bead and reel

American  

noun

Architecture.

1. a convex molding having the form of elongated beads alternating with disks placed edge-on, or with spherical beads, or with both.

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Etymology

Origin of bead and reel

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

On the north side of the pilaster, seven inches of the bead and reel moulding immediately surmounting the anthemia have been skilfully inserted in a groove and fastened with lead.

From A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I (of 2) by Smith, A. H.

A cavetto molding, enriched with a bead and reel astragal and another drilled rope torus, outlines the dark marble facings about the fireplace opening.

From The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia by Cousins, Frank

An astragal with the customary bead and reel separates the cymatium and the corona, while a drilled rope supplies the bed molding above the dentil course.

From The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia by Cousins, Frank

On the east side of the pilaster one of the beads of the lower bead and reel moulding was attached by a plug, of which the hole remains.

From A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I (of 2) by Smith, A. H.

The ovolo about the marble facings of the fireplace bears the conventional bead and reel and egg and dart motives, the latter having a leaf design in alternation with the egg.

From The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia by Cousins, Frank