Studies in early Celtic design

Abstract

Problems of composition in Early Celtic art are considered. The Schwarzenbach cup forms the starting point: it is demonstrated how, on it, classical motifs, for example the lotus flower, are no longer found as clear, concrete units but are broken down into their components. Such splitting up and regrouping of design elements is seen on the decoration of the Reinheim flagon, which to Celtic eyes implied not only compositions of blossom and lyres but whorl motifs as well. Such pieces, which develop southern plant motifs, and which Jacobsthal principally considered for his Early Style, are typical of the western zone of the La Tène culture. In the eastern La Tène zone the most frequent designs, by contrast, are abstract friezes of circles or arcs which are equally in debt to southern prototypes but which ignore their plant‐like elements. Here too, it is noticeable that friezes are split up into individual motifs, with infinite variations. Abstract circle and arc designs also influenced the western La Tène zone, where they stimulated new, richer compositions. They are often assimilated into typical western plant designs. The circle designs of the Marne area represent a high point in this western La Tène art. In these may be seen the whole range of design from the realistic and concrete, to the completely abstract.

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