Engineering:Bossage
Bossage is uncut stone that is laid in place in a building, projecting outward from the building, to later be carved into decorative moldings, capitals, arms, etc.
Bossages are also rustic work, consisting of stones which seem to advance beyond the surface of the building, by reason of indentures, or channels left in the joinings; used chiefly in the corners of buildings, and called rustic quoins. The cavity or indenture may be round, square, chamfered, beveled, diamond-shaped, or enclosed with a cavetto or listel.[1]
Bossed ashlar, bossed masonry
A bossed ashlar, rusticated ashlar, or quarry-faced ashlar[2], used in bossed masonry or drafted margin masonry, is an ashlar worked in an ancient technique in which it is cut to fit tightly, but much of its outer face is left projecting outward in a raised bump called "boss", which can be either left rough or given a regular shape, while the margins are neatly dressed using a mallet and chisel .
The discovery of bossed ashlars in Ugarit might indicate that this technique was first developed in the 2nd millennium BCE.[3] The examples there have 2 or 3, and only rarely 4 drafted margins around the bossed panel for functional, not decorative purposes, as they facilitated the placing of the block in the masonry.[3] The margins were usually created with the stone cutters' percussive tools used for regularising the faces, and only rarely cut with a chisel.[3] The masons worked economically, dressing as little as required for construction and leaving the rest of the blocks' surface raw.[3]
In Israel, masonry of the Hellenistic period typically uses ashlar set in courses of headers and stretchers, with dressed margins around bosses protruding in the centre.[4]
After being widely used by the Greeks and Romans, there was a hiatus in the use of rustication until the 13th and 14th centuries during the late Middle Ages, when it again became popular during the Crusades and in the architecture of the Hohenstaufen, when it was used in fortresses as well as in public buildings and private residences in Italy.[5]
In spite of that, the widespread use of rusticated masonry only took place during the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries, as part of the renewed admiration for the ancient architectural schools and as a result of the research conducted at the start of the Florentine Renaissance.<ref name= Turrini>
See also
- Glossary of architecture
- Lifting boss
- Rustication (architecture)
References
- ↑ Richard Taylor, AIA (10 April 2007). "Q & A about "heifunon."". All Experts, owned by About.com. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Architecture-2369/heifunon.htm.
- ↑ "Stone Masonry Techniques You Need To Know". Epic Masonry Restoration. 13 November 2025. https://www.epicmasonryrestoration.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-stone-masonry/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Bessac, Jean-Claude; Matoïan, Valérie (2020). "10. Ashlar in Ras Shamra-Ugarit: Uses, Functions, and Techniques". in Maud Devolder. Ashlar: Exploring the Materiality of Cut-Stone Masonry in the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age. AEGIS (Aegean Interdisciplinary Studies): Actes des colloques (vol. 17). Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Presses universitaires de Louvain. pp. 265–306. ISBN 978-2-87558-964-4. https://www.academia.edu/resource/work/59801328. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
- ↑ Segal, Arthur (2014). "Ch. 2: The Fort (the Central Structure): Architectural Analysis". in Arthur Segal. Excavations of the Hellenistic Site in Kibbutz Sha'ar-Ha'Amakim (Gaba) 1984 – 1998: Final Report (2nd, revised ed.). Haifa, Israel: The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-965-7547-04-5. https://arch.haifa.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SH2014Short.pdf. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
- ↑ Turrini, Davide (2006). "Renaissance rustication". in Alfonso Acocella. Stone architecture. Ancient and modern constructive skills. Milano: Skira-Lucense. p. 624. https://www.architetturadipietra.it/wp/?p=5057. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
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