PRESENTS

Purely decorative design drew heavily on plant and animal motifs, and there was often such concentration on one or two motifs in a given region that they became identified with the style of that area. The tulip, for instance, is frequently represented in Pennsylvania Dutch art.

One of the most distinctive regional types of folk art using a plant design is Scandinavian rosemaling, or rose painting. Essentially rosemaling consists of colored designs on painted wood. The wood is painted a solid color to highlight the intricacy of the designs, which might otherwise be less noticeable because of the wood grain. In some places only simple flower designs are painted, while in others the decoration is more complex, with figures of people, animals, and trees. Two of the best-known areas for rosemaling are Hallingdal and Telemark in Norway.

The prevalence of animal themes reflects the importance of animals in rural folk life. Domestic pets, horses, and cows especially appeared in decorative patterns. But apart from their frequent realistic depiction for ornamentation, some animals also have strong symbolic aspects: The snake, the horse, and the cat occur with varying significance in many parts of the world. The snake is an especially recurrent theme in religious beliefs, legends, and ceremonies. In the Bible the serpent became a symbol of evil by tempting Eve. There are cobra cults in India, and in ancient Mexico Quetzalcoatl was the feathered serpent of the Aztecs. Cat symbolism was common among the ancient Egyptians, and certain cattle are venerated in India. Folk artists drew upon all the local legends concerning animals to create decorative symbols as well as objects of religious devotion.