Diapering

Diaper is any of a wide range of decorative patterns used in a variety of works of art, such as stained glass, heraldic shields, architecture, and silverwork.

Diaper was particularly used in medieval stained glass to increase the vividness of a coloured pane, for example the field in a shield of arms.

[2] In the manuscripts the diapering was used as an alternative to the gold ground primarily from the late 13th to 15th century, eventually replaced by the landscape background.

[3] In Chinese carved lacquer, 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" (錦地 jǐndì, lit.

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.

Arabesque -like diapering on the field of the shield of the See of Worcester : Argent, ten torteaux four, three, two, and one
Detail of Chinese carved lacquer snuff bottle with Children at Play, and three types of diaper backgrounds, representing ground, water and sky. 18th century
Diamond or lozenge pattern diaper work from 1608 on the walls of Bank Hall , Bretherton