Illustrated Architecture Dictionary............... Illustrated FURNITURE Glossary
Illustrated Architecture Dictionary...............
Illustrated FURNITURE Glossary
Dentil
DEN till
ArchitectureA small rectangular block - a tooth-like cube - used in a series forming a molding under Ionic and Corinthian and sometimes Doric cornices
Gouged dentil: Dentil with gouged rectangle in the top center. Example: Calder Loth, Classical Comments: The Doric of the Baths of Diocletian and its Variants (Online Dec. 2012)
Latin: "dentes" = teeth (Dentils supposedly resemble a row of teeth.)
The Greeks were first to declare that architecture was based on the proportions and form of the human body. "Capital," for example, comes from the word "caput," or head.
In addition, dimensions were measured in terms of a human unit like the foot (piede in Italian).
Dentil molding is the exact shape of a toothy dental smile on a jack-o'-lantern.
And need we explain the folds of a groin vault?
- The Annotated Arch, by Carol Strickland. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Pub., 2001, p. 32
Found in classical Greek and Roman architecture and derivatives, including Beaux Arts Classicism, Classical Revival, Federal, Georgian Revival, Greek Revival, Neoclassicism, Renaissance Revival, Second Empire
FurnitureSmall rectangular blocks, generally separated by evenly spaced open areas
See also: Open dentil
Examples from Buffalo:
- Illustration above: Albright-Knox Art Gallery
- 361 Porter Avenue
- St. Anthony's RC Church
- Forest Lawn Delaware Avenue entrance gate
- Frank H. Goodyear Mausoleum Section 23, Forest Lawn Cemetery
- 24 Chapin Parkway
- 109 Chapin Parkway
- Fairfield Library
- Engine #15 Fire Station
- Coatsworth House
- Root Building
- Ellicott Square Building
- Erlanger Theater Demolished 2007
- Knox House, 800 Delaware Avenue
- Knox Farm Main House Gouged dentils
- Furniture: George III bow front bookcase and chest - Dana Tillou Fine Arts
Other examples:
