Geveltekens (that's Dutch, but don't worry, the posting isn't)
These roof decorations we Dutch call geveltekens can be found on farms in many Saxon regions in The Netherlands and Germany; I don't know about other countries.
I don't know, and haven't been able to find, a good English word for these things, which suggests they are uncommon in GB. "Facade sign" doesn't quite cover it.
Anyway, these geveltekens are very common in my region called Twente:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 300mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/640s
Olympus Stylus 1s, 180mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/1600s
Olympus Stylus 1s, 300mm, ISO100, f8, 1/2000s
They come in different shapes and sizes, and from different periods; some are decidedly pagan, some are christian.
The meanings and symbolism of the older ones have been interpretated by modern scholars, but I am not sure they got all of them right. Some may just have been nice bits of carving made by a farmer during the long winter evenings, and should probably not be over-interpreted.
Any such geveltekens in your country?
Looking very interesting)
so beautiful decorations! I've never seen geveltekens like these in my country! Thanks for share ^_^
@ocrdu are you familiar with the Pennslyvania Dutch/German barn Hex signs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_sign
more info...
https://hexsigns.com/
No, first time I have seen those, thanks!
Your welcome.
That's quite interesting @ocrdu! No geveltekens here but we do have onigawara which are decorative end tiles on