Corbels are a sort of decorative wall bracket used for supporting heavy loads. They are typically made from wood, stone, plaster or more recently from modern polymers designed to provide the appearance of traditional plaster moulds but without the heavy weight element. Corbels were a frequent feature of medieval architecture and are still utilized in buildings today, although their design has developed over time.
Originally corbels were made from stone and featured fairly basic designs, but as time progressed this altered and with numerous styles laying their influence on design, corbels developed to become more and more elaborate. There are many reproductions of classic corbels to fit with any era you might want to replicate. Norman or Romanesque corbels were often very plain; they featured simple designs with animals such as rams or rabbits.
Over time new designs began creeping in along with other animals, human heads or beasts began appearing in corbel layouts. Among the most popular themes depicted in corbels became foliage together with volutes, which are spirals and twists carved to the corbel. This is still very commonly featured in buildings and in the home now.
How to use corbels into your home
There are different ways you could use corbels in your home. They are usually used for adding additional support to shelves. This is particularly recommended if you are planning to place heavy items on a shelf such as books or huge ornaments. Corbels can also provide additional support (or as an ornamental feature) for countertops and tables with surfaces which extend over an edge. Instead use them as a’stand-alone’ unit to display an object or even turned onto their side and used as a kind of book end on a shelf.
Of course as well as this practical feature, corbels can also be used decoratively. They can be integrated into partitions as an architectural feature both indoors and outside and are often placed underneath a window cill at either end. Many old buildings, especially churches like Lincoln Cathedral boast some amazing examples of corbels used externally. When they’re sited just under the roof soffit in a repeating manner, they are called dentils.
What are Corbels?