Bossage is uncut stone that is laid in place in a building, projecting outward from the building, to later be carved into decorative moldings, capitals, arms, etc.
Bossages are also
rustic work, consisting of stones which seem to advance beyond the surface of the building, by reason of indentures, or channels left in the joinings; used chiefly in the corners of buildings, and called
rustic quoin
Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...
s. The cavity or indenture may be round, square,
chamfer
A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces.
Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...
ed,
bevel
A bevelled edge (UK) or beveled edge (US) is an edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece. The words bevel and chamfer overlap in usage; in general usage, they are often interchanged, while in technical usage, they ...
ed, diamond-shaped, or enclosed with a
cavetto
A cavetto is a concave moulding with a regular curved profile that is part of a circle, widely used in architecture as well as furniture, picture frames, metalwork and other decorative arts. In describing vessels and similar shapes in pottery, ...
or
listel.
See also
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Boss (architecture)
In architecture, a boss is a decorative knob on a ceiling, wall or sculpture.
Bosses can often be found in the ceilings of buildings, particularly at the keystones at the intersections of a rib vault. In Gothic architecture, such roof bosses ...
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Bossage (architecture) in France
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Lifting boss
Lifting bosses or handling bosses are protrusions intentionally left on stones by masons to facilitate maneuvering the blocks with ropes and levers.
They are an important feature of ancient and classical construction, and were often not cut away ...
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Rustication (architecture)
image:Palazzo medici riccardi, bugnato 01.JPG, Two different styles of rustication in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence; smooth-faced above and rough-faced below
Rustication is a range of masonry techniques used in classical architecture g ...
References
Architectural elements
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