Ogee or Ogyve

Ogee Or Ogyve

is a term used in architecture, both ecclesiastic and secular, to designate a molding formed by the combination of a round and hollow, part being concave and part convex. Ogees are extensively used in the classical style of architecture, also in the Gothic, but they are, quite as often as not, used with the hollow part upwards, and in such cases might in strictness be called ocyma recta; they are almost invariably quirked: in Norman work they are very rarely found, and are less common in the Early English than in either of the later styles. This molding assumed different forms at different periods, and the variations, although not sufficiently constant to afford conclusive evidence of the date of a building, often impart very great assistance towards ascertaining its age: fig. 1 is Early English; fig. 2 is used at all periods, but less frequently in the Early English than in the other styles; fig. 3 is Decorated; fig. 4 is late Perpendicular.

The term Ogee is also applied to a pointed arch, the sides of which are each formed of two contrasted curves.