Celtic knotwork
Looping medieval patterns
Celtic knotwork is a decorative style featuring interlaced patterns with no beginning or end—lines weave over and under each other in continuous loops.
Originating in early medieval Irish and British art, it appears in illuminated manuscripts like the Book of Kells, stone carvings, and metalwork.
The designs remain popular in jewelry, tattoos, and graphic design: a Celtic knotwork border, a ring with Celtic knotwork.
- CeltsAncient Indo-European tribal group
- Book of KellsIlluminated medieval Irish gospel manuscript
- interlaceWeave elements together
- eternityBoundless temporal existence
- zoomorphicResembling beast forms
illuminated manuscripts · Picts · La Tène · engraving · interconnectedness · unity · Lindisfarne Gospels · geometric patterns · jewelry · stone carvings · Gaelic · filigree · infinity · carving · Irish mythology · trinity · sacred geometry · spiral patterns
- decorative patternschevrons, paisley, crosshatch, chevron, floral
- folk artstribal art, folk opera, folk theater, Navajo weaving, folk song
- body arttattoo artist, sleeve, tribal tattoo, flash art, tattoo ink
- Celtic RevivalW.B. Yeats, Irish literature, Irish mythology, Irish poetry, Irish folklore
- European craftstartan, Wedgwood, majolica
- folk craftsbasketry, basket weaving, quilting, quilts, embroidery
Celtic knotworktessellation
Gapless plane coverage
polka dots · stripes · herringbone · checkerboard · checkerboard pattern