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Diaper is any of a wide range of decorative patterns used in a variety of works of art, such as stained glass,
heraldic shield In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...
s, architecture, and silverwork. Its chief use is in the enlivening of plain surfaces.


Etymology

For the full etymology, see "". The Oxford dictionary gives the Greek ''dia'' for "cross" as in "diamond" or "diagonal"; and ''aspros'', Greek for "white". A white diamond or white cloth is used on the diagonal, hence the diagonal lattice or reticulation in patterning.


In art

In
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
and other decorative arts, diaper is applied as a decorative treatment of a surface with a repeat pattern of squares ( chequers), rectangles, or lozenges. Diaper was particularly used in mediaeval stained glass to increase the vividness of a coloured pane, for example the field in a shield of arms. A stone wall may be decorated with such a pattern sculpted in
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
; in
brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...
the effect may be achieved by using bricks of different colours, or by allowing certain bricks to protrude from the wall's surface to create a regular diamond-shaped pattern. In English
flushwork In architecture, flushwork is decorative masonry work which combines on the same flat plane flint and ashlar stone. If the stone projects from a flat flint wall then the term is proudwork, as the stone stands "proud" rather than being "flush" w ...
, limestone and dark knapped
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...
are used.
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
may be set in a diamond-shaped lattice. In Chinese
carved lacquer Carved lacquer or Qidiao () is a distinctive Chinese form of decorated lacquerware. While lacquer has been used in China for at least 3,000 years, the technique of carving into very thick coatings of it appears to have been developed in the 12 ...
, a convention developed by which the areas of sky, water and floor or ground that would be left largely blank in paintings are filled in with discreet patterns derived from textiles, known as "diaper backgrounds" and also " brocade-grounds" ( , ‘embroidery
like In English, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, filler, and quotative. Uses Comparisons ' ...
background’); this convention has continued to modern times. They are also used on porcelains, especially borders.


Textiles

Diaper in textiles refers to richly decorated fabrics with a small geometrical or floral pattern that consists of the constant repetition of one or more simple figures or units of design evenly spaced. The term was initially associated with
silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
with diamond patterns later applied to linen and
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
fabrics of similar designs. File:Britannica Diaper.jpg, A diaper weave, that is a weave creating a diamond pattern in the cloth. Such cloth is quite absorbent and was therefore used for babies'
nappies A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ ( American and Canadian English) or a nappy ( Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate without using a toilet, by absorbing or con ...
, also called diapers File:Woolen diamond twill.jpg, A similar weave, also called a diamond
twill Twill is a type of textile weave with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves along with plain weave and satin. It is made by passing the weft thread over one or more warp threads then u ...


Heraldry

In heraldry, diapering is a technique in which those who emblazon, draw, paint, or otherwise depict achievements of arms decorate large areas of flat colour by drawing crosshatches or
arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...
s. There is no standard, and each artist is allowed individual idiosyncrasies.


Excluded from blazon

With very rare exceptions, diapering is not a part of the
blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...
, but is mere decoration, or ornamental accessory. Thus a shield with diapering is considered the same as a shield of the same design but without diapering. For this reason diapering must not be so obtrusive or so heavily drawn that it could be mistaken for a substantive
charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
or for a
variation of the field In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field (or a charge) may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field. Blazoning of French adjectives Variations of the field p ...
. This is especially the case with diaper of simple cross-hatching which might be mistaken for a field of
lozengy The lozenge in heraldry is a diamond-shaped rhombus charge (an object that can be placed on the field of the shield), usually somewhat narrower than it is tall. It is to be distinguished in modern heraldry from the fusil, which is like the loze ...
.


Exceptions

There are at least three Scots coats whose blazon includes diaper: *Fulton of Lochliboside, ''Az. diapered or semy of fleurs de lys of the last, on a fess arg. two boar's heads erased of the field'' (Public Register vol 1, p 551, 1789);Hastings Paul and James Balfour Paul, An Ordinary of Arms: Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and bearings in Scotland, p. 159
Accessed 1 March 2018
*Fulton of Park of Inchinnan, a
difference Difference, The Difference, Differences or Differently may refer to: Music * ''Difference'' (album), by Dreamtale, 2005 * ''Differently'' (album), by Cassie Davis, 2009 ** "Differently" (song), by Cassie Davis, 2009 * ''The Difference'' (al ...
of the above, ''Az. diapered or semy of fleurs de lys of the last, on a fess arg. a boar's head erased of the field'' (Public Register vol 1. pp 550–1); *Royal Burgh of Cullen, a 20th-century armorial: ''Per fess sable and argent, in chief on a sedilla or cushioned gules diapered or the Blessed Virgin enthroned proper habited gules mantled azure crowned or and holding in her dexter hand a sceptre surmounted of a fleur de lis or and in her sinister arm the Holy Child enhaloed also proper in base a talbot passant of the first'' (Public Register, vol 41, p 37, 1956).


Examples

File:PercyArmsBeverleyMinster1350.jpg, Arms of Percy,
Beverley Minster Beverley Minster, otherwise known as the Parish Church of Saint John and Saint Martin, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-third ...
, c.1350: ''A lion rampant''. The diaper decoration of squared quatrefoils in the field has not been included in the
blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...
. Were the shield to show the tinctures, the blazon would be: ''Or, a lion rampant azure'' File:ShieldOfWilliamDeValence.jpg, Arabesque diaper on the Heraldic shield of
William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke {{Infobox noble, name=William de Valence, christening_date=, noble family=, house-type=, father= Hugh X of Lusignan, mother=Isabella of Angoulême, birth_name=, birth_date=, birth_place=, christening_place=, styles=, death_date=13 June 1296, death ...
(d.1296) from his tomb in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
.
Champlevé Champlevé is an enamelling technique in the decorative arts, or an object made by that process, in which troughs or cells are carved, etched, die struck, or Casting (metalworking), cast into the surface of a metal object, and filled with vitre ...
enamel File:Crewe Hall (garden front).jpg, Diaper work at
Crewe Hall Crewe Hall is a Jacobean mansion located near Crewe Green, east of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire,Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 22 it is listed at grade I. Built in 16 ...
, Cheshire built 1615–36 File:Norwich gaol.JPG,
Flushwork In architecture, flushwork is decorative masonry work which combines on the same flat plane flint and ashlar stone. If the stone projects from a flat flint wall then the term is proudwork, as the stone stands "proud" rather than being "flush" w ...
diapering on the end of the Guildhall,
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, 1407–12 File:Heater shield diapered(1765).jpg, Diapering on the arms ("per pale nebuly
argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to ...
and azure") as borne by the descendants of Rev. William Courtenay Thomas,Joseph A. Alexander (ed.), Who's Who in Australia 1955 (Melbourne: Colorgravure Publications, 1955), p.749. himself an agnatic descendant of Sir
William ap Thomas Sir William ap Thomas (died 1445) was a Welsh nobleman, politician, knight, and courtier. He was a member of the Welsh gentry family that came to be known as the Herbert family through his son William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (8th creati ...
.


See also

* Horror vacui


References

{{reflist Decorative arts Visual motifs Heraldry