By Ron Dupuis
They’re seemingly everywhere—underfoot and overhead. You may find them ‘flavouring’ a stew pot or on a salad plate. Perhaps they are a topic on Jeopardy or the pattern of a favourite dress. Auction catalogues and jewellery stores, for certain. They are easy to take for granted, but essential for clean air and shade.
Foliar representations may seem commonplace, but they figure prominently in ancient art and culture, elevated to a higher significance by their use. If you stop to think about it, leaf references abound in popular culture and in common speech, idioms, adages, and sayings. To “turn over a new leaf” means to rejuvenate, rebuild, or reinvent yourself or some characteristic. If you’ve ever been camping, you’ve heard the useful warning “leaflets three, let them be,” thus sparing yourself an uncomfortable encounter with poison ivy. And almost everyone is aware of the proverbial fig leaf in Adam and Eve’s Garden of Eden. Likewise, the Dove of Peace carrying a leafy olive branch.
The current obsession with genealogy and the family tree offers up the popular ancestry.com, inviting a tiny, wee leaf icon, a ‘hints’ indicator, signifying related historic records are available for the lineage devotee.Â
Branching out from there, pun intended, we have the foliate moniker of the Toronto Maple Leafs, grammatically incorrect, but for diehard fans, that’s the least of their worries. Anyone who’s ever watched a war movie has probably noticed the awarding of oak leaf clusters, which comes up at some point. Made of bronze, silver, or gold, these symbols are given to military personnel in recognition of meritorious service.
Leafy, tree-laden neighbourhoods are deemed healthier for residents, and in the autumn, people drive for miles to admire the beauty of leaves changing colour. Links to the popularity of the ever-present foliate motif are easy to find in antique and modern jewellery.
