Many of the curvilinear Late-Celtic patterns which are used to fill a circular space are based upon the triskele and the swastika. A good example of a curved swastika pattern occurs on each of the three enamelled handles of a bronze bowl found at Barlaston,[324] Staffordshire. Triskele designs are much more common, especially on the round disc fibulæ, specimens of which have been found at Silchester,[325] Hampshire; Brough,[326] Westmoreland; and in the Victoria Cave,[327] near Settle, Yorkshire. There are other instances on the bronze tankards from Elveden,[328] Essex, and Trawsfynydd,[329] Merionethshire; on the bronze shield from the Thames,[330] now in the British Museum; on a bronze disc-and-hook ornament in the Dublin Museum;[331] on a bronze plate in the Welshpool Museum;[332] on some bronze harness-mountings (?)8 from South Shields;[333] on bronze wheel-shaped pendants from Seamill Fort,[334] Ayrshire, from Berkshire, now in the British Museum, from Kingsholm,[335] near Gloucester, and from Treceiri, Carnarvonshire. These designs may have had a symbolical origin, as the triskele was a well-known sun symbol in the Bronze Age. The triskele arrangement of three spirals round a central spiral survived in the decoration of the illuminated MSS. of the Christian period.

In the repoussé metalwork of the Late-Celtic period certain portions of the design are thrown into relief in order to enable them to be distinguished from the rest which is not in relief. Much the same artistic effect can be obtained when the design is engraved on a flat surface by means of shading, and in the case of enamelled plaques, by employing different colours. In fact, by the use of relief, shading, or colour, the decorative effect of a pattern is doubled, because there are two things for the mind to comprehend, namely, the shape of the pattern itself and the shape of the background. Anyone who endeavours to realise both shapes simultaneously will find it an impossibility.

Several different kinds of shading are used in Late-Celtic art, chiefly in ornament engraved on metal, wood, bone, and pottery, as will be seen by the following list:—

List showing different kinds of shading used in
Late-Celtic Art, and the objects on which they occur.

(1) Shading of parallel lines.

(2) Cross-hatching placed diagonally.

On engraved piece of wood and engraved pottery from the Glastonbury Marsh Village.

(3) Cross-hatching placed diagonally, with dots in each of the square meshes.

On engraved wooden tub from the Glastonbury Marsh Village.

(4) Cross-hatching of double lines placed diagonally.

On engraved piece of wood from the Glastonbury Marsh Village.

(5) Chequerwork grass-matting shading.

On bronze sword-sheath from crannog at Lisnacroghera.

On bronze mirrors from Trelan Bahow, Cornwall; Birdlip, Gloucestershire; from unknown locality, now in the Liverpool Museum; and from Stamford Hill, near Plymouth.

(6) Engine-turned shading.

On gold collar from Limavady.

(7) Dotted shading.

Besides the Late-Celtic objects just described, which exhibit curvilinear surface decoration derived from foliage, there are others with very peculiar forms “in the round.” Amongst these are the harness-rings with projecting knobs from Polden Hill, Somersetshire; Stanwick, Yorkshire, and elsewhere; the beaded torques from Lochar Moss, Dumfriesshire; Hynford, Lanark; and the beaded bracelets from Arras and Cowlam, Yorkshire.

The projections on the harness-rings generally occur at three points round the circumference, and their shapes will be better understood from the illustrations than from any written description. It is not easy to say what the meaning or origin of these projections can be, as they bear no obvious resemblance to any natural or artificial object.

The beaded torques mentioned are composed of separate metal beads (usually of two different shapes) strung on a square iron rod, so that they cannot rotate or rattle about. The bracelets are, however, cast in one piece, and made in imitation of a string of beads. This style of bracelet is of foreign origin, as specimens have been found in France[336] and Germany,[337] many of which are elaborately ornamented with spiralwork in high relief.

Rectilinear patterns are of comparatively rare occurrence in Late-Celtic art, as the designers of the period appear to have had a rooted objection to using straight lines if they could possibly be avoided. There are, however, a few exceptions. The small circular enamelled plaques with which the bronze shield from the Thames, now in the British Museum, is decorated, have a swastika pattern on each. The swastika was probably a foreign importation, as it is used in the decoration of the Gaulish bronze helmet from Gorge-Meillet[338] (Marne), and of the iron lance-head from La Tène,[339] Switzerland.

The step-pattern in Late-Celtic art may have had a textile origin, i.e. have been copied from a woven belt or other fabric. Instances of it occur on a piece of engraved wood from the Glastonbury[340] Marsh Village; on the bronze mountings of a shield from Grimthorpe,[341] Yorkshire, now in the British Museum; on the bronze ferrule of a spear-shaft from the Crannog at Lisnacroghera,[342] Co. Antrim; and on a sculptured monolith at Turoe, Co. Galway. The step-pattern survived after the Pagan period in the Christian enamels, as in the bowl from Möklebust,[343] Norway, and the fragment at St. Columba’s College,[344] Dublin. The key-pattern, or Greek fret, is unknown in Late-Celtic art.

The chequerwork pattern may also have had a textile origin. There is an example of it on the bronze sword-sheath from Embleton,[345] Cumberland, now in the British Museum.

The chevron and lozenge patterns are possibly survivals from the preceding Bronze Age. We have instances of the chevron pattern on the bronze mirror from Trelan Bahow,[346] Cornwall, and on a potsherd from the Glastonbury[347] Marsh Village; and of the lozenge on the stave of a bucket[348] from the same site.