Guilloché

{{Short description|Decorative technique}} {{multiple image|perrow = 1|total_width=250 | image1 = Guilloche without Enamel.jpg|width1=300|caption1= Guilloche work without [[vitreous enamel|enamel]] | image2 = Guilloche Enamel.jpg|caption2= Guilloche work with [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]] }} [[File:An engine-turned (guilloché) watch dial made by Derek Pratt and rejected by him due to imperfections.jpg|thumb|An engine-turned (guilloché) watch dial made by [[Derek Pratt (watchmaker)|Derek Pratt]] and rejected by him due to imperfections that are almost invisible to the bare eye.]] [[File:Bardo Diane chasseresse.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Ancient Roman art|Roman]] guilloche around a scene with [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] the Huntress, late 2nd century AD, mosaic, [[Bardo National Museum (Tunis)|Bardo National Museum]], [[Tunis]], [[Tunisia]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kirkham|first1=Tony|title=Tree: Exploring the Arboreal World|date=2024|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=9781838667795|page=264|url=https://www.phaidon.com/store/art/tree-exploring-the-arboreal-world-9781838667795/|language=}}</ref>]] '''Guilloché''' ({{IPA|fr|ɡijɔʃe|lang}}), or '''guilloche''' ({{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|ˈ|l|əʊ|ʃ}}), is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate, and repetitive [[pattern]] is mechanically [[engraving|engraved]] into an underlying material via [[engine turning]], which uses a machine of the same name. Engine turning machines may include the [[rose engine lathe]] and also the [[Straight line engine turning|straight-line engine]]. This mechanical technique improved on more time-consuming designs achieved by hand and allowed for greater delicacy, precision, and closeness of line, as well as greater speed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Markl |first=Xavier |date=2024-05-03 |title=Technical Perspective: Understanding The Art of Guilloché Dials |url=https://monochrome-watches.com/technical-perspective-the-art-of-guilloche-dials-examples-of-guilloche-patterns-comparison-stamped-cnc-dials/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=Monochrome Watches |language=en-US}}</ref>

The term ''guilloche'' became also used more generally for repetitive architectural patterns of intersecting or overlapping spirals or other shapes, as used in the Ancient [[Near East]], classical Greece and Rome and [[neo-classical architecture]], and Early Medieval [[interlace (art)|interlace]] decoration in [[Anglo-Saxon art]] and elsewhere. Medieval [[Cosmatesque]] stone inlay designs with two ribbons winding around a series of regular central points are very often called guilloche. These central points are often blank, but may contain a figure, such as a rose.<ref>"Guilloche", Osborne, Harold (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts'', 1975, OUP, {{ISBN|0198661134}}</ref> These senses are a back-formation from the engraving ''guilloché'', so called because the architectural motifs resemble the designs produced by later guilloché techniques.

==Uncertain etymology== The name guilloché is [[French language|French]], dating back at least to the 1770s,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4BwzAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA271 ''Vocabulaire françois, ou, abrégé du Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, auquel on a ajouté une nomenclature géographique fort étendue. Ouvrage utile aux François, aux étrangers, & aux jeunes gens de l'un & de l'autre sexe'', 1773]</ref> and is often said to be called after a French engineer named Guillot, who invented a tool or turning machine. However no dates nor first name are provided for this shadowy figure, and many dictionaries seem suspicious of his existence.<ref>Entry for "Guilloche" in ''[[Chambers Dictionary]]'', 1998; the [[OED]] record the word from 1842 in English, but do not give an etymology.</ref>

