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'Molding' (USA) or 'moulding' (AUS, CAN, UK) is a strip of material with various cross sections used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood. In classical architecture and sculpture, the molding is often carved in marble or other stones.
A "sprung" molding is a strip that has beveled edges, allowing it to be mounted at an angle between two non-parallel planes (such as between a wall and a ceiling). Other types of molding are referred to as "plain".

Contents

Theory

Types

See also

External links

Theory

At their simplest, moldings are a means of applying light and dark shaded stripes to a structure or object without having to change the material or apply pigment. The contrast of dark and light areas gives definition to the object. The aesthetic function is similar to that of go-faster stripes applied to the side of a vehicle.
Imagine the vertical surface of a wall lit by sunlight at an angle of about 45 degrees above the wall. A ''cavetto'' molding against the wall will produce a horizontal shadow that is darker at the top and lighter at the bottom, whereas a ''ovolo'' molding will cause the shadow to be lighter at the top and darker at the bottom. Other concave moldings are the ''scotia'' and ''congé'', and other convex moldings are the ''echinus'', ''torus'' and ''astragal''.
Placing an ovolo molding directly above a cavetto forms a smooth 'S' shaped curve with vertical ends is called an ''ogee'' or ''cyma reversa'' molding, which appears as a band that is light at the top and bottom, but dark in the interior. Similarly, a cavetto above an ovolo forms an 'S' with horizontal ends, called a ''cyma'' or ''cyma recta'' molding, appearing as two dark bands with a light interior.
Together, these basic elements and their variants form a decorative vocabulary which can be assembled and rearranged in endless combinations. This vocabulary is at the core of both Classical architecture and Gothic architecture.

Types

There are a variety of common moldings:

★ 'Astragal' — semi-circular molding attached to one of a pair of especially fire doors to cover the air gap where the doors meet

★ 'Baguette' — Thin, half-round molding, smaller than an astragal, sometimes carved, and enriched with foliages, pearls, ribbands, laurels, etc. When enriched with ornaments, it was also called ''chapelet''. ^[1]

★ 'Bandelet' — Any little band or flat molding, which crowns a Doric architrave. It is also called a tenia. ¹

★ 'Baseboard', "base molding" or "skirting board" — used at the junction of an interior wall and floor to protect the wall from impacts. The so called speed base (a 163 base cap on top of a 1x board and the victorian base (feathered edge) are the most common baseboards.

★ 'Baton' — see Torus

★ 'Batten' or 'board and batten' — a symmetrical molding that is placed across a joint where two parallel panels or boards meet

★ 'Bead molding' — narrow, half-round convex molding, when repeated forms ''reeding''

★ 'Beading' or 'bead' — molding in the form of a row of half spherical beads, larger than ''pearling''

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★ Other forms: Bead and leaf, bead and reel, bead and spindle

★ 'Beak' — Small fillet molding left on the edge of a larmier, which forms a canal, and makes a kind of pendant.¹ See also: chin-beak

★ 'Bed molding' — a narrow molding used at the junction of a wall and ceiling. Bed moldings can be either sprung or plain.

★ 'Cable molding' or 'ropework' — Convex molding carved in imitation of a twisted rope or cord, and used for decorative moldings of the Romanesque style in England, France and Spain and adapted for 18th century silver and furniture design (Thomas Sheraton)^[2]

★ 'Cabled fluting' or 'cable' — Convex circular molding sunk in the concave fluting of a classic column, and rising about one-third of the height of the shaft ¹

★ 'Casing' — Final trim or finished frame around the top, and both sides of a door or window opening

★ 'Cartouche' ( ''escutcheon'') — framed panel in the form of a scroll with an inscribed center, or surrounded by compound moldings decorated with floral motifs

★ 'Cavetto' — ''cavare'': "to hollow", concave, quarter-round molding sometimes employed in the place of the cymatium of a cornice, as in the Done order of the theatre of Marcellus. It forms the crowning feature of the Egyptian temples, and took the place of the cymatium in many of the Etruscan temples.

