guilloche
Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- noun An ornament in the form of two or more bands or strings twisted over each other in a continued series, leaving circular openings which are filled with round ornaments.
- noun In ornamental art, any pattern made by interlacing curved lines.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- verb To decorate with intersecting curved lines, or with any pattern composed of curved lines.
- noun An ornamental pattern composed of intersecting curved lines, as the usual decoration of watch-cases; in architecture, an ornament in the form of two or more bands or ribbons interlacing or braided or twisted over each other so as to repeat the same figure in a continued series of spirals. The term is applied, but improperly, to a fret.
Examples
-
Caldwell says he's one of few artisans who know a special technique called guilloche, which scrapes reflective indentations into his metal pieces to create a radiating shine.
-
An ornament known as the guilloche is found in many countries.
-
The birds are depicted using three different enameling processes and guilloche, a delicate method of engraving watch dials.
-
In addition, the floor was paved with a nice mosaic "carpet" in black, white, purple, and orange, representing central guilloche motifs, bordered by bead-and-reels that were lined by chevrons.
-
It possessed a broad edge consisting of diagonal lines in these six colors, colorful meanders lined with black and white tesserae and a guilloche motif (combinations of purple-white, yellow-white, red-orange-white) on a dark background.
-
Among the few in colour, a preliminary mock-up had a fabulous complex guilloche of intertwining threads, which formed a centre roundel.
-
The guilloche takes a new form in Byzantine design, and instead of being a continuous succession of small circles enclosed in an interlacing ribbon, it assumes the form of alternating small and large circles, or of small circles alternating with large squares, and often progressing in both directions at once, horizontally and perpendicularly, and thus forming an all-over pattern.
Note
The word 'guilloche' comes from French, from the name of the tool used in making the ornamentation; possibly from the name Guillot, the inventor of a machine for carving it.