Interlaced, Paired Ribbons: Guiloche

This door is in N. Bennington, VT.




The drawing below of guiloche (paired ribbons flowing in interlaced curves around a series of voids, usually circular) is half of Plate LII from The Architect, or Practical House Carpenter, 1830, by Asher Benjamin.









This close-up - of the frieze below the transom - shows almost the same guiloche on the door as is in the middle drawing:






But the pattern on the door is not an exact copy, and for a good reason. A 'running' pattern (like the one in the drawing) does not have a beginning or an end. But a front door is the visual focus of a house; it's not on its way to someplace because it is the place.

But, adding a curvy piece above the door emphasizes the whole entrance nicely while complimenting the Ionic columns. So what's a builder to do? A simple answer might be to put one circle of the guiloche smack-dab in the center above the door. But it's still a 'running braid': visually it doesn't stand still, it 'runs'.

The builder of this house came up with an admirable solution: the pattern starts from both sides, so that the ribbons meet in the middle, in an open circle. Now your eye traces the pattern to the circle centered above the door - and stops. Voila!

(The design makes me smile.)

Copying and Plagarism

Over the past few months, I've been reading other people's writing and research on Asher Benjamin. One such scholar, architectural historian Abbot Lowell Cummings, has reviewed all the earlier pattern books (mainly English) that Benjamin copied. Yes, just copied - plate after plate. It turns out that Benjamin made direct copies from what can be found in earlier pattern books, most of them published in England. And at the time, no one seems to have said, "Hey! This is plagiarism!"

I find this interesting in light of conversations I've had about my own work and ownership of intellectual property. When I, an architect who works on old houses, design a new wing, I pay a huge amount of attention to how the existing house was designed. I am mining the existing house for visual knowledge that will help my wing compliment what's there. Sometimes I just plain copy.

But who owns the design that I copied? The original building may not have had an architect, so could it be the property of the carpenter, or the owner? Does it belong to me, because I adapted it? And should anyone even own it at all?

I'm pretty sure Asher Benjamin wasn't deliberately stealing the intellectual property of his predecessors - I doubt people even thought in those terms 200 years ago. I do think he really liked the designs he put in his first books, and he wanted to share what he saw. His own writing - like his paragraphs about light and shadow on mouldings - are so genuine and earnest, that I can imagine Benjamin choosing the plates for his book with the same passion.

So I'm glad no one slapped a lawsuit on him!

how long is your cubit?

It turns out that in 1800 the different measuring systems of the various countries in the western world bumped into each other a lot. A cubit seems to be pretty standard: from your outstretched middle finger to your elbow, (about 18"). But a yard might be from your finger to your nose, (36") or to your near or opposite shoulder, (30", and 42" respectively).

I think this is pretty great stuff since I have been using body dimensions for measuring for years - discretely measuring an interesting space without drawing attention to myself by whipping out a tape measure, helping a client tell me how big is 'big' by stretching out both arms and saying, "This big?"

In 1793, Napoleon tried to create a standard, a metric system, with some success. In 1824, the English made a standard yard, also with some success.

The process took a good 50 years to take hold, and today we still have lots of regional variations, not to speak of the gulf between inches and centimeters.

Here in the States people measured cloth, grain, lumber using the system they had learned in the 'old country'. A Pennsylvania carpenter who repairs 18th century houses has told me he can tell a house built by a German from one built by a Quaker by its dimensioning.

More reason for Asher Benjamin's geometry lessons and proportion diagrams on his plates.

measuring

A friend who reads this blog sent me a link. So I have asked interlibrary loan to borrow a book on tools published by the Colonial Williamburg Foundation.
However, the problem with books on tools is that the authors love what the tools look like, but are not so sure how to date them. And I understand since some of my family's most used tools date to the 1920's.

Meanwhile I have discovered that what I'm really asking is how carpenters measured around 1800. I know, "picky, picky", but :

People didn't need uniform measurements for construction until they wanted to use interchangable parts. If your yard was 36" and mine was 35" , it wasn't a problem.
When Asher Benjamin writes his first books, we are still making the parts for a house specifically for that house - no buying off the shelf. So when it came to finish work, each piece of moulding added at a door opening or chair rail was made to order, however they were measured.

Benjamin's introduction to geometry - his first plates - and his descriptions of how to draw the profiles of various mouldings allow his readers to adapt his patterns to their specific buildings, and use whatever measuring tools they liked.

TOOLS

I am curious about the tools carpenters had around 1800. Asher Benjamin wrote for the trade. He was a 'joiner' himself. He knew what his readers were working with. His books will make more sense if I too know what was in those carpenters' tool boxes.
It is not easy to find any information that's not prefaced with, " I think..." The list so far includes hand saws, chisels, hammers, plumb bob, planes, wooden squares, bits and braces.

No rulers, no measuring sticks. This last fact really interests me.

Eric Sloan wrote about early American tools in the 1960's. His books have beautiful pictures, some dates, and basic information. He knew a great deal more than is in the books. I wish he had written more.

I have some leads to follow, a few people to consult. I may find some resources. This is like a treasure hunt.

INTER-LIBRARY LOAN

I want to know what other people have written about Asher Benjamin. The books I want to read aren't in most libraries, but through the inter-library loan system I can borrow them. So I went to our public library where I can ask for 3 books a week.

The first came yesterday. It wasn't a book, but a reprint of an article, a very good read.

The library tells me that some of the books I asked for can't be borrowed - too fragile or unique. However, I can go to them, and many are at Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Mass., about 2 hrs. away.

Asher Benjamin built a school there, now a museum - I have seen it. I look forward to seeing it again.

"beautiful variety of light and shade"

Asher Benjamin wrote for carpenters. He starts The American Builder's Companion with ten plates of basic knowledge a 'joiner' would have needed in the early 1800's, including how to divide a circle, how to layout mouldings.

Many readers seem to skip this technical part of his books, seeing it as archaic. Sometimes historians are interested in how Georgian architecture changed from using mouldings based on the circle (Roman) to those based on the ellipse (Greek). So they note the plates and move on.

They miss the man who knows how light creates. He cares about what he is seeing so passionately that he figures out how to write about it so he can share it with his readers.
I know first hand that it's not easy to put what an architect sees into words that someone else can understand!

Try this:
" In the Roman ovolo there is no turning inward, at the top: therefore, when the sun shines on its surface, it will not be so bright, on its upper edge, as the Grecian ovolo; nor will it cause so beautiful a line of distinction from the other mouldings, with which it is combined, when it is in shadow, and when lighted by reflection.
...the Grecian, or quirk ovolo, ... if it is entirely in shadow, but receive a reflected light, the bending, or turning inward, at the top, will cause it to contain a greater quantity of shade in that place, but softened downward around the moulding to the under edge."

As I read his text, I met the man himself.

The quotes are from Plate IX, Names of Mouldings, American Builder's Companion, 1810.