An early version of Methods of Construction (2)

By 1935 George Bain was preparing a book on methods of constructing Celtic art. Interestingly his methods changed slightly before a full version was published in 1951. However, these illustrations weren’t used in that book.

In these illustrations Bain emphasises the arching of the interlaced strand. He sets each across spaces in a grid of pre-drawn points. However, in the final book more stress is placed on the spacing of the grid itself. And so we seem to gain some insight into the development of his thinking.

When reviewing what this group shows it is clear that between 1935 and 1945 Bain subtly alters certain aspects of terminology as well as his methods. For example by 1945, when his series of booklets on methods were published, Bain is using the term ‘knotwork’ much more frequently than ‘interlacing’.