An intriguing pair

These two small painted discs, gifted by George Bain’s family, are intriguing. The shallow carving is on very thin, flat, pieces of wood. Perhaps he designed them to be used as brooches. However, there are no signs of clasps.  Today they might be used as fridge magnets.

Both discs are decorated with interlaced designs, but they are very different from one another. The 6-lobed disc has a very fluid knotwork interlace on a red background. The other is much more angular. It’s interlaced strands of cream and red are brought to life by the dark green setting.