==History== [[Engine turning]] machines were first used in the 1500–1600s on soft materials such as ivory and wood. In the 18th century they were adopted for metals such as gold and silver.<ref>[http://users.lmi.net/~drewid/PWR_engine_turning.html What kind of a machine did Faberge' use to engrave the gold under the enamel on his famous eggs and other irregular shapes?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040817160137/http://users.lmi.net/~drewid/PWR_engine_turning.html |date=2004-08-17 }} by Peter Rowe.</ref><ref>[http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/2001/mar01/0301v.html Guilloché Enameled Luxuries: Engraved memories of a fanciful era] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108074149/http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/2001/mar01/0301v.html |date=2017-01-08 }}, Professional Jeweler Archive, March 2001.</ref> Some accounts give the credit of developing tightly-packed engraved guilloché decoration to the [[Nuremberg]] glass-making dynasty of the Schwanhardt family in the 17th century,<ref>"Schwanhardt", Osborne, Harold (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts'', 1975, OUP, {{ISBN|0198661134}}</ref> using a wheel to engrave the glass.

Engine turning machines made of cast iron and heavy wooden bases, with precision machined surfaces were made until circa 1967 (e.g. Neuweiler und Engelsberger). Individuals continue the craft of making these elegant machines, but in limited quantities.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.argentblue.com/CustomSilver.html |title=Argent Blue pens |access-date=2012-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727151521/http://argentblue.com/CustomSilver.html |archive-date=2013-07-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A Guilloche Machine was granted a US Patent in 1968 by Wilhelm Brandstatter.<ref>[https://patents.google.com/patent/US3406454?oq=3406454 GUILLOCHE MACHINE US Patent No. 3,406,454]</ref> The original assignor was a firm called Maschinenfabrik Michael Kampf KG. A photo of this machine can be seen at Turati Lombardi's history page.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.turatilombardi.com/historyita.swf |title=Photo of Guilloche Machine |access-date=2013-06-01 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221817/http://www.turatilombardi.com/historyita.swf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 1920s and '30s, automobile parts such as [[valve cover]]s, which are atop the engine, were also engine-turned. Similarly, [[dashboard]]s or the instrument panel of the same were often engine-turned. [[Custom car|Customizers]] also would decorate their vehicles with engine-turning panels similarly.

''Guilloche'' describes a narrow instance of guilloche: a design, frequently architectural, using two curved bands that interlace in a pattern around a central space. Some dictionaries give only this definition of ''guilloche'', although others include the broader meaning associated with guilloché as a second meaning. Note that in the original sense, even a straight line can be guilloché, and persons using the French spelling and pronunciation generally intend the broader, original meaning.<ref>''[[The Century Dictionary]]: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language'' By [[William Dwight Whitney]] 1889</ref><ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=TtxYEMcL8H8C&dq=Guillot+guilloch%C3%A9&pg=PA249 Roman Pavements]'' by Henry Colley March 1906</ref><ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FhIAAAAAYAAJ&dq=guillot+guilloch%C3%A9&pg=PA180 The Anglo-Saxon Review]'' By [[Lady Randolph Spencer Churchill]] 1901. </ref> Translucent [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]] was applied over guilloché metal by [[Peter Carl Fabergé]] on the [[Fabergé eggs]] and other pieces from the 1880s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://reviews.ebay.com/The-Guilloche-Enamelling-Process-and-Charm-Collecting_W0QQugidZ10000000001032914 |title=eBay Guides - The Guilloché Enamelling Process and Charm Collecting |access-date=2007-07-23 |archive-date=2008-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706192122/http://reviews.ebay.com/The-Guilloche-Enamelling-Process-and-Charm-Collecting_W0QQugidZ10000000001032914 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==In today’s terminology== {{Unreferenced|section|date=April 2021}} In consequence of the nature of the design, which is usually a series of lines that are, or look very much like they are interwoven into one another, any design engraved on metal, printed, or otherwise erected on surfaces such as wood or stone, that go in a similar style of constant wriggling that interlock – or look like they are interlocking – with one another, is referred to as guilloché.

