Celtic and Old Norse Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive) [Paperback]

Courtney Davis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Pictorial Archive | Publication Date: September 8, 2000

For artists, designers and craftworkers — 125 royalty-free designs depicting birds, human figures, mythological creatures, interwoven patterns and more, all meticulously adapted from centuries-old rune stones, religious symbols, furniture, manuscripts, sword hilts, cooking utensils, and other artifacts. A wealth of dramatic ornamentation in a practical and inexpensive sourcebook.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (September 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486412296
• ISBN-13: 978-0486412290
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Design > General
  • #1 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Clip Art
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Commercial > Illustration

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for artistic reference., August 12, 2005

By 

Lara Haynes (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Celtic and Old Norse Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive) (Paperback)

I purchased this book as an artistic tool. In the process of ultimately developing my own designs in this stylistic vein, I wanted to be able to refer to line art renderings of actual ancient Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Nordic designs. This book has proved to be an excellent resource. The representations featured here make up a top-notch selection, and I appreciate the basic geographic and chronological labels for each piece. The renderings are nicely detailed, but they're not so intricate as to prove impossible to mimic in a sketch book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best in the Dover Group, July 7, 2001

By 

K. Brownson "student" (Horn Lake, MS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Celtic and Old Norse Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive) (Paperback)

STRONGLY recommend this book as THE best source for Norse type designs! Bold and true, this book is highly usable to impart the Nordic of Old flavor to your work!

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Christianized Celtic design, July 20, 2002

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Celtic and Old Norse Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive) (Paperback)

Most of the designs in CELTIC AND OLD NORSE DESIGNS by Courtney Davis appear to have been copied from items found in and around archelogical sites that date from around 1,000 B.C.E. to about 1,000 C.E., now housed in museums. Davis does not inform the reader of the specific aspects of these pieces. In fact, her text is almost non-existent.

Some of the items shown appear to match items that precede Roman times, others seem to coincide with Roman and early Christian times, and others are very similar to items discoved in Anglo-Saxon tombs like Sutton Hoo, or Viking sites in Scandanavia and are thus contemporary with the early Middle Ages. Some designs are found on spoons, horse collars, or weather vanes, while others are taken from church sculpture or graveyard crosses.

As the elements shown are not categoried by historical period, or referenced or sourced, this is not the scholarly work that I hoped it might be. However, if you don't care it does not matter. I will be using the book for children's artwork projects this summer (i.e. coloring books).