Fish bladder (ornament)

Tracery window with fish bubble ornaments under the pointed arch ( Portumna Priory , Ireland)

The fish bladder or snout is a curved ornamental shape that, like the Persian boteh pattern , is rounded at one end and tapered to a point on the other. Two or three or more fish bladders can complement each other point-symmetrically to form a circle (see also Dreischneuß ). The fish bladder in tracery is particularly widespread in the late Gothic architectural period .

The single, double or quadruple rotating fish bladder is also a frequent ornament in Celtic art , which can be found from its early beginnings to 19th century Irish illumination (see Lauburu ).

In France, the fish bladder was further developed in the so-called flamboyant style , in which the fish bladder was elongated like a flame.

• Tracery with snow blows
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  Zweischneuss

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  Dreischneuss

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  Four snow

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  Four-snow - angular design

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  Sechsschneuss

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  Sechsschneuss - Peterskirche Görlitz

literature

• Hans Koepf : Picture dictionary of architecture . Kröner, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-520-19402-3 .
• Rolf Toman (ed.): The art of the Gothic . Könemann, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-89508-313-5 .