Mosaic border of rinceaux and animals, from the Via Panisperna in Rome, late 2nd - early 1st century BC
In architecture and the decorative arts, a rinceau (plural rinceaux; from the French, derived from old French rain 'branch with foliage') is a decorative form consisting of a continuous wavy stemlike motif from which smaller leafy stems or groups of leaves branch out at more or less regular intervals. The English term scroll is more often used in English, especially when the pattern is regular, repeating along a narrow zone. In English "rinceau" tends to be used where the design spreads across a wider zone, in a similar style to an Islamicarabesque pattern.
The use of rinceaux is frequent in the friezes of Roman buildings, where it is generally found in a frieze, the middle element of an entablature, just below the cornice. It is also decorated in the jamb ornaments and capitals of Romanesque structures and in friezes and panels of buildings in the various Renaissance styles, where tiny animals or human heads also appear.[1]
The rinceau experienced a return to the simpler Classic style in the 17th century, and in the subsequent century it was applied more freely, without a strict repetition of identical forms.[2]
Gallery
Ancient Greek rinceau on a mosaic of a stag hunt, Pella, Greece, unknown architect or craftsman, 4th century BC
Gothic rinceaux on a page of the Codex Salemitanus IX c, 15th century, tempera colors, gold paint, gold leaf, and ink on parchment, Heidelberg University Library, Heidelberg, Germany
Baroque rinceaux with putti painted on the boiserie of a room from the Hôtel Colbert de Villacerf, now in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, unknown architect, sculptor and painter, c.1650[9]
Baroque rinceaux on the chest for Louis XIV's gems, mid-17th century, repoussé and chiselled gold over a wooden core, Louvre[10]
Baroque rinceaux in the Hôtel Salé (now the Musée Picasso), Paris, designed by Jean Boulier de Bourges, 1656-1659
Baroque rinceaux on a table top with Orpheus, by Annibale Grifoni, 1660-1679, unknown materials, Villa medicea di Cerreto Guidi, Cerreto Guidi, Italy
Baroque rinceaux on a commode, by André-Charles Boulle, c.1710–1720, walnut veneered with ebony, marquetry of engraved brass and tortoiseshell, and gilt-bronze mounts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Rococo rinceaux in the Bibliothèque du Dauphin du Château de Versailles, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France, unknown architect, early or mid-18th century
Mughal and European-influenced rinceaux of the Peacock Gate of the City Palace, Jaipur, India, unknown architect or painter, 1729-1732[12]
Baroque Revival rinceaux with putti on a ceiling in the apartments of the minister of state, currently known as the Napoleon III Apartments, Louvre Palace, unknown architect or sculptor, c.1860
Neoclassical rinceaux with a mascaron of Rue des Vinaigriers no. 57, Paris, designed by E. Escudie, 1882
Neoclassical rinceaux on a grille at an entrance of the Salle Favart, Paris, probably designed by Louis Bernier, 1893-1898
Beaux Arts over door with rinceaux in Strada Zborului no. 2, Bucharest, unknown architect or designer, c.1900
Gothic Revivalcartouche with rinceaux of Strada Temișana no. 4, Bucharest, unknown architect, c.1900
Art Nouveau rinceaux on the of Lavirotte Building (Avenue Rapp no. 29), Paris, designed by Jules Lavirotte and decorated with sculpture and ceramic tiles made by Alexandre Bigot, 1901
Beaux Arts fresco with cartouches and foliage spirals on the upper part of the facade of Strada Occidentului no. 11, Bucharest, painter: C. Cora, architect: Cesare Fantoli, 1910[16]
Neo-Louis XVI style panel with rinceaux and an urn in the Nicolae T. Filitti/Nae Filitis House (Calea Dorobanților no. 18), Bucharest, by Ernest Doneaud, c.1910[17]
Romanian Revival rinceau in the Gheorghe Petrașcu House (Piața Romană no. 5), Bucharest, by Spiru Cegăneanu, 1912[18]
Notes
^Cf. J. Ward, Historic Ornament: Treatise on Decorative Art and Architectural Ornament, BiblioBazaar (2009), s.v. Rinceau.
^Cf. A. Speltz, The History of Ornament: Design in the Decorative Arts, Portland (1989), s.v.
^"Temple of Apollo at Didyma". brown.edu. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^Robertson, Hutton (2022). The History of Art - From Prehistory to Presentday - A Global View. Thames & Hudson. p. 323. ISBN 978-0-500-02236-8.
^Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 81. ISBN 978 0 7148 4810 5.
^Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 83. ISBN 978 0 7148 4810 5.
^Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. p. 83. ISBN 978 0 7148 4810 5.
^Eastmond, Anthony (2013). The Glory of Byzantium and early Christendom. Phaidon. ISBN 978 0 7148 4810 5.
^"LAMBRIS DU CABINET DE L'HÔTEL COLBERT DE VILLACERF". carnavalet.paris.fr. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
^Jacquemart, Albert (2012). Decorative Art. Parkstone International. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-84484-899-7.
^Sharman, Ruth (2022). Yves Saint Laurent & Art. Thames & Hudson. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-500-02544-4.
^Stefan Sagmeister; Jessica Walsh (2018). Beauty. Phaidon. p. 192. ISBN 978 0 7148 7727 3.
^"PAIRE DE VASES « FUSEAU »". amisdulouvre.fr. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
^"tapis de choeur Louis-Philippe". pop.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^Jones, Denna, ed. (2014). Architecture The Whole Story. Thames & Hudson. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-500-29148-1.
^Oprea, Petre (1986). Itinerar Inedit prin Case Vechi din București (in Romanian). Editura Sport-Turism. p. 59.
^Marinache, Oana (2015). Ernest Donaud - visul liniei (in Romanian). Editura Istoria Artei. p. 79. ISBN 978-606-94042-8-7.
^Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat (2017). Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Ordinul Arhitecților din România. p. 80. ISBN 978-973-0-23884-6.
Home Economics Archive: Tradition, Research, History (HEARTH) An e-book collection of over 1,000 books on home economics spanning 1850 to 1950, created by Cornell University's Mann Library. Includes several hundred e-books on decorative art and design, particularly that created within the home.
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Bard Graduate Center (BGC) for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture
Parsons/Cooper-Hewitt Program in the History of Decorative Arts & Design
Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture - electronic resources
Metropolitan Museum of Art American decorative arts collection
National Gallery of Art decorative arts collection