The use of decorative knots as art is something that goes back to the decks of ships during the age of sail. This art form is more commonly referred to as Macrame, however the sailors that used it everyday called it Marlinspike Seamanship. This art form is actually a skill that was used by sailors to decorate everything from knife handles, bottles, even parts of ships. Sailors would then take the objects they covered with decorative knots and sell or barter them while they were in port.
Decorative knots have been used throughout history, some were used for decoration but most had a more practical purpose. These knots were used to wrap bottles to protect them from falls on the wooden decks of ships. They were used to wrap wood pieces to protect them from the elements. They were also used to make lanyards to keep tools from failing into the sea or worse falling down to the decks and hitting fellow sailors. From these practical knots came the decorative knots. As an example, the knot pictured is a monkey's fist. The monkey's fist was used as a weight that was tied to a string then thrown over the side of the ship to the dock to the longshoremen so they could pull the very heavy mooring lines to the dock. Now today we see them used as key-chains. For some great examples of marlinspike seamanship visit www.marlinspikes.com
