46 
House & Garden 
HOW to KNOW the MOLDINGS 
Sketched and ^escribed by MATLACK PRICE 
Practically all moldings commonly used today are based on classic 
Greek forms, of which six of the most frequently tCsed are shozvn 
in the sketches to the left and right. The Cavetto is a crowning 
molding, though sometimes used as a supportmg molding; the Cyma 
Recta is essentially a crowning moldin'g and the Cyma Reverse is 
usually found effecting a liaison between two* other moldings. The 
Ovolo is most often a liaison moulding, also, while the Scotia and 
Taurus are both base moldings. Modifications in scale and pro¬ 
portion appear in all moldings in accord ivith their material, which 
may be stone, plaster, wood or metal 
Cyma Reversa 
The three Greek moldings above, modified 
in one way or another to fit material or con¬ 
ditions, are constantly used today. (Below) 
The Cove molding—very commonly used to 
cover corner cracks. Used also as a liaison 
in many compositions which are made up of 
several larger moldings 
An unusually interesting detail 
of wooden moldings, sketched 
from a fine old house on Narra- 
gansett Bay, Rhode Island. It 
illustrates a most desirable spirit 
of freedom in handling plain 
wooden moldings 
Taurus 
The three Greek moldings above, added to the three 
shown to the left, form the basis of virtually all 
combinations of moldings. Scale and proportion, 
however, are essentials of the successftdly designed 
molding, and the designer must feel instinctively 
the modification which would best suit a given 
material 
The "Quarter-round” and "Three- 
quarter round”—two mvldirtgs, of 
which the first is very extensively 
used (like the Cove) as a cover 
molding. The “Three-quarter round” 
is not so frequently seen 
A sketch which shows how three 
moldings are applied to a wall sur¬ 
face, All are common moldings, 
and each is eminently suitable for 
the use 'suggested 
How a piece of paneling is built up—the 
moldings being shown “sawed off” in order 
to make clearer the manner in which mold¬ 
ings are used 
Of course it makes a great deal of difference what ma¬ 
terial a molding is to be run in. The sketch above 
shows the effects of the same molding executed in stone 
and in wood 
