COUNTER COVER 19

ENCOMIENDAS

The meanings of encomienda designs refer to different sentiments such as safe-keeping, refuge and protection. These designs can commemorate important missions, pay homage to honorable figures or acknowledge a person’s patronage.

Encomiendas are designs through which one person praises another and seeks some kind of reward from the person praised.

Encomienda designs can be found in the embroidered crosses or appliques worn by military order knights, in the Hispano-Muslim tilework. They can also be found in the mandala shapes of Middle Eastern and Far Eastern cultures.

According to sacred geometry, symmetrical forms are usually represented by the two primordial axes that correspond to the cardinal points of the earth, forming a sacred cross that serves as a structure for the four elements of creation.

This elemental structure of refuge and protection is decorated with more or less complex designs depending on the aesthetic canons of the cultures that represent it. In the case of Serrano embroidery in the Sierra de Francia, only geometric elements may be depicted in some cloths, while in others symbolic animal and plant motifs may be used.