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Ambiguity in Anglo-Saxon Style I Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2011

Summary

Fresh examination of the detailed zoo- and anthropomorphic motifs on some early Kentish jewellery suggests that they were deliberately designed to deceive the eye. A recurring device is the use of images which have more than one meaning, depending on the angle at which they are viewed. It is suggested that ambiguity may have been a characteristic feature of Style I art, and that the use of this style may have had more than a purely ornamental function.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1984

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