Folk Stories - Influence from the West
Mermaid design from 16th century pattern book
It is important to acknowledge that Greek folk art has been influenced both by the East and the West for a number of historical reasons.
Let’s look at the influence that the European art had on Greek folk art, mainly because there are some very inspiring 16th century Pattern Books that I’ve come across in my research.
They not only influenced Greek folk art, but also European art and design for many centuries after.
Cretan Embroidery
Above you are looking at a detail of a dress from the island of Crete with a very characteristic two-tailed mermaid or siren.
Further up in the page, you saw an image from one of the 16th century Pattern Books that depicts a similar creature that holds her two tails in her hands.
This is only one of many motifs found in those books that have inspired Greek women to add them to their embroideries and Crete is one of the regions where this influence is very easily identified.
What is most inspiring is that Greek women didn’t just copy these motifs. They incorporated them in their own embroidery style, added symbolic meanings to them and used them to express their wishes, hopes and desires.
If you are getting curious to see the books, I have created a pdf with links where you can find them in full through the MET archives website.
DOWNLOAD LIST OF BOOKS HERE
Some Thoughts
Take a moment to look into them and you will notice that some of these motifs will remind you of design styles of later centuries, like for example the Arts and Crafts movement.
It is no surprise that these motifs influenced European design as embroidery and lacework were very popular ways of creating home décor items at the time.
I am wondering is those motifs adorned the homes that designers like William Morris would have been brought up in. How fascinating would that be?
I hope you find them inspiring and I’d love to hear your thoughts on them. So please contact me to let me know.
And I will leave you with this…
Have a look at Starbucks’ logo and you will find a version of that two-tailed mermaid. That’s the power of a great motif, it can really travel through time!
