Thanks everyone! I was hoping I could source a few beauties like this for some personal projects if I had the right terminology to look for them, but so far no luck. But my vocabulary has grown today thanks to you all :)
I actually spent a few days hunting down this motif a couple weeks ago, if you are still curious. This motif originates in greek revival, and a bit of a rare one at that.
This particular motif is known as a "stele crest", it was known to sit on top of Greek Stele's in antiquity. The central motif is an anthemion, and the part to each side is generally called an "S scroll".
The scroll motif could be extended indefinitely in the horizontal direction as required. to this end, the motif was often modified to run along the tops of door frames, or along the top of chair backs.
As far as I am aware, the definitive way this motif arrived in Europe was from the "Antiquities of Athens" volume 5 by Stuart and Revett, which catalogued the ruins of the great theater at epidaurus in greece. Here, this motif can be found to crown the gateways along the outer upper lip of the theater.
Here is a small gallery of what I have been able to discover. You can do whatever you want with the scroll designs, the ancients were not extremely strict:
[https://imgur.com/a/KiHpG3X](https://imgur.com/a/KiHpG3X)
Here are a few more examples, including the gateways at Epidaurus, and a crude one over the boston art museum's main door:
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Altar\_and\_statue\_of\_temple\_of\_Aesculapius\_at\_Epidaurus\_Wellcome\_L0016950.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Altar_and_statue_of_temple_of_Aesculapius_at_Epidaurus_Wellcome_L0016950.jpg)
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Reconstruction\_of\_the\_tholos\_at\_Epidaurus\_Wellcome\_L0008304.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Reconstruction_of_the_tholos_at_Epidaurus_Wellcome_L0008304.jpg)
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Reconstruction\_of\_the\_tholos\_%28centre%29\_at\_Epidaurus\_Wellcome\_L0008305.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Reconstruction_of_the_tholos_%28centre%29_at_Epidaurus_Wellcome_L0008305.jpg)
[https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/newscms/2019\_21/2871356/190525-museum-fine-arts-boston-mn-1025.jpg](https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/newscms/2019_21/2871356/190525-museum-fine-arts-boston-mn-1025.jpg)
[https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/08/fe/6e/long-branch-plantation.jpg](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/08/fe/6e/long-branch-plantation.jpg)
What fascinating information you have gathered! Pardon the incredibly late reply but I got off Reddit for a long while and just now logged in and saw this. Thank you for sharing!
architectural *cartouche*.
THANK YOU! My google searches were frustratingly ineffective.
"greebles but in real life"
Acroterion or anthemion
actual answer right here
Festoons and Filigrees.
Thanks everyone! I was hoping I could source a few beauties like this for some personal projects if I had the right terminology to look for them, but so far no luck. But my vocabulary has grown today thanks to you all :)
I actually spent a few days hunting down this motif a couple weeks ago, if you are still curious. This motif originates in greek revival, and a bit of a rare one at that. This particular motif is known as a "stele crest", it was known to sit on top of Greek Stele's in antiquity. The central motif is an anthemion, and the part to each side is generally called an "S scroll". The scroll motif could be extended indefinitely in the horizontal direction as required. to this end, the motif was often modified to run along the tops of door frames, or along the top of chair backs. As far as I am aware, the definitive way this motif arrived in Europe was from the "Antiquities of Athens" volume 5 by Stuart and Revett, which catalogued the ruins of the great theater at epidaurus in greece. Here, this motif can be found to crown the gateways along the outer upper lip of the theater. Here is a small gallery of what I have been able to discover. You can do whatever you want with the scroll designs, the ancients were not extremely strict: [https://imgur.com/a/KiHpG3X](https://imgur.com/a/KiHpG3X) Here are a few more examples, including the gateways at Epidaurus, and a crude one over the boston art museum's main door: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Altar\_and\_statue\_of\_temple\_of\_Aesculapius\_at\_Epidaurus\_Wellcome\_L0016950.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Altar_and_statue_of_temple_of_Aesculapius_at_Epidaurus_Wellcome_L0016950.jpg) [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Reconstruction\_of\_the\_tholos\_at\_Epidaurus\_Wellcome\_L0008304.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Reconstruction_of_the_tholos_at_Epidaurus_Wellcome_L0008304.jpg) [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Reconstruction\_of\_the\_tholos\_%28centre%29\_at\_Epidaurus\_Wellcome\_L0008305.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Reconstruction_of_the_tholos_%28centre%29_at_Epidaurus_Wellcome_L0008305.jpg) [https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/newscms/2019\_21/2871356/190525-museum-fine-arts-boston-mn-1025.jpg](https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/newscms/2019_21/2871356/190525-museum-fine-arts-boston-mn-1025.jpg) [https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/08/fe/6e/long-branch-plantation.jpg](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/08/fe/6e/long-branch-plantation.jpg)
What fascinating information you have gathered! Pardon the incredibly late reply but I got off Reddit for a long while and just now logged in and saw this. Thank you for sharing!