Symmetrical arch design adds a great touch to cabinetry and mantels. Solid wood brackets used for many shelving and support needs.
Ideal for mantle supports, bar supports, or shelving brackets. These corbels are made of hardwood and can be painted or stained.
Available from Capitol City Lumber.
If for any reason (more…)
Corbels have been cropping up in designer magazines for the last couple years as a popular decorating tool. But if you asked a most home owners what decorative corbels are, chances are they wouldn’t have a clue.
A corbel is a bracket supporting or giving the appearance of supporting a heavy load above. In effect a corbel can either be decorative or structural.
As architectural styles have developed through time, the level of decoration on a corbel has changed accordingly. In medieval times corbels often appeared in the shape of humans or mythical beasts. Gargoyles seen at Notre Dame are examples of decorative corbels rather than having a structural purpose. Some were cast as biblical figures to illustrate tales to the congregation that was unable to read. Continue reading “Decorative Corbels, A Simple Guide”
Throughout the history of corbels, there are basically two main time periods: the traditional and the modern. Each era is characterized by the use of different materials.
To some extent this era has never ended. There are still corbels being used in the same ways that they were centuries ago: on the outside of stone buildings, in stone themselves. But basically the traditional era dates back to approximately medieval times and beyond. This is probably the image that many people have of corbels: marble and stone majestic support structures, outside stately and old buildings, often with gargoyles on top!
If we want to be even more exact, we can trace these pieces back into antiquity, when they were first brought into use during the Neolithic era. At that time we have the so-called Norman corbels which are very plain in design. Continue reading “Materials Used in Corbels – From Traditional to Modern”
The term “corbel” was first used in its architectural application in the 15th century. Nevertheless, the actual supports date back further than that. Some sources claim the beginning of corbels to be somewhere in the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, era. They were also in use in B.C. era China.
The French in particular made exacting demands on what could and couldn’t be called a “corbel”. They said that it had to be perpendicular to both the wall and the surface that it was supporting. They went further than this even, claiming that a support was not allowed to be classed with corbels if its horizontal surface was not longer than its vertical edge running up the wall. The term itself derives from the Old French language via the Latin word corbellus, which means “appearing like the beak of a crow”. Continue reading “History of Corbels – Where the Gargoyles Lurked”
