Corbels in Architecture—A Photo Gallery

Origin of the Word Corbel

Corbel comes from the Latin word corvus, which describes a large, black bird—the raven, perhaps. One wonders if mythology has something to do with this word catching on in the Middle Ages. Or, perhaps, the corbels were so far up near the roof that they were mistaken for a flock of sharp-beaked birds by a nearsighted nobleman.

It's a mysterious word, but knowing its history can give you ideas for your own home renovation. The restorers who worked on the house shown here painted the corbels a dark, raven-like color projecting from what looks to be yellow dentil fascia.

What is a Corbel Step?

Better known as corbie steps or crow steps, corbel steps are projections above the roofline—usually a parapet-like wall along a gable. The words corbel and corbie both come from the same root. A corbie in Scotland is a big, black bird, like a crow.

Corbie steps can be found throughout the Western world. Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in New Hampshire is made to look larger and more grand with its stepped parapet.

Corbels and Victorian Architecture

Corbel brackets can go up or go down, that is, they can be more horizontal or more vertical. Note the more vertical nature of the corbels in this picture compared with the renovated house seen above. Both interiors and exteriors of Victorian houses were frequently decorated with vertical and sometimes horizontal hand-carved corbels.

Types of Houses With Corbels

Corbels are a distinctive architectural detail for many of the house styles from the United States building boom of the 19th century. Corbels, whether functional or decorative, are often found in Second Empire, Italianate, Gothic Revival, and Renaissance Revival house styles.

Consoles

Cyril Harris's "Dictionary of Architecture and Construction" uses the word console to describe the Western world's decorative bracket.

"console 1. A decorative bracket in the form of a vertical scroll, projecting from a wall to support a cornice, a door or window head, a piece of sculpture, etc.; an ancon."

Harris leaves the word corbel to masonry supports and progressively stepped projections, a procedure to create arches and masonry roofs.

In the Eastern world, the consoles are well displayed on The Diwan-i-Khas, the Hall of Private Audiences, in Fatehpur Sikri, a small city in northern India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar for his most intimate guests, and it features 36 serpentine brackets that are all very intricate and ornate.

The consoles along with the 16th-century carvings at Fatehpur Sikri are good examples of Mughal architecture (a derivative of Persian architecture) functioning similarly to Western architecture, but visually different in design.

All corbels and brackets do not look alike, although any one style may dominate in popularity at a time in history. Despite the differences in style, remember that:

• a corbel is a decorative bracket
• a console is a decorative bracket usually in the form of a vertical scroll
• an ancon or ancone is similar to a console

Masonry Corbels

The fortified towers of Château de Sarzay are well-known as "pepper pot" or "pepper box" turrets because of their tall and slender shape—like a pepper grinder. This 14th-century medieval castle in central France is a good example of functional masonry corbels near the widened top of each turret.

The Corbel Arch

Corbelling is the successive placement of objects to create a structure—much like you can do with a deck of cards to make a "House of Cards." This simple technique was used in ancient times to create primitive arches. Thousands of years ago, rubbing smooth the interior of the arch created a new architecture.

With regards to arches, "The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture" defines corbel as stated below:

"A projecting block, usually of stone, supporting a beam or other horizontal member. A series, each one projecting beyond the one below, can be used in constructing a vault or arch."

As the definition indicates, a "series" of these corbel projections can be stacked together, and if you stack two columns unevenly toward each other, an arch forms.

Note the stone placement in the ancient Greek tomb in the picture. The Treasury of Atreus, with its corbelled arch, is thought to have been built around 1300 BC, well before the Classical Era of Greece and Rome. This type of primitive construction is also found in the Mayan architecture of Mexico.

The Corbelled Roof

The Trulli of Alberobello in southern Italy is a UNESCO World Heritage site. A trullo (singular of trulli) is a house with a conical limestone corbelled roof, also called a corbeled vault. Slabs of stones are arranged in an offset circle, like the corbelled arch but rounded also on the outside and ending in a cone-shaped dome. This primitive construction method of dry corbelling is still used locally.

The great teacher, structural engineer, and professor Mario Salvadori tells us that the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed with a corbelled roof, "slabs each extending three inches inward from the slab below it."

Corbels Today

Modern corbels have the same function as they have always had—decorative and functional as a structural brace. For large restoration projects, master craftsmen are hired to recreate the corbels of historic buildings.

For example, in recreating the facade of the Berliner Schloss (the Berlin Palace), which was destroyed in World War II bombing, sculptor Jens Cacha used old photographs to create clay corbels for the project. 

For houses in historic districts, homeowners should replace corbels according to their historic commission's recommendations. This is usually going to mean that wooden corbels are replaced with wood and stone corbels are replaced with stone. The designs should be historically accurate. Luckily, corbels can be these days purchased or sculpted almost everywhere.

Sources

• Mullins, Lisa c. Survey of Early American Design. National Historical Society. 1987, p. 241.
• Batra, Neelam. Websters New World College Dictionary. John Wiley, 2002, p. 322.
• Harris, Cyril Manton. Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. McGraw-Hill, 1975, pp. 123, 129.
• Fleming, John, et al. The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1980, p. 81.
• Salvadori, Mario. Why Buildings Stand Up. McGraw-Hill, 1980, p. 34.
• “The Trulli of Alberobello.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre.