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An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or
curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...
—often seen in
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (
sigmoid Sigmoid means resembling the lower-case Greek letter sigma (uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς) or the Latin letter S. Specific uses include: * Sigmoid function, a mathematical function * Sigmoid colon, part of the l ...
). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircular curves or arcs that, as a result of a point of inflection from
concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon A simple polygon that is not convex is called concave, non-convex or ...
to
convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytop ...
or ''vice versa'', have ends of the overall curve that point in opposite directions (and have tangents that are approximately parallel). First seen in textiles in the 12th century, the use of ogee elements—in particular, in the design of arches—has been said to characterise various Gothic and
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
architectural styles. The shape has many such uses in
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
from those periods to the present day, including in the ogee arch in these architectural styles, where two ogees oriented as mirror images compose the sides of the arch, and in decorative molding designs, where single ogees are common profiles (see opening image). The term is also used in marine
construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...
, particularly in shipbuilding, where ogee curves are used in hull design to improve hydrodynamics. The word was sometimes abbreviated as o-g as early as the 18th century, and in
millwork Millwork is historically any wood-mill produced decorative material used in building construction. Stock profiled and patterned millwork building components fabricated by milling at a planing mill can usually be installed with minimal alterat ...
trades associated with building construction, ogee is still sometimes written similarly (e.g., as O.G.).


Use in architecture


Ogee arch

In architecture, the principal use of the term is to describe an
arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
composed of two ogees, mirrored left-to-right and meeting at an apex. First seen in textiles in the 1100s AD, the use of ogee elements, and in particular in the design of arches, has been said to characterise Venetian Gothic and
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
architectural styles. Ogee arches were also a feature of
English Gothic architecture English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of Gothic cathedrals and churches, cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture, Got ...
in the later thirteenth century. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Laurence King Publishing, p. 391.


Moulding

A building's surface detailing, inside and outside, often includes
decorative moulding Moulding (British English), or molding (American English), also coving (in United Kingdom, Australia), is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid ...
, and these often contain ogee-shaped profiles—consisting (from low to high) of a
concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon A simple polygon that is not convex is called concave, non-convex or ...
arc flowing into a
convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytop ...
arc, with vertical ends; if the lower curve is convex and higher one concave, this is known as a Roman ogee, although frequently the terms are used interchangeably and for a variety of other shapes. Alternative names for such a Roman ogee moulding include ''
cyma reversa Moulding (British English), or molding (American English), also coving (in United Kingdom, Australia), is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid ...
'' and ''talon''. The ogee curve is an analogue of a " cyma curve", the difference being that a cyma, or "
cyma recta Moulding (British English), or molding (American English), also coving (in United Kingdom, Australia), is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid ...
", has horizontal rather than vertical ends. The cyma reversa form occurs in antiquity. For example, in ancient
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, the
Tomb of Cyrus The tomb of Cyrus the Great is located in Pasargadae, which was the first capital city of his Achaemenid Empire and is now an archaeological site in the Fars Province of Iran. Prior to being identified with Cyrus the Great by the British diplom ...
featured the cyma reversa. The cyma reversa is also evident in
ancient Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greeks, or Hellenes, whose Ancient Greece, culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Asia Minor, Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC ...
, and takes its name from the
cymatium Cymatium (from Greek κυμάτιον "small wave"), the uppermost molding at the top of the cornice in the classical order, is made of the s-shaped cyma molding (either ''cyma recta'' or ''cyma reversa''), combining a concave cavetto with a con ...
. The ogee and Roman ogee profiles are used in decorative moulding, often framed between mouldings with a square section. As such, it is part of the standard classical decorative vocabulary, adopted from architrave and cornice mouldings of the
Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...
and
Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...
. Ogees are also often used in building interiors, in trim carpentry, for capping a
baseboard In architecture, a baseboard (also called skirting board, skirting, wainscoting, mopboard, trim, floor molding, or base molding) is usually wooden, MDF or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the ...
or
plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...
elements, as a
crown moulding Crown molding (interchangeably spelled crown moulding in British and Commonwealth English) is a form of cornice created out of decorative moulding installed atop an interior wall. It is also used atop doors, windows, pilasters and cabinets. ...
trim piece where a wall meets a ceiling, and in similar fashion, at the tops of pieces of
case furniture A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...
.


