Crystallographic patterns in Philippine indigenous textiles

• Main Authors: De Las Peñas, Ma. Louise Antonette N, Garciano, Agnes, Verzosa, Debbie Marie, Taganap, Eduard C
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2018
• Subjects: symmetry; color symmetry; Philippine indigenous textiles; Mathematics
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/mathematics-faculty-pubs/21; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=mathematics-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

The aim of this study was to analyze a representative sample of Philippine indigenous textiles in order to capture the range of symmetries and color symmetries present. This paper examines the existence of symmetries in finite designs, and classifies the plane-group and frieze-group symmetry types of the repeated patterns in woven textiles. The tendency of a particular symmetry to be more or less common than another can indicate relationships between the symmetries and the weaving technique or the culture that produced them. This paper will also examine designs and patterns with color symmetry found in these textiles. The sample consisted of 588 repeated patterns and finite designs in textiles (389 plane, 166 frieze and 33 finite) culled from well known museums in the Philippines, personal collections of scholars, existing literature on Philippine textiles and field visits.