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Cultural Threads in Global Patterns

Related Images

  • Fig. 1. Porcelain bowl decorated with various flowers and a band of key-fret patterns near the rim, Ming dynasty, ca. 1426-1435, Jingdezheni, China. From the collection of the British Museum. Accession Number: 1947,0712.180. [British Museum](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1947-0712-180)
  • Fig. 2. Ritual grain server with dragon handles, Late Shang dynasty or early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1100-950 B.C., China. From the collection of the LACMA in Los Angeles. Accession Number: M.89.136.7. [LACMA Los Angeles](https://collections.lacma.org/node/224721)
  • Fig. 3. Interior detail of an Attic red-figure cup, ca. 500-490 B.C. , Vulci. From the collection of the Louvre Museum in Paris. [Wikicommons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Euphronios_0001,_Rider_Louvre_G105.jpg)

It is at times deceptively easy to think of cultures as detached and separate. The world is a big place after all, and our various ways of life can appear very different from one another. However, the civilizations of our world have been connected for far longer than most of us realize. Some of these relations have had an immense impact on the global interchange of artistry, fashion and beliefs. In some curious cases, civilizations have cultivated a similar sense of style completely independent from each other.

A wonderful example of both independent development and cross-cultural interaction can be seen here, in the border decorating these slippers. It appears to be a simple, but unmistakable, Chinese key fret pattern. These distinct ornamental borders can be found adorning textiles, woodwork, and porcelain (see fig.1). These types of patterns have long been part of Chinese visual culture, going back as far as the Chinese Bronze Age (see fig. 2).

However, this pattern is not unique to the regions we now know as China. Similar patterns have been found all over the world. The Western example of these geometric shapes could be found in Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art (see fig.3). Although most of these patterns have developed independently, archeological findings have proved that, as early as the Han dynasty The Han dynasty started in 202 B.C. and lasted until 220 A.D., Roman and Greek artifacts and people have travelled the Silk Road to China John Hill. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: a study of the silk routes during the Later Han Dynasty (Charleston: BookSurge Publishing, 2009), 27. Gary Young, Rome’s Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC-305 AD (London: Routledge, 2001), 29..

We can, however, only speculate about their opinions on their respective styles, and the influence they might have had on each other’s patterns.