egg and dart

American  

noun

Architecture.

1. a design for enriching an ovolo or echinus, consisting of a closely set, alternating series of oval and pointed forms.

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egg and dart British  

noun

1. 1. an ornamental moulding in which a half egg shape alternates with a dart, tongue, or anchor shape

   2. ( as modifier )

      egg-and-dart moulding

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Etymology

Origin of egg and dart

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Two members of an Ionic capital, consisting of two courses of an egg and dart moulding.

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

The ancient Arabic alphabet and script is itself at once so elegant and so exact that it can be used as a fixed ornament, like the egg and dart pattern or the Greek key.

From The New Jerusalem by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)

In San Lorenzo we find the same ideas and peculiarities, such as the odd egg and dart moulding which reappears on the Annunciation.

From Donatello, by Lord Balcarres by Crawford, David Lindsay, Earl of

They are too fragmentary for restoration, but include bead and reel mouldings, egg and dart patterns, portions of palmette and lotus patterns of elaborate design.

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

Recurring Line and Form The everlastingly recurring egg and dart moulding and the volute are instances of the harmonious effect of very simple arrangements of recurring line and form.

From Line and Form (1900) by Crane, Walter