Fig. 109.—Velvet brocade, 16th century. Italian.
114, and 115 are some of their favourite band patterns. Figs. 116 and 117 show some of the patterns on dresses taken from the Greek vases. The shawl (peplum) of Demeter on a vase at the British Museum has chariot races, winged cupids, animals, birds, and dolphins in the successive bands; the sacred shawls of Minerva at the Parthenon (pepla) are only known by description. One had the battle of the gods and giants woven or embroidered on it, and another was ornamented with the portraits of Antigonus and Demetrius Poliorcetes (Plutarch’s Demetrius).
Spotting at regular intervals was the favourite way of decorating the larger surface of dresses. The circular flower that usually formed the spot in Greek ornament was composed of a greater number of petals than the Roman, and is probably of Assyrian origin. (See [Fig. 116].) Saracen work also affords good examples of horizontal band treatment. (See Figs. [Fig. 118] and [Fig. 119].)
The third division: perpendicular bands are not so common in decoration as the former class; they are mostly architectural in character, and usually form divisions between wall-spaces in the shape of panels in piers and pilasters. Triglyphs in friezes may even be classed in this division, and so may the soffits of arches in the Classic and Renaissance styles; the decoration of the soffits of beams and of ribs and groins in Gothic, though some purists say it gives a look of weakness to the arch. When the soffits of arches are wide in proportion to their height they may be panelled, and if narrow be treated like pilaster panels, the bottom of each side
Fig. 110.—Diaper in silk brocade. Italian or Spanish, 16th century; formerly used for dress purposes, but now only employed for furniture.