Quatrefoils are known throughout the world, but their long history, complex meanings, and fashion sense may surprise you.
You may not be familiar with the word quatrefoil, but you’re definitely familiar with its form.
A quatrefoil looks like a four-leaved clover (the name is Latin for four leaves) and, as such, some think it connotes good luck. Others feel it looks like the sepal of a persimmon (more on that later), or four simplified petals of a flower.
Quatrefoils make up countless stained-glass windows in Gothic churches, and other decorative stonework from that era. It appears on ancient heraldry and family crests.
Nowadays, everyone has seen quatrefoils in textiles, wallpapers, jewelry, and furniture. You may have even eaten quatrefoils if you’ve had the Girl Scout Cookies called Trefoils—which means three leaves, even though the cookies have four leaves and are technically quatrefoils.
Images via Alena Gan, ColorMaker, and Pixelformula/Sipa/Shutterstock.
Quatrefoils Are Not-Geographically Unique: Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica
Many quatrefoils can be seen painted on pottery from northern Mesopotamia (in what we now call Syria) during the Neolithic era, 5700–5300 BCE.
The design is found on ceramics from the prolific Halaf culture. And, some historians believe it was a symbol for male fertility.
From ancient Mesopotamia, the quatrefoil was adopted in nearby areas. Thousands of years later, the pattern had spread widely throughout the Middle East and was used on vividly colored rugs, countless types of art, and architectural decoration.
Images via Historia/Shutterstock and Historia/Shutterstock.
Old design patterns like the quatrefoil have a way of not only migrating to surrounding territories naturally, but sometimes also being created independently, by cultures with no knowledge of one another.
Watery caves from the Maya and Mixe people in Mesoamerica (between 1500 – 900 BCE) show quatrefoils repeatedly carved into stone structures. Often these quatrefoils appear as the shape of a mythical creature’s mouth.
Some historians believe the Mesoamerican quatrefoils (from Mexico, Guatemala, and elsewhere) signify otherworldly portals. As they lay often at entryways to flooded areas, they may denote a sort of passage.
In addition to the open-mouthed quatrefoils, stone vessels from Mesoamerica show off quatrefoil designs a bit later. The motif continues through at least 400 BCE, appearing on delicate whiteware pottery and in monumentally large edifices whose entire architectural outline replicates the four leaves.
Asian Quatrefoils May Be Inspired by Persimmons
The nomadic people of the Asian Steppe, called the Sakha, used the quatrefoil as early as the 3rd century BCE. The Sakha roamed the Asian steppes and encountered many cultures in their travels.
Their folk art shows frequent use of the quatrefoil design, in this case symbolizing a revered persimmon sepal.
A sepal is a group of leaves surrounding a plant’s bud. Sepal leaves cradle the base of the bud which, in the case of a persimmon, turns into the fruit.
When you buy a persimmon at the market, you can see the sepal leaves still cupping the fruit in, yes, an exact (and quite elegant) quatrefoil shape.
Images via Magnolia2017 and Igor Masalitin.
In many ancient Asian cultures, the persimmon was valued for its versatility. It could be dried and preserved for long periods of time.
In China, the persimmon saved numerous communities from famine. This was surely true for the Sakha people who created at least sixty varieties of the quatrefoil motif. Their artifacts reveal quatrefoils that are pointed, some curved, others more ornate or geometric.
The Xiongnu people in China were a pastoral community living at the same time as the Sakha. To the Xiongnu, the quatrefoil (embodying the persimmon) was a symbol of protection and rebirth.
The wax seals of persimmon merchants in nearby Caucasia were quatrefoils. By year 722 CE, Chinese bronze vessels were decorated with quatrefoils. Charming ancient Chinese burial objects from 500 CE were wooden quatrefoils covered in shiny gold leaves.
Persimmons continue to be economically and culturally significant in parts of China. Images via Sipa Asia/Shutterstock, CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Shutterstock, and CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Shutterstock.
For centuries, mosques sported the quatrefoil in traceries (ornamental stonework).
Images via Design Pics Inc/Shutterstock, Historia/Shutterstock, Universal History Archive/UIG/Shutterstock, and Historia/Shutterstock.
Quatrefoils Migrate to Europe
Perhaps because of its integral inclusion in mosques, the quatrefoil was used often in ecclesiastic contexts across Europe.
Within Christianity, the four leaves of a quatrefoil were said to represent the four evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Quatrefoils found their way to the Italian San Pietro church in Vincoli (constructed 432-434 CE) where we see quatrefoils in the stonework. Though most European examples of the quatrefoil date much later, this is one of the earliest known references.
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When the Notre Dame cathedral was completed (1260 CE), quatrefoils littered its architecture— including barbed quatrefoils, which have spears added between the lobes.
England’s Crowland Abbey, which burned to the ground numerous times and was rebuilt over and over, shows stone quatrefoils in its latest reconstruction (13th century).
The cathedral C’ d’Oro in Venice (also from 13th century) has quatrefoil designs.
Images via Historia/Shutterstock, Godong/UIG/Shutterstock, Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock, and Gianni Dagli Orti/Shutterstock.
The quatrefoil was also central in the American context. Native American beadwork from 1830-1860, made by the Wabanaki and the Mi’kmaq people, often utilize a floral quatrefoil design.
The beading embellished moccasins and cuffs on ceremonial coats and looked more like a four petaled flower than a clover. For these tribes, the quatrefoil symbolizes the earth’s vital four directions: North, East, South, and West.
In 1859, the United Stated Marine Corps gave way to the quatrefoil’s charms, and a ribboned quatrefoil became the official adornment on the top of USMC officer caps.
For a design that’s lived so many lives and traveled so extensively, the quatrefoil has retained a remarkably upbeat reputation.
At various times, it’s emanated the good luck of a four-leaved clover, male fertility, a long-lasting fruit, rebirth, protection, passage to another world, the four directions, and four evangelists.
Cover image via Henry Clarke/Condé Nast/Shutterstock, ShabacaDesigns, and Igor Masalitin.
