Decorative Symbols and Motifs for Artists and Craftspeople
“The value of decoration, historically, is due to its having no stimulus of necessity. Where an invention is obviously needed, man will repeatedly invent on much the same lines, to meet his wants. But there is no general need fulfilled by drawing a spiral, rather than a triangle or an octopus. There is great diversity of fertility in different peoples; some abound in fresh ideas--like the Cretans or Apulians, others are limited to two or three stock devices--as the Babylonians or Chinese. The historic connections of design that can be traced, with due regard to place and period, give a strong presumption of a real connection between the designers. This may be due to descent, which will revive a forgotten style after it has been overlaid… or it may be a racial movement… or it may be owing to the labour of captives… of the plait borders,” (, Petrie 3)
-Decorative Symbols and Motifs for Artists and Craftspeople by Flinders Petrie