Design and Tradition / A short account of the principles and historic development of architecture and the applied arts

by Amor Fenn

Applied Mouldings

Applied mouldings were apparently employed in the Jacobean period, and the sections became more elaborate. Worked independently, they were frequently higher in relief than the framings. The facility with which they could be worked and applied resulted at this period in a fashion for complicated mitreing hardly justifiable from a constructional point of view, though effective if not overdone.

No. 140. Applied Mouldings.

In the composition of such mouldings it is desirable that the sizes and contours employed should be contrasting, and that all curved sections be divided by fillets.

As the width of the moulding throughout is uniform, it is obvious that mitral angles must be perfect bi-sections of the meeting lines.

With regard to proportion, the width of mouldings may generally be one-fourth to one-eighth that of the panel according to desired effect, robust or refined.

No. 141. Part of Dresser.

Applied mouldings on drawer fronts.