Essay 20 - Best in Class

This page compiles a listing of what I term as a ‘best in class’ tessellation, in which I compile a table and nominate an Escher-like tessellation as the best in a specific category, or subcategory. The premise of this compilation is to challenge you, dear reader, to admire high-quality tessellation, and if at all possible better these with your own efforts. The various categories are as follows, in rough order of importance, specifically of Nos. 1-5; those lower than that listing has uncertain placements in this regard:

1. Animals, excluding birds and fish (save for specific breeds), of a single creature, such as dogs

2. Extinct prehistoric Creatures, such as dinosaurs

3. Human figures, in variety of poses, such as chefs

4. Inanimate objects, such as cars

5. Fantasies, such as angels

6. Famous people, such as Marilyn Monroe

   1. Characters from Japanese folklore, such as Nurarihyon

7. Heads, such as cats

8. Christmas, such as Santa

9. Cartoon characters, such as Bugs Bunny

10. Food, such as carrots

11. Specific tiles, such as the ‘Cairo tiling’

12. Two motifs themed, such as dog and rabbit (e.g. dogs naturally chase rabbits)

13. Two motifs not themed, such as dancers and rabbit (no connection)

14. Characters from comic books, such as Batman

15. Miscellaneous, i.e. none of the above

Of the examples, some of these have more than one instance of view. For instance, the dog has four, of a profile, looking back and running, as well as sitting and standing. Note that not all views are to be regarded as the same intrinsic worth, this depending on how we typically view them. In the animal category, the most recognisable orientation is preferred, with others of a lesser regard.  For example, quadrupeds are ideally seen from the side, rather than the front, although both views are acceptable. In contrast, insects are best seen from above.

The tables below give a wide range of motifs that I consider to have shown to have an Escher-like tessellation as to some degree of worth, in that primarily by silhouette alone these are instantly recognisable. For each distinct motif, alligator, badger etc., I credit the artist who I consider has the ‘best in class’ tessellation, along with a link to the picture. On occasions, choosing a single favoured instance between competing tessellations was not an easy task; many instances of excellent, if not superb have of necessity been left out by this ruling. However, the motifs here should not necessarily be compared as against each other on equal terms. Some examples are decidedly weak and have only been included for the sake of including a ‘best in class’ of that category. For example, Christine Shearer’s ‘Pandas’, of relatively poor quality really only qualify due to her having no competitor in these categories. That said, these are still of some degree of worth, and so are included.

Of note here is that I omit generic birds and fish in the listings. Simply stated, these are amongst the easiest motifs to compose (discussed below), and generally lack a challenge. However, one should not dismiss birds and fish as a challenge out of hand, as they can be made ‘worthwhile’ if they are of a specific instance, such as an eagle or swan, and so, therefore, I thus include here in the listings below examples of this specific type, rather than of a generic bird or fish.

Another reason for this compilation is to try and move the artist away from birds and fish as the choice of motif. A noteworthy challenge in tessellation, to in effect test one’s skills, is to compose a wide range of different motifs (and ideally in different poses), and not just settle for the easier and commonly to be found birds and fish. As such, the latter pairing can be said to lack challenge, in that their outlines are so ambiguous that, within reason, many tessellating shapes can, with a bit of imagination made to be bird or fish-like with relative ease. In contrast, other motifs, of more ‘restrictive’ outlines, pose more of a challenge and so can be said to be of more worth. Furthermore, as they are of a relatively ‘scarce’ nature, they have a certain ‘novelty value’, and so are thus are more interest than the above more commonly found motifs.

Agree/disagree? E-me.

Table 1 - Animals

Table 2 - Extinct Prehistoric Creatures, Dinosaurs

Table 3 - Human Figures

Table 4 - Famous People

Table 5 - Fantasies

Table 6 - Japanese Folklore

Inanimate

Table 7 - Countries

Table 8 - Food

Table 9 - Christmas

Table 10 - Objects

Table 11 - Combinations, Themed

Table 12 - Combinations, non-themed

Table 13 - Heads

Table 14 - Tile Specific

Table 15 - Cartoon Characters

Table 16 - Comic Book Characters

Table 17 - Miscellaneous

Created: 26 June 2010.

Updated: 16 October 2017. 

Updated 23 August, 4 November 2019 with Alec Dixon entries, 26 November 2019 Makiya Torigoe. 

6 April 2020 Alain Nicolas, Select Tile Specific.

31 December 2020. Added dedicated Christmas section, with Hop David added to existing entries previously placed under 'Fantasies'. Also corrected the incorrect placement of the table captions, of which I  learned only this year should be at the top, rather than the bottom!