Dog-tooth
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In
Sassanians, where it decorates the arch moulding of the blind arcades and the string courses.[1] The pattern consists of four flower petals forming a square or diamond shape with central elements. The petals have the form of the pointed conical canine tooth
, eye tooth or cuspid.
In the apse of a church at Murano, near Venice, it is similarly employed. In the 12th and 13th centuries it was further elaborated with carving, losing therefore its primitive form, but constituting a most beautiful decorative feature. In Elgin Cathedral in Scotland, the dogtooth ornament in the archivolt becomes a four-lobed leaf, and in Stone church in Kent, a much more enriched type of flower. The term has been supposed to originate in a resemblance to the dog tooth violet, but the original idea of a projecting tooth is a sufficient explanation.[1]
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dog-tooth.
- Ball flower
- Dentil, also means "tooth", but under cornices
References
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dog-tooth". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 385.
