Typical early English strapwork of 1589, detail from the monument to Sir Gawen Carew in Exeter CathedralFrench stucco, scrollwork and strapwork by Rosso Fiorentino in the Palace of Fontainebleau, 1530s
In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps,[1] parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in a geometric pattern. In early examples there may or may not be three-dimensionality, either actual in curling relief ends of the elements, or just represented in two dimensions. As the style continued, these curling elements became more prominent, often turning into scrollwork, where the ends curl into spirals or scrolls. By the Baroque scrollwork was a common element in ornament, often partly submerged by other rich ornament.
European strapwork is a frequent background and framework for grotesque ornament – arabesque or candelabra figures filled with fantastical creatures, garlands and other elements – which were a frequent decorative motif in 16th-century Northern Mannerism, and revived in the 19th century and which may appear on walls – painted, in frescos, carved in wood, or moulded in plaster or stucco – or in graphic work.[2] The Europeanized arabesque patterns called moresque are also very often combined with strapwork, especially in tooled and gilded bookbindings.
Scrollwork is a variant that tended to replace strapwork almost completely by the Baroque. It is less geometric and more organic, more three dimensional, and with emphasis on the curling ends of the "straps". The Italian artists at the Palace of Fontainebleau had already moved onto this by the 1530s,[3] but in provincial work in northern Europe flat strapwork panels continued for another century or more.
Where there is no suggestion of three dimensions – curling ends and the like – the decoration may also be called bandwork or "interlaced bands", the more technically correct term. Peter Fuhring derives this style from Islamic ornament.[4]
^Dundee School of Town & Regional Planning, The Conservation Glossary
In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather...
art quickly assimilated several elements of the secular style, such as strapwork ornamenting, and extensive segmentation. Paintings have mainly survived...
Title page of first edition of Part I of Don Quixote (1605), featuring the motto Post tenebras spero lucem on the strapwork around the central device...
elements like columns and obelisks. Architectural detail and decorative strapwork patterns derived from continental engravings, especially the prints of...
conceal the construction grid, presenting instead a design of interlaced strapwork. Patterns of seven overlapping circles are found on a Cypro-Archaic I...
spandrel (yellow line). Construction decagons blue, bowties red. The strapwork cuts across the construction tessellation. Analysis of octagonal patterns...
leather"), or else from the fact that the boot was laced or tied on (ligere). Strapwork styles varied from maker to maker and region to region. The placement...
exterior was painted in imitation of marble or huge jewels held by iron strapwork. The rose in the soundboard is surrounded by a painted wreath of flowers...
among other features it acquired versions of the Dutch gable, and Flemish strapwork in geometric designs adorning the walls. The new style tended to manifest...
offering fivefold and tenfold symmetries. The tiles are decorated with strapwork lines (girih), generally more visible than the tile boundaries. In 2007...
handicraft objects, consisting of angled lines that form an interlaced strapwork pattern. Girih decoration is believed to have been inspired by Syrian...
tiles that were used in the creation of Islamic geometric patterns using strapwork (girih) for decoration of buildings in Islamic architecture. They have...
mythological iconography. Renaissance decorative motifs such as grotesques, strapwork and putti are common, as well as a certain degree of eroticism. The figures...
finer (thinner) mosaic pieces and the thin, linear pieces that form the strapwork are coloured whereas the larger pieces that form the "background" are...
was rejected by Lord Carnarvon. The external walls are decorated with strapwork designs typical of Northern European Renaissance architecture. The Italian...
exterior and hall have extensive and busy carved decoration, featuring strapwork and a profusion of decorative forms. The window tracery of the upper floors...
17th-century ships. Mayflower II has the brown hull and the dark-red strapwork ornamentation of 17th-century merchant ships, based on analysis of the...
among other features it used versions of the Dutch gable, and Flemish strapwork in geometric designs. Both of these features can be seen on the towers...
Order of St John and mantle displaying the Cross of Malta, with naval scene behind, under a strapwork arch. Engraving by William Rogers, c. 1595/1602...
underlies examples of medieval Islamic geometric patterns, such as the girih (strapwork) tilings at the Darb-e Imam shrine in Isfahan. Drop City artist Clark...
offering fivefold and tenfold symmetries. The tiles are decorated with strapwork lines (girih), generally more visible than the tile boundaries. In 2007...
with consoled wooden galleries rising three storeys with an elaborate strapwork timber stair, and topped with a glass and queen-post timber roof. Each...
framed central circular scene of battling horseman, surrounded by four strapwork cartouches containing allegorical female figures (Victory, Fame, Fortitude...
floor. It is designed in Tudor Revival style with a plaster ceiling, strapwork, and floral and foliage motifs. The bar room contains walnut woodwork...
arches above which is a marquetry frieze. The ceiling has studded bands, strapwork cartouches and a broad frieze. Over the fireplace is a large stone overmantel...
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