A string figure is a design formed by manipulating string on, around, and using one's fingers or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may also involve the use of the mouth, wrist, and feet. They may consist of singular images or be created and altered as a game, known as a string game, or as part of a story involving various figures made in sequence. String figures have also been used for divination, such as to predict the sex of an unborn child.
The most popular and well-known string game appears to be cat's cradle. String figures, which are well distributed throughout the world, include "Jacob's Ladder" ("Osage Diamonds", "Fishnet"), "Cup and Saucer" ("Sake Glass", "Coffee Cup"), and "Tree Hole" ("The Moon Gone Dark", "Sun", "Moon").
Read more about String Figure: History, Terms, Notable Collectors and Enthusiasts
Famous quotes containing the words string and/or figure:
“A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole. If the cultural element called morals takes on a new shape, we must ask what other strings have pulled it out of line. It cannot be one solitary string, nor even the strings nearby, for the network is three-dimensional at least.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)
“I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
firetruck”
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)