★ 'Chair rail' — horizontal molding placed part way up a wall to protect the surface from chair-backs, and used simply as decoration

★ 'Chamfer' — beveled edge connecting two surfaces

★ 'Chin-beak' — Concave quarter-round molding. There are few examples of this in ancient buildings, but is common in more recent times.¹

★ 'Corner guard' — Used to protect the edge of the wall at an outside corner, or to cover a joint on an inside corner.

★ 'Cove molding' or 'Coving' — a concave-profile molding that is used at the junction of an interior wall and ceiling

★ 'Crown molding' — a wide, sprung molding that is used at the junction of an interior wall and ceiling. General term for any molding at the top or "crowning" an architectural element.

★ 'Cyma' — molding of double curvature, combining the convex ''ovolo'' and concave ''cavetto''. When the concave part is uppermost, it is called a ''cyma recta'' but if the convex portion is at the top, it is called a ''cyma reversa'', When the crowning molding at the entablature is of the cyma form, it is called a cymatium.

★ 'Dentils' — Small blocks spaced evenly along the bottom edge of the cornice

★ 'Drip cap' — this is placed over a door or window opening to prevent water from flowing under the siding or across the glass

★ 'Echinus' — Similar to the ovolo molding and found beneath the abacus of the Doric capital or decorated with the egg-and-dart pattern below the Ionic capital²

★ 'Egg-and-dart' — One of the most widely used classical moldings² with egg shapes alternating with ''V''-shapes and known from Ancient Greek temples (Erechtheion).

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★ Also: Egg and tongue, egg and anchor, egg and star

★ 'Fillet' — small, flat band separating two surfaces, or between the flutes of a column

★ 'Fluting' — Vertical, half-round grooves cut into the surface of a column in regular intervals, each separated by a flat ''astrigal''. This ornament was used for all but the Tuscan order

★ 'Godroon' or 'Gadroon' — Ornamental band with the appearance of beading or reeding, especially frequent in silverwork and molding. It comes from the Latin word ''Guttus'', meaning flask. It is said to be derived from raised work on linen, applied in France to varieties of the, bead and reel, in which the bead is often carved with ornament. In England the term is constantly used by auctioneers to describe the raised convex decorations under the bowl of stone or terracotta vases. The godroons radiate from the vertical support of the vase and rise half-way up the bowl.

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★ Also: Gadrooning, lobed decoration, (k)nukked decoration, thumb molding

★ 'Guilloche' — Interlocking curved bands in a repeating pattern often forming circles enriched with rosettes and found in Assyrian ornament, classical and Renaissance architecure.²

★ 'Keel molding' — with a sharp edge, resembling in cross-section the keel of a ship. It is common in the Early English and Decorated styles.

★ 'Ovolo' — Simple, convex quarter-round molding that can also be enriched with the egg-and-dart or other pattern

★ 'Rosette' — Circular, floral decorative element found in Mesopotamian design and early Greek ''stele''. Part of revival styles in architecture since the Renaissance.²

★ 'Scotia' — Concave molding with a lower edge projecting beyond the top and so used at the base of columns as a transition between two torus moldings with different diameters ²

★ 'Screen molding' — this is a small molding that is used to hide the area where a screen is attached to the frame.

★ 'Shoe molding', 'toe molding' or quarter-round — often used at the bottom of the baseboard to cover a small gap or uneven edge between the flooring and the baseboard.

★ 'Torus' — Convex, semi-circular molding, larger than an astrigal, often at the base of a column, which may be enriched with leaves or plaiting

See also

★ Architectural terms

★ Architecture of Ancient Greece

★ Architrave

★ Cornice (architecture)

★ Entablature

★ Renaissance architecture

★ Roman architecture

★ Moulding finishing processes

External links

★ Moldings: The Atomic Units of Classical Architecture

★ Professional Carpentry, Trim and Cabinets

★ One of the largest manufacturers of custom picture frame mouldings, architectural mouldings, and furniture and cabinet component mouldings in the United States today.

★ One of the largest picture frame moulding manufacturer in Malaysia.
1.
2. Lewis, Philippa & Gillian Darley (1986) ''Dictionary of Ornament'', NY: Pantheon