Celtic Art and Design

by Iain Zaczek

Since many centuries before the birth of Christ, the distinctive lines of Celtic ornament have retained a remarkable stylistic cohesion, surviving mass migration, hostile invasion and religious conversion, to reappear in the arts and crafts of succeeding generations. Celebrated for their metalwork, the early Celts used spirals and knotwork, figurative motifs and symbolic repeating patterns to cover their jewelry and weapons. Later, Christian Ireland revived the ancient designs in illuminated manuscripts and precious ritual objects. Today, the mystical abstract designs of Celtic art are enjoying a new popularity among the young. This collection of twenty-six plates has been selected from a wide range of Celtic themes and media to offer an invaluable pictorial reference book, which is sure to appeal to artists, designers and art historians.

Genres: Art

62 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Gjalt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring for my creativity

[Haley Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty to look at, and not entirely devoid of info, but not much to actually read.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Dover-style reprint-illo book -- not as well-documented or professionally-produced as the Dover books, but the imagery reproduced here is so compelling that the book is well-worth a look.

For instance, here's the Gundestrup Cauldron (circa first century BC, photo at Amazon). This huge silver vessel, found dismantled in a Danish peat bog, is filled with enigmatic images of Celtic deities and rituals. See Wikipedia for the details, which you won't find in this book. But the photographs here are excellent.

Which is the pattern for the book: tantalizing photos of really cool artifacts, like the Battersea Shield (see photo at Amazon), dredged from the Thames, where it was likely placed as an offering, some 2000 years ago. With just enough information to tantalize (or frustrate) the reader. Fortunately, you can easily research the ones that particularly interest you online.

So: the quality of the photographic reproductions is variable -- but many of these artifacts are simply wonderful, and many were new to me. The paper quality is good, and the book is inexpensive. Cautiously recommended to Celtic art fans.