THE PRIMARY PLAN OF THE BATTERSEA SHIELD

The decorative motifs of palmettes and interlocking S-patterns on the Battersea Shield have a clear place in a well-understood tradition of Celtic art, while the plan of the shield – its schema – has not had such a place. Its essential form is a deliberately constructed configuration crafted specifically by a constructional geometry, within a tradition which persisted and later pervaded Insular art. The