nokigawara　軒瓦

KEY WORD :　architecture / roofing tiles

1　Also written 宇瓦. Eaves-end tiles. Roof tiles placed along an eaves line, including the semi-circular *nokimarugawara 軒丸瓦, and the bow-shaped broad concave pendant tiles *nokihiragawara 軒平瓦 which are usually covered with a decorative design. They protect the ends of the eaves from rainwater and dampness. See also *tomoegawara 巴瓦, *abumigawara 鐙瓦, *karakusagawara 唐草瓦. 2　Usually written 宇瓦. A classical term for broad eaves-end tiles *nokihiragawara 軒平瓦. According to some scholars eaves-end tiles did not exist in the early years of the Asuka period; ordinary flat roof tiles were also used along the eaves ends. Broad eaves-end tiles came into use at the beginning of the 7c; these had thick ends and were undecorated. From the mid-7c, hand-engraved palmette patterns *nindou 忍冬 and linear patterns following the curvature of the tile *juukomon nokihiragawara 重弧文軒平瓦 were applied to the gradually broadening eaves end tiles. Both characters, 軒 and 宇, mean eaves: is generally used today.

REFERENCES:

EXTERNAL LINKS:

NOTES:

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.　No reproduction or republication without written permission. 掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。