Some of the more common ones are the following:

* Engraved (in metal, mainly sterling): in fine timepieces (mainly pocket watches), fine pens, jewelry charms, snuffboxes, hair-styling accessories, wine goblets etc. Examples of famous works of Guilloché are the engravings on [[Fabergé eggs]]. * Erected: on stone for architecture, in wood for styling, on furniture or molding, etc. * Printed: on [[bank note]]s, currency, passports, certificates, etc., to protect against [[counterfeit|forged copies]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology|title=Guilloche Pattern for Security in Confidential Documents|last1=Thinger|first1=Chitra|last2=Paliwal|first2=Komal|pages=376-378|volume=3|issue=10|date=October 2016|url=https://ijiset.com/vol3/v3s10/IJISET_V3_I10_45.pdf|access-date=January 17, 2026}}</ref> The pattern used in this instance is called a [[spirograph]] in mathematics, that is, a [[hypotrochoid]] generated by a fixed point on a circle rolling inside a fixed circle. It has parametric equations. These patterns bear a strong resemblance to the designs produced on the [[Spirograph]], a children's toy.

==Other names for guilloché== The [[engine turning]] machine characteristic of guilloché is called by other names in specific uses: * [[Rose engine lathe|Rose engine]] (metalwork) * [[Straight line engine turning]] ''[[Tour à guilloché]]'' (metalwork) * [[Holtzapffel]] lathe, named after the founder of an ornamental lathe manufacturer John Jacob [[Holtzapffel]] * [[Decoration lathe]] (metalwork) * [[Damaskeening]] (watch movements and horology) * [[Geometric lathe]] (security printing) * [[Cycloidal engine]] (security printing) * [[Ornamental turning]] or [[ornamental lathe]] (woodcarving).

The different types of the machines refer to different models and different times during the development of the engine-turning machine.

== Gallery == ===Engraving technique=== <gallery mode="packed" heights="170px"> File:Horloge, zgn. ‘boule de Genève’, met Zwitserse ankergang, objectnr KA 3620.jpg|A red guilloché enamel [[Boule de Genève]] Image:Guilloche Enamel1.JPG|Guilloche work with [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]] Madonna Lily Egg.jpg|[[Bouquet of Lilies Clock (Fabergé egg)|Bouquet of Lilies Fabergé Egg]] Sonnen-Guilloché Muster auf Uhrwerk Zahnrad 01.jpg|Solar guilloche pattern on a [[watch movement]] crown wheel Guilloché-Muster auf Uhrwerkplatine 01.jpg|Barley guilloche pattern on a watch movement main plate </gallery>

===Ornament=== <gallery mode="packed" heights="180px"> Glazed Tile.jpg|[[Assyria]]n tile with a guilloché border from the North-West Palace at [[Nimrud]] (now in modern Iraq), 883-859 BC, glazed earthenware, [[British Museum]], London<ref>{{cite book|last1=van Lemmen|first1=Hans|title=5000 Years of Tiles|date=2013|publisher=The British Museum Press|isbn=978-0-7141-5099-4|page=17|url=|language=en}}</ref>

Chéneau en pierre et ornements en terre cuite de la Sicile et de Métaponte. Restaurations partielles du temple de Thésée à Athènes, et de celui de Nèmèsis à Rhamnus. Page of L’Architecture Polychrome chez les Grecs, published in 1851.jpg|19th century illustration of multiple [[polychrome]] elements of [[Ancient Greek architecture]], including a guillochés on the right, by [[Jacques Ignace Hittorff]]

File:Klazomenian sarcophagus - Albertinum Group - goat between lion and panther - København NCG 1512A - 01.jpg|[[Ancient Greek art|Ancient Greek]] guilloché on the Klazomenian sarcophagus, {{circa}}500–470 BC, painted clay, [[Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek]], [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]]

File:Greece-0115 (2215074743).jpg|Ancient Greek guilloché on an [[Ionic order|Ionic]] column of the [[Erechtheion]], Athens, Greece, unknown architect, 421–405 BC<ref>{{cite book|last1=Watkin|first1=David|title=A History of Western Architecture|date=2022|publisher=Laurence King|isbn=978-1-52942-030-2|page=38|url=|language=en}}</ref>

