[Images & Artwork: designslinger]

What do you get when you cross an egg with a dart? It's not a chicken joke, just a piece of
architectural ornamentation. While strolling down the street with my best friend, we were looking at great old buildings in downtown San Francisco, talking about some of their facades, when I mentioned an egg and dart detail. He looked at me with that kind of expression people have when they not only don't understand what you've just said, and the words you've used are completely out of context.

I'm surprised myself, at how often people will ask me a question about some kind of architectural
element. "Do you know what that is?" "Do you know the name of that thing?" When I pointed out, literally pointed to the egg and dart high up on the building, a few strangers walking past stopped to look up with us. I'm not sure what they thought we were doing, maybe inspecting the place or giving a tour of some sort, but they seemed interested never-the-less.

[Image: Exterior Pilaster Capital, keyportkid via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]

So, what exactly is it? Well, it's an architectural ovolo molding that incorporates an oval shape
representing the egg, and a pointy silhouette representing an ancient dart or arrow head. It is sometimes referred to as egg and tongue. You can find them carved in stone, wood and plaster on classical, or classically inspired, buildings around the world. It's used as an ornament to trim out all kinds of objects from the top lip of an urn to the edge of a door handle.

[Image: Greek lettering with Egg and Dart, knowmiracles via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]

We have ancient Greece to thank for coming up with this much used bit of decoration, and it is
found on Hellenic buildings that date as far back as the 4th century B.C. Who knows what inspired the first Greek designer to combine the egg and arrow head and turn it into decorative striping. Is it some sort of tribute to women and the power they have over life? Or is it somehow sexual: egg (woman), dart (man). We can't know for sure because no one from that period of history left any explanations. The Roman's were enamored with Greek architecture and you will see plenty of ovals and darts on a walk through Rome's Forum. Indeed the masters of the Renaissance incorporated the molding all over the place, and 19th and early 20th century American classicists found a spot for the little egg shapes wherever they could squeeze them in.

[Image: Egg and dart in building cornice, 100wordminimum via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]

The next time you are wandering around your town, take the time to glance up at the older building
next to you and see if you can spot something that looks like the images we posted today. Or, you may find it up at the top of a wall as it joins the ceiling, in a plaster molded form. Once you're on the hunt, you'll be surprised at how often our egg and dart makes an appearance in some of the unlikeliest places. And, what a show-off you'll be when you can exclaim, "That's an egg and dart molding - in case you didn't know it."