Bossage

{{Short description|Uncut stone laid in place in a building}} thumb

'''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.<ref name="name">{{cite web |url= http://en.allexperts.com/q/Architecture-2369/heifunon.htm |title= Q & A about "heifunon." |author= Richard Taylor, AIA |work= All Experts, owned by About.com |date= 10 April 2007 |access-date= 18 September 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081012052215/http://en.allexperts.com/q/Architecture-2369/heifunon.htm |archive-date= 12 October 2008 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

=={{anchor|Bossed ashlar, bossed masonry}}Bossed ashlar, bossed masonry== A '''bossed ashlar''', '''rusticated ashlar''', or '''quarry-faced ashlar'''<ref>{{cite web |title= Stone Masonry Techniques You Need To Know |date= 13 November 2025 |publisher= Epic Masonry Restoration |place= Stillwater, MN, USA |url= https://www.epicmasonryrestoration.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-stone-masonry/ |access-date= 31 May 2026}}</ref>, 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.<ref name= Ugarit>{{cite book |last1= Bessac |first1= Jean-Claude |last2= Matoïan |first2= Valérie |chapter= 10. Ashlar in Ras Shamra-Ugarit: Uses, Functions, and Techniques |editor= Maud Devolder |editor2= Igor Kreimerman |title= Ashlar: Exploring the Materiality of Cut-Stone Masonry in the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age |year= 2020 |publisher= Presses universitaires de Louvain |place=Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium |series= AEGIS (Aegean Interdisciplinary Studies): Actes des colloques (vol. 17) |pages= 265–306 |lang= en |via= academia.edu |isbn= 978-2-87558-964-4 |url= https://www.academia.edu/resource/work/59801328 |access-date= 31 May 2026}}</ref> 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.<ref name= Ugarit/> The margins were usually created with the stone cutters' percussive tools used for regularising the faces, and only rarely cut with a chisel.<ref name= Ugarit/> The masons worked economically, dressing as little as required for construction and leaving the rest of the blocks' surface raw.<ref name= Ugarit/>

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.<ref name= Gaba>{{cite book |last= Segal |first= Arthur |chapter= Ch. 2: The Fort (the Central Structure): Architectural Analysis |editor= Arthur Segal |editor2= Jolanta Młynarczyk |editor3= Mariusz Burdajewicz |title= Excavations of the Hellenistic Site in Kibbutz Sha'ar-Ha'Amakim (Gaba) 1984 – 1998: Final Report |year= 2014 |orig-year= 2009 |publisher= The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa |place= Haifa, Israel |pages= 35–36 |edition= 2nd, revised |via= arch.haifa.ac.il |isbn= 978-965-7547-04-5 |url= https://arch.haifa.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SH2014Short.pdf |access-date= 31 May 2026}}</ref>

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.<ref name= Turrini>{{cite book |last= Turrini |first= Davide |chapter= Renaissance rustication |editor= Alfonso Acocella |title= Stone architecture. Ancient and modern constructive skills |year= 2006 |publisher= Skira-Lucense |place= Milano |page= 624 |via= ''MD Journal. Architettura di pietra'', Florence, 1 November 2011 |url= https://www.architetturadipietra.it/wp/?p=5057 |access-date= 31 May 2026}}</ref>

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>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Architectural elements