File:Θεσσαλονίκη - Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο 1419.jpg|Ancient Greek guilloché on a [[gorytos]], 400-336 BC, silver and gold, [[Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai (Vergina)|Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai]], [[Vergina]], Greece<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=David Michael|title=Pocket Museum - Ancient Greece|date=2017|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51958-5|page=209|url=|language=en}}</ref>

File:Base of a column of the Trajaneum from Pergamon, 115-30 AD, in the Pergamon Museum (02).jpg|[[Ancient Roman architecture|Roman]] guilloché on the base of a column of the Trajaneum from [[Pergamon]], now in the [[Pergamon Museum]], [[Berlin]], Germany, unknown architect, 115–30 AD

File:Pergamon Museum Opheus Mosaic 8294b.jpg|Roman guilloché on the [[Orpheus mosaic]] from the dining room of a Roman house, {{circa}}200, natural stone and glass, Pergamon Museum

file:Ag-obj-5959-001-pub-large.jpg|Roman guilloché on a shield, mid 3rd century, painted wood and hide, [[Yale University Art Gallery]], [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], [[Connecticut]], US<ref>{{cite book|last1=Virginia|first1=L. Campbell|title=Ancient Rome - Pocket Museum|date=2017|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51959-2|page=199|url=|language=en}}</ref>

File:Sala dei gigli, affreschi di ghirlandaio.JPG|[[Renaissance art|Renaissance]] guillochés on some pilasters, part of the Sala dei Gigli [[fresco]]s, [[Palazzo Vecchio]], [[Florence]], Italy, by [[Domenico Ghirlandaio]], 1482-1484

File:Pharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius Caesar MET DP317305.jpg|Renaissance guillochés on a pharmacy jar called ''The Campaigns of Julius Caesar'', 1580–1581, [[maiolica]] (tin-glazed earthenware), [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City

File:Cabinet MET DP117990.jpg|[[Baroque]] guilloché on a cabinet, [[André Charles Boulle]], {{circa}}1700, oak veneered with Macassar and Gabon ebony, ebonized fruitwood, burl wood, and marquetry of tortoiseshell and brass, gilt bronze, Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Tureen with cover MET DT5503.jpg|[[Rococo]] guilloché on a tureen with cover, [[Edme-Pierre Balzac]], 1757–1759, silver, Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Tripod Vase - Wedgwood, c. 1805 - Brooklyn Museum - DSC09038.JPG|[[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] guillochés on a tripod vase, by [[Wedgwood]], {{circa}}1805, [[jasperware]], [[Brooklyn Museum]], New York City

File:Painted Neoclassical mosaic interlace in the Neues Museum in Berlin.jpg|[[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] guilloché on a wall in the [[Neues Museum]], Berlin, by [[Friedrich August Stüler]], 1843-1855

File:6 Strada Grigore Cobălcescu, Bucharest (05).jpg|Neoclassical guilloché on the door of [[Strada Grigore Cobălcescu]] no. 6, [[Bucharest]], Romania, unknown architect, {{circa}}1910

File:Harold Washington Library - Entrance (51575567205).jpg|[[Postmodern architecture|Postmodern]] guillochés on the [[Harold Washington Library]], [[Chicago]], by [[Thomas H. Beeby|Hammond, Beeby & Babka]], 1991<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gura|first1=Judith|title=Postmodern Design Complete|date=2017|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51914-1|page=77|url=|language=en}}</ref> </gallery>

== See also == * [[Basse-taille]] * [[Cloisonné]] * [[Filigree]] * [[Fretwork]] * [[Geometric lathe]] * [[Moire (fabric)]] * [[Ornamental turning]] * [[Roulette curve]] * [[Security printing]] * [[Spirograph]]

==References==

==External links== {{commons category|Guilloché}} *{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Guilloche|noicon=x}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guilloche}} [[Category:Visual motifs]] [[Category:Patterns]] [[Category:Ornaments]] [[Category:Artworks in metal]] [[Category:Vitreous enamel]] [[Category:Machining]]