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Symmetry and Symbolism in Ban Chiang Painted Pottery

1979; University of Chicago Press; Volume: 35; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/jar.35.4.3629544

2153-3806

Penny Van Esterik,

Design Education and Practice

This essay examines the relation between symmetry and symbolism in design production, in order to understand the process of creating symbols. The evidence for the argument is a sample of painted pottery vessels from the area of Ban Chiang, northeast Thailand, tentatively dated from the first millenium B.C. The vessels were probably part of a complex burial ritual. The limitations of working with museum collections are discussed, and a cultural interpretation of these designs is defined. In order to construct a culturally appropriate burial urn, an artist must possess certain technological, social, and symbolic knowledge, some of which is also available to the analyst. Although symbolic knowledge is difficult to retrieve, symmetry is a useful constraint which can be defined mathematically, yet be related to symbolism. Certain symmetry classes offer the potential for alternate interpretations by both artist and observer, and are ambiguous. Ambiguous designs permit or encourage representational interpretation. Other strategies for increasing the informational content of design systems are discussed.