Elements of Design: The Greek Key

Today, I’m starting a new segment of our blog: Elements of Design. I’ll take a pattern, ornament or any other element of design and share a little info of its history and modern day applications. I love researching the origins of everyday patterns and find it satisfying to have that knowledge when it comes to a particular commission. It’s also cool to see an element of design pop up unexpectedly in everyday life and be aware of its symbolic meaning or special origins. I hope you find enjoyment in these posts as well.

We are starting things off with The Greek Key. It is also called Meandros or the Hellenic Key and has its origins in Ancient Greece. The ancient river Meander was twisty and doubled onto itself, giving a symbolic meaning to the key of “the eternal flow of life”. According to the Dictionary of Ornament, the Greek Key is actually part of a group called the key patterns. The key patterns are variations of a continuous geometric pattern meeting at right angles. The design is sometimes broken up and can also be found with oval forms or rosettes.  During the medieval period, the key form was used primarily due to their interest in labyrinths. This is interesting because the Greek myths claim that there is a connection between the key’s pattern and the Minotaur’s labyrinth.

The design itself is crisply graphic but unobtrusive enough to use in both modern and more formal settings. Today’s design variations give a nod to ancient Greece but have a personality all of their own. As you can see, its use can transcend substrates.

Fabric

Seating

Furniture

Flooring

Decorative Painting: As Accent (with tiles) or as a Subject (stripes)

Victorian Key stencil by Royal Design Studio

Artist Heather Jeltes-Davis

There are several stencil companies with wonderful key patterns. You can easily find most of them by using Stencil Search. Royal Design Studio has a nice one called the Victorian Key stencil in their Sophisticated Borders line (in fact, it’s the one used for the key stripes above) and its sister company, Modello, has some under their Ancient Worlds collection. The Stencil Library also has great designs (click here) and Stencil Kingdom has a full line of Greek stencils. I really like the following?one from Stencil Planet but you can see their whole line here as well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this…until next time, be well!