral pattern. Fig. 14 shows some of the earlyCeltic running spirals that were used to decorate

sword sheaths and the like, and Fig. 15 shows acircular pattern of the same period that may be

17


20/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTconsidered as a spiral pattern. It may, however,be an artistic treatment of a very old symbol,which was used largely in Celtic and other Art,

called the Swastika. The simplest form of thissymbol is seen in the curious little cross in thevery centre of the figure.

/aThe Christian Celts brought spiral ornament to

a higher perfection than any other race has everreached, notwithstanding that it is the commonest

i8


21/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTmotive used in decoration up to the present day.Figs. 1 6 and 17 are two good examples of spiralornament from the Book of Kells. Fig. 18, whichis to be seen on the Cadbol Stone, is done withthe same pattern as Fig. 16, but made into a squareonly part of which is shown.Key Patterns. \


22/36

THE ELEMENTS OE CELTIC ARTthe one based on squares, but instead of keeping-the squares horizontal, as in Eig^s. 20 and 23, as the

1mIi1

23it

9

Greeks and other peoples did, they turned thesquares diagonally, as in Eig. 22. But althoughthey made many key patterns on squares placed

diagonally, their most char-acteristic and best key pat-terns were made with thesesquares divided into tworight-angled triangles, bydrawing diagonals throughthem. Samples of the keypattern made in this wayare shown in Eigs. 24-29,and some of the ways in

which they filled in the triangles are shown inFig. 30. You will see that Eig. 24 is just thesame as Eig. 23, except that it is made in right-angled triangles instead of in squares, and has

20

^ ^ ^/^\ y^^ /^50


23/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTan extra turn in the spiral. You will be ableto draw these key patterns if you get a cross-ruled sheet of paper and lay it cornerwise.

Interlaced Patterns.Next to the spirals themost important Celtic patterns are made up ofa band bent backwards and forwards, and inter-laced with itself, so that as you follow its course it


24/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTgoes over and under at each crossing alternately.Never must it go over or under twice in succession.Generally the band is endless, as in Fig. 31 a, andsometimes there are two or more endless bands, asin Fig. 3 I B. These patterns are used for decorating-panels, and sometimes for decorating borders,when they are like those in Fig. 32, and are calledplaitwork.The easiest way to design interlaced patterns is

to use a cross-ruled sheet of paper placed corner-wise as for key patterns. I'^ig. 31 represents apiece cut out of a page of a cross-ruled exercisebook, so that the squares are placed diagonally orcornerwise. The first thing to do is to draw twolines at right angles to each other, so that theywill meet in the middle of a square. If yourpattern is to consist of one continuous band, youwill have to select a number of squares for the sidesand ends of your panel that will have a greatestcommon measure of i. Thus in a the sides are4 squares long (two half squares and three wholesquares) and the ends are 3 squares long (two halfand two whole squares). In b, however, the sideshave 4 squares each, and the ends two squareseach, and the g.c.m. of these two numbers being2, you have a pattern consisting of two bands.If instead of having the corners of your panel inthe middle of squares, you have them at the corners

22


25/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ART

1


26/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTof squares, as in Fig. c, then your band will not becontinuous.^ The Celts often did this when theywanted to put the heads and tails of beasts on theends of the bands, but they also often put theirtails in their mouths to make them continuous.

If you try to make one of these patterns yourself,you will find great changes can be made in theappearance of the pattern by making it with theband broader or narrower, or by making the bandblack or the background black, but that thegreatest change is in just how you draw the linesand the curves.The drawings here are not intended to be pretty

but only to show you the way they are done, forthe effect cannot be pretty if you draw the lineswith a ruler and compasses.

Figs. D, E, F, and g show what are calledbreaks in the interlacement, and you will under-stand them if you first study Fig. f and know thatthe dotted line shows how the bands would havegone if they had not been cut off, bent round and

' For purposes of calculation a discontinuous band counts as halfa band. The unit of measurement for the sides and ends of a panelis from centre to centre of adjoining scjuares along the diagonal line.If a side commences at the corner of a square instead of at the centre,a half unit is introduced, which will yield a half or discontinuousband ; and if it also ends at the corner of a square, another half bandwill be produced. Thus, in Fig. c the G.C.M. of the sides and endsis I, but this unit being composed of two half units, two discontinuousbands arc created instead of one continuous one.

