The knot, as stylized and used in Celtic wedding rings design is a perfect symbol for the bonds of matrimony and the joining of two lives. If you and your partner are considering using wedding bands that incorporate traditional Celtic patterns, you may be curious as to the Celtic heritage. The Celts encompass a large number of different ethnic groups connected by a common Indo-European language.
The modern Celtic nations are Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The Celtic Diaspora can be found in all English speaking nations of the world. Among outsiders, Celtic art and traditions are often mistaken for the closely related Gaelic traditions of the Irish people. It was long thought that the use of a related language indicated that the Celtic nations were the product of a common ancestor but recent DNA studies have indicated this is not the case.
The term “Celtic art,” which includes Celtic jewelry, refers to stylistic similarities between artifacts of different cultures that suggest a prehistoric relationship to those who spoke the “Proto-Celtic” language. In modern terms, it refers to 18th century Celtic revival art, which was an expression of the desire of contemporary Celts in the British Isles to distinguish themselves from the Anglo-Saxon roots of the English.
Celtic art is highly abstract and stylized, similar to the Arabic art and quite different from the classical Greco-Roman representational tradition. The designs are graphical representations of flowing, endless patterns originally popularized when they were adapted for use in the ornamentation of Roman Catholic manuscripts, churches and monuments.
A common and unique motif in Celtic art is the knot. It is used to symbolize infinity, eternity and union. It is this that makes Celtic bands uniquely suited for matrimonial jewelry.
Modern Celtic wedding rings utilize any of about a dozen traditional Celtic knot patterns. Two or three patterns are sometimes combined. Added to this are edging styles or even edgeless models, which is made possible by fashioning the metal as rope strands that serve as their own edges.
The use of knot patterns in Celtic wedding band design makes them one of the few designs to regularly incorporate open space within the band. Gemstones are applied at the artisan’s discretion and many designs forego faceted gems in favor of the semi-precious polished stones used in historic Celtic jewelry. Types of knot patterns include; the Celtic Knot, Circle, Spiral and Heart as well as the braided two stranded Infinity Knot and the clover leaf like Trinity Knot.
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