Other uses

Ogee is also a mathematical term, meaning an
inflection point In differential calculus and differential geometry, an inflection point, point of inflection, flex, or inflection (rarely inflexion) is a point on a smooth plane curve at which the curvature changes sign. In particular, in the case of the graph ...
. The term also gets used in steam locomotive design, referring to a specific shape of saddle tank on small shunting locomotives, such as the
GER Class 209 The GER Class 209 ( LNER Class Y5) was a class of 0-4-0 saddle tank steam locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway. These locomotives were similar to the NBR G Class but had flat-topped, instead of round-topped, tanks. A total of eight were b ...
. In
fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them. Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...
, the term is used to refer to
aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...
profiles that bear such shapes, e.g., as in the ogee profile of the
Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...
supersonic aircraft. As well, ogee curves are used to minimize water pressure on the downstream face of a dam
spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...
. In aesthetic facial surgery, the term is used to describe the malar or cheekbone prominence transitioning into the mid-cheek hollow. The aim of a mid-face rejuvenation is to restore the ogee curve and enhance the cheekbones, common parts of routine
facelift A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy (from the Ancient Greek () 'wrinkle', and () 'excision', the surgical removal of wrinkles), is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure intended to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are ...
surgery.


Manufactured objects with the ogee description

Ogee is the name given to bubble-shaped chambers of
pot still A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as ...
s that connects the swan neck to the still pot, in
distillation apparatus A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been use ...
, that allow
distillate Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...
to expand, condense, and fall back into the still pot. "Ogee washers" are heavy washers used in fasteners that have a large load-bearing surface; they are used in marine timber construction to prevent bolt heads or nuts from sinking into the face of timbers. The term ogee is used to describe the ogee shape giving rise to radial symmetry around the centre of the washer. Due to the size and shape of such washers, they are generally manufactured as a cast iron product (in accordance with ASTM A47 or A48). "Ogee clocks" were a common type of weight-driven 19th-century
pendulum clock A pendulum clock is a clock that uses a pendulum, a swinging weight, as its timekeeping element. The advantage of a pendulum for timekeeping is that it is an approximate harmonic oscillator: It swings back and forth in a precise time interval dep ...
presented in a simplified Gothic style, with the original design attributed to Chauncey Jerome. Ogee clocks were typically made in the United States, as mantelpieces or to mount to a wall bracket, and are one of the most commonly encountered varieties of American antique clocks. The overall design was rectangular, with framing by moulding with an ogee-profile surrounding a central glass door with a painted scene below the clock face, a door that protected the clock face and pendulum. Weights supported by pulleys fell inside the ogee moulding and so were hidden from view.


Ogee Skirting Boards and Architraves

In contemporary interior design, the ogee profile has been adapted for use in architectural finishing elements such as skirting boards and architraves. These products are typically manufactured from medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and are designed to replicate the traditional double-curved (ogee) moulding profile in a modern, cost-effective form. The ogee skirting board provides a graceful transition between the floor and wall while also concealing minor surface imperfections, whereas ogee architraves are used to frame doorways and windows, lending a subtle classical detail to interior spaces. For example, the "Ogee 1 MDF Skirting Board" available from MDF Skirting World exemplifies how the ogee profile is applied in contemporary building finishes. This product features a refined double-curved design that echoes traditional moulding aesthetics while meeting modern installation and durability standards. Variations in the profile—such as differences in depth, width, and curvature—allow designers to select products that suit a range of interior styles, from classical to modern minimalist.


See also

*
Line of beauty Line of beauty is a term and a theory in art or aesthetics used to describe an S-shaped curved line (a serpentine line) appearing within an object, as the boundary line of an object, or as a virtual boundary line formed by the composition of s ...


References


Further reading

* * Owens, Bill & Dikty, Alan (2009). ''The Art of Distilling Whiskey: An Enthusiast's Guide to the Artisan Distilling of Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, and Other Potent Spirits''. Quarry Books. . p. 26. {{Woodworking Woodworking Arches and vaults