beaded flute
In architecture, molding that features repeating balls or spheres carved inside a groove, flute, or hollow channel is called a beaded flute or bead-and-cavetto. When the balls are placed inside a twisting, spiraling column channel, the design elements are known by a few specific classical terms.
- Solomonic or Manueline Twist: In a spiraling column, this specific ornamentation is characteristic of the late-Gothic Portuguese Manueline style, which frequently used twisting ropes embedded with decorative stone spheres to celebrate maritime exploration.
- Beading (or Cabochons): The technical name for the small, rounded spherical studs or raised balls carved into the stone sequence.
- Stop-Fluting: The classical technique where the hollow recesses of a column’s grooves (flutes) are partially or fully filled in with a rounded, convex ornament—such as a cable, rod, or a string of beads.
Photo from New York City, New York, 2018.