24


27/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTjoined up again. These breaks are often used tovary patterns, like a, b, and c. You will see that ifyou put a break like d or e into a it wouldchange into a two band pattern, and if you madea break in b it would change into one continuousband.From making breaks in plaitwork, as you willsee in Fig, 32, arose what is called knotwork, and

55the knots derived from the various positions of thebreaks in plaits of different numbers of strandswill be seen by looking carefully at the drawing.

Vine Spirals. In the Highlands in the i6thcentury and after there grew up yet another kindof design, which is known as the vine spiral, thebeginnings of which we borrowed from EasternEurope. In Christian Art this idea was takenfrom the saying of Christ, * I am the True Vine,'

25


28/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTbut the pattern probably got mixed up with an oldBabylonian pattern of the Tree of Life, with abeast ouardinCT its foot, so althouorh the orioinalpattern was something like Fig. 33A, it will befound that quite often the stem of the plant is acontinuation of the tail of the beast, as in Figs. 331!and c. Interlacement and twisting were also usedin these patterns as well as the spiral. Manyforms of leaf were used, some of which are shownin Fig. 33D. The leaves were not usually derivedfrom the leaves of any actual tree, just as thebeasts in Celtic Art are not real beasts but purelyimaginary, for the Celtsthough not with thebigotry of the Mohammedansbelieved in obeyingliterally the second commandment. You can seeexamples of vine spiral patterns in most old grave-yards in the Highlands.

26


29/36

CHAPTER IIIIn the foregoing I have dealt with only a smallportion of the art-heritage of the Celtic race ;in fact only with those developments of the moreimportant motives which have been sufficientlyinvestigated and their systems so understood asto render them amenable to the designer.

It should here be stated that this investigationwas primarily the work of the late J. RomillyAllen, to whose memory we owe a great debt.There still remain big masses of Celtic decorativeart in such an incomplete state of hivestigation asto leave their systems of construction and theideas underlying them so obscure that description,understanding, and utilization of them is at presentvery difficult. In this category may be mentionedthe splendid flamboyant patterns of Pagan timesand the highly complicated class of interlacedzoomorphic patterns of the Christian period.

Metalbronze, silver, and goldwas the prin-cipal medium of the Celtic artist. Designs onmetal were executed by engraving, piercing,embossing, and by casting in the solid. Inpre- Roman and even in Roman and later times

27


30/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTmetal -work was frequently ornamented withcJiainplevd enamel in beautiful colours. In factthe early Britons were the discoverers of the artof enamelling- direct on to the metal, and manybeautiful examples of enamelled harness bucklesand the like have been discovered.

Perhaps the two best examples of Celtic metal-work, unexcelled by any race at any period, are,of Pagan times, the Thames Shield^ full of joybut magnificently restrained ; and of Christiantimes, the Ardagh Chalice" an abandonment tojoy and perfection, both of which are figured atthe beginning of this book.The coloured enamel work of the Pagan Celts

had its counterpart in early Christian times in theilluminated MSS. of the Celtic Church. Of thesethe most famous is the Book of Kells the greateststorehouse of Celtic art and the most wonder-fully executed illuminated MS. in the world,unsurpassed in artistic beauty by any that hassurvived to the present day.

After having mastered the simpler forms ofCeltic design as set forth in this primer, the

' British Museum Bronze, flamboyant repousse work withenamel. So called because it was found in that river.

" Royal Irish Academy8th century. Silver, bronze, and gold.334 different pieces excluding rivets. Silver wire, enamel, glass,amber and stones, and entirely covered with designs similar to thoseof tlie Book of Kells.

28


31/36

THE ELEMENTS OF CELTIC ARTstudent should go direct to the old examples, and,having- copied and studied these, sliould then fareforth on adventures of his own, inventing andcreating, but keeping close to the tradition andthe spirit of the art,as the old saying has it,lea7i gu dlutJi ri cliit do shinnszr, follow closelythe glory of your forefathers.


32/36


33/36


34/36


35/36


36/36

the elements of celtic art - carmichael, e. k

Documents