Semé (ornament)

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Example of Semé de fleurs de lys in a French coat of arms

Semé ( fr. Aussat , seed bed ) describes a repetition pattern that consists of many regularly arranged, repeating small ornamental shapes . This can create the impression of horizontal, offset or diagonal rows. Its name arose from the association with a regularly laid out garden bed - this in contrast to the scattered pattern , in which the arrangement appears irregular.

Crosses, crowns, lilies, circles, balls, discs, coins, flowers, leaves, rings, drops, tears, letters or other things such as diamonds or window diamonds in stylized form can be used.

The term is used in heraldry and binding research , among other things .

heraldry

Here the term semé is supplemented by the designation of the various motifs of the pattern, see seeded and sprinkled (heraldry) #Variants .

Book cover

framed semé on a book cover, ca.1600

The use of this pattern in the design of book covers, especially from France, is known as the Semé or Semis style . They were made with individual stamps and are usually gold-stamped . The whole book cover or just a large field can be filled with it. The style of the Semé has its origins in bindings in the 16th century. Among other things, it was used for the French Renaissance binding . Book covers Franz I were embossed alternately in rows with lilies and his monogram F. Bindings with semé from lilies and a crowned L by Louis XIII are from the 17th century . receive. Personalized semé by Anna of Austria (1601–1666) , Louis XIV and Cardinal Richelieu are also known. Outside France, for example, bindings for Christian V (Denmark and Norway) (Kronen, 1696) or Gustav III. (Sweden) (Kronen, 1781).

literature

  • Fritz Funke: Book customer. An overview of the history of the book. 6., revised. and additional edition Saur, 1999, ISBN 3-598-11390-0 , p. 350.
  • Otto Mazal : Binding customer. The history of the book cover (= elements of the book and library system. 16). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-88226-888-3 .
  • Hans Loubier: The book cover from its beginnings to the end of the 18th century (= monographs of the arts and crafts. 21/22, ZDB -ID 501163-2 ). 2nd, revised and enlarged edition. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Leipzig 1926

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias Hageböck, Claudia Kleinbub, Wolfgang Metzger, Isabelle Reichherzer: Art of book binding . Historical and modern bindings from the Duchess Anna Amalia Library. Meissner, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-87527-115-7 , p. 62.
  2. ^ Mazal: Binding customer. 1997, p. 181.
  3. ^ Mazal: Binding customer. 1997, p. 234 f.
  4. ↑ Lobier: book cover. 1926, fig. 220.
  5. ↑ Lobier: book cover. 1926, fig. 221.