58.—P. [85].
59.—P. [83].
60.—L.D. II. 57.
The fret patterns are all modifications of corresponding spirals. The cause of such change is obviously the influence of weaving. As early as the Vth dynasty we find a fret of rhombic form in basket-work in the screen behind the figure of Ptah·bau·nefer, at Gizeh. The angles show that the plaiting was in three directions, as we saw in the basket-work pattern at Benihasan (Fig. [3]). But frets in general are very rare until a late period, and they doubtless depend on the adaptation of spirals to textiles. We see no trace of the fret in the Mykenaean art, the spiral there being figured on stone or metal, while the women wore flounced dresses with scale pattern. But in the pre-Persian age fret pattern weaving in borders was the standard design, as we see on the coloured robes of the Parthenon statues; and immediately after that the stiffest of square frets swarms over Greek art, to the exclusion of the graceful spirals and scroll borders.
61.—P. [82].
