Frieze
Frieze names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Frieze frez, in architecture
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
frez, in architecture, that part of an entablature that is between the architrave and the cornice. The frieze may be a flat surface or it may be divided by partitions into panels. The Greek frieze in its severest form was plain, but ordinarily the frieze was ornamented with figures in relief. A frieze of the Athenian Parthenon, two-thirds of which is preserved in the British Museum , was 524 feet in length. It was originally forty feet from the ground. It is adorned by a sacrificial procession in low relief. From its use in architecture the term has been adapted by potters and silversmiths to denote an ornamental band on vases and cups, especially if used as a ground for figures. Decorators apply the name to an ornamental border running around the wall of a room near the ceiling. Frigate (frig'at) Bird, a web-footed bird of the pelican family. It has a small, slender body with long, pointed wings and a deeply forked tail. The plumage is black glossed with green. The bill is longer that the rest of the head, and is sharply hooked at the end. The total length is forty inches; the extent of wing, seven feet. The frigate bird inhabits the coasts of intertropical seas. It nests on stony cliffs or sometimes builds a platform of twigs in trees. The nest contains but a single, chalky white egg. The bird ashore is awkward. Its legs are so short as to seem deformed. It is a swift, graceful, straight flyer, extending its search for food sometimes to a distance of 1,000 miles from land. It is seldom known to dive, but snatches its prey from the surface of the sea or catches flying fishes in their flight. In some localities the frigate bird leads a life near the shore and obtains its food by forcing the gannets and terns to give up the fish they have brought from distant fishing grounds. In case of reluctance to give up their hard won earnings, the active pirate uses beak and wing in a lively manner to over-persuade the "honest fisher folk." Other names for the frigate bird are the man-of-war bird and the man-of-war hawk. See Cormorant ; Pelican
Frieze frez, a heavy woolen fabric with a long
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
frez, a heavy woolen fabric with a long, rough nap, used for overcoats, cloaks, and jackets. The best frieze is of Irish manufacture, and has a world-wide renown. The Irish frieze is impervious to water, and is extremely durable. It is made of the longest and strongest wool. It is dyed in the mass, and is doubled when spun, so as to resemble knitting yarn. The cloth is well fulled, and is finished with a shaggy nap. Medium and cheap grades of frieze are made in this country. They are woven double and are fulled and finished with a shaggy nap. Large quantities of flock are used in the fulling process to give extra bulk and warmth to the fabric. See Flock ; Fulling ; Double Cloth
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 definition of the frieze as the band between architrave and cornice still holds, and is still taught that way. What has changed is the fate of the example it cites: the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum is now the object of a formal Greek restitution campaign, pressed since the 1980s, while the sections that remained on the building itself were taken down and moved indoors, replaced by casts, and are displayed in the Acropolis Museum that opened in 2009. Scholars also no longer agree that the subject is simply a "sacrificial procession": alternative readings, including a mythological sacrifice from the Erechtheus legend, have been argued since the 1990s. The other frieze, the shaggy Irish woollen cloth, has largely vanished as an everyday overcoating, and for most readers today the word first suggests the London-based art magazine Frieze (founded 1991) and its art fairs.
Written for this edition, 2026.