Antefixse (or Antefixes)

Antefixse (Or Antefixes)

are ornamented tiles on the top of the cornice or eaves .at the end of each ridge of tiling, as on the choragic monument of Lysicrates at Athens; sometimes of marble, but generally of terra-cotta, and ornamented with a mask, honeysuckle, or other decoration moulded on them. Also lions' heads carved on the upper mouldings of the cornice, either for ornament or to serve as spouts to carry off the water, as on the Temple of the Winds at Athens.