Illustrated Architecture Dictionary ............................. Illustrated FURNITURE Glossary
Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
.............................
Illustrated FURNITURE Glossary
Corbel / Corbel table
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Corbel
[Overlapping] corbels in a corbel table
Architecture1. Corbel: A projecting bracket of stone, brick, wood, metal, etc., which supports a cornice, arch, or oriel. Example: Left illustration above.
2. Corbel: An overlapping arrangement of bricks or stones [overlapping corbels] in which each course extends farther out from the vertical of the wall than the course below. Usually supports a cornice or overhanging member. Example: Center illustration above.
French: "corbel" = a raven; hence, a beak-like projectionA type of bracket.
A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the structure.
Found in almost all styles of architecture
Typical types of corbels: ancone ... modillion
Figurative/figural corbels: Corbels simply or elaborately carved with human, animal or grotesque faces or bodies. Contrast to gargoyles, which were intended to be waterspouts and which were sometimes used for protection against evil spirits, etc.
Machicolation: In medieval fortifications, a projecting gallery or parapet supported on corbels having openings through which stones or boiling water could be dropped on an enemy.
It was a popular architectural feature in early medieval churches, particularly in Romanesque buildings, in which the corbels were carved and elaborately ornamented with decorative motifs, such as fancifully sculptured grotesques. On medieval castle walls, parapets were supported by boldly projecting corbel tables, with floor openings between the corbels through which defenders of the castle could drop missiles, molten lead, or boiling oil on the attacking force below.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (online March 2019)
FurnitureThe corbel was adapted for use in interiors and on furniture, and was popular in Renaissance designs.
CORBEL examples from Buffalo architecture:
- Left illustration above: Hotel Touraine
- Corbel: The Schoellkopf-Vom Berge Manor
- Corbel: Wendt House
- Corbels supporting cornice: 409 Linwood Ave. - Example #1
- Corbels supporting cornice: 409 Linwood Ave. - Example #2
- Corbels supporting arch: Robert B. Adam House
- Corbel: Central Park United Methodist Church
- Corbel: Eberhardt House
- Corbel: Central Presbyterian Church
- Corbel supporting oriel: H.H. Little House
- Corbel supporting oriel: 33 Days Park
- Corbel supporting oriel: Stephen M. Clement House/Red Cross Building
- Corbel supporting balconet: The Midway, 475 Delaware Ave
- Middle illustration above: Overlapping corbels: Connecticut Street Armory
- Corbel table: Assumption RC Church
- Corbel table: Foster House, 3 St. John's Place
- Corbel table: Granger House - Example #1
- Corbel table: Granger House - Example #2
- Corbel table: Jefferson Avenue Shul
- Arcaded corbel table: 696 Seneca Street
- Overlapping corbels: 170 Park Street
- Overlapping corbels: 384 Broadway
- Overlapping corbels: 186 North Street
- Overlapping corbels: (former) Mount St. Joseph's School
- Overlapping corbels: Old Editions Book Shop and Café
- Overlapping corbels: The Granite Works, 854 Main Street
- Right illustration above: Arcaded corbel table: St. Paul's Episcopal Church
- Arcaded corbel table: 321 Ellicott St.
- Arcaded corbel table: Plymouth Methodist Church / Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum
- Arcaded corbel table: Buffalo Gas Light Company
- Arcaded corbel table: St. Joseph's RC Cathedral
CORBEL TABLE examples outside of Buffalo:
- Arcaded corbel table: Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy
- Arcaded corbel table: Florence Cathedral, Italy
- Arcaded corbel table: Russian Orthodox Church, Geneva, Switzerland
- Arcaded corbel table: Palazzo dei Duchi di Santo Stefano, Taormina, Sicily
- Arcaded corbel table: Palazzo dei Duchi di Santo Stefano, Taormina, Sicily
- Overlapping corbels: 102 Main Street, Albion, NY
