Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
....................... Illustrated FURNITURE Glossary

Pilaster
pi LAS ter, PIE last er

Architecture
A shallow rectangular column projecting only slightly from a wall and, in classical architecture, conforming with one of the orders

Used to frame doorways, fireplaces, etc.

Pilasters to sides of door (may have pediment) found in  Colonial Revival, Federal, Georgian Revival, Greek Revival, Italianate, Italian Renaissance Revival, Neoclassical, Beaux Arts Classical styles

Banded pilaster: Horizontal subdivisions in a shallow rectangular column projecting only slightly from a wall


Furniture
Architecturally, a flat column on which the details and proportions of a classical order are reproduced. The pilaster is then attached to front of, for instance, a leg; or incorporated in the design of a cupboard panel particularly in the designs of the ate sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Examples from Buffalo architecture:

Other examples:


Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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