Wilson Eva. 8000 years of ornament: An illustrated handbook of motifs

British Museum Press, 1994. — 216 p.This innovative handbook analyses and explains, with over 600 drawings, the most important decorative motifs from prehistory to the present day. Designs based on plant, animal and human forms, as well as geometric motifs, recur in all cultures and all periods.
Eva Wilson demonstrates that there are a finite number of decorative ideas in art across the world. A limited number of visually striking designs are repeatedly chosen such as the spiral, the leaf border or the combat between lion and bull. In some cultures their use is symbolic, while in others they are purely ornamental. The author draws on examples from all over the world to show how important decorative motifs occur spontaneously and are reinvented repeatedly in different forms. Designers, artists and historians will find this an invaluable work of reference and inspiration.