Geodesic
Twill-plaited Octagonal Designs
Well known in many variations ? from Egypt to Mexico, from Norway to China, from Turkey to the USA, from Morocco to New Zealand, from Indonesia to Ghana, from Senegal to Brazil ? is a decorative motif in the form of an octagonal star or an octagonal flower. The octagonal design motif appears woven on textiles, knotted on carpets, laid-in on wood, knitted on pullovers, sewn on quilts, cut out in leather, embroidered on cushions, etc. It appears also on twill-plaited mats and baskets. In this paper, I will present the examples of octagonal designs I encountered so far on twill-plaited mats and baskets. I will propose the hypothesis that one of the possible cultural-historical roots of the decorative motif in the form of an octagonal star ? that is one of the possible roots of the imagination the motif embodies ? may lie in twill plaited toothed square designs. The paper will be concluded with the presentation of other types of octagonal designs and structures in basketry and a second hypothesis.
Classification : 01A07 
@article{VM_2002_4_3_a2,
     author = {Paulus Gerdes},
     title = {Twill-plaited {Octagonal} {Designs}},
     journal = {Visual Mathematics},
     publisher = {mathdoc},
     volume = {4},
     number = {3},
     year = {2002},
     language = {en},
     url = {http://geodesic.mathdoc.fr/item/VM_2002_4_3_a2/}
}
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Paulus Gerdes. Twill-plaited Octagonal Designs. Visual Mathematics, Tome 4 (2002) no. 3. http://geodesic.mathdoc.fr/item/VM_2002_4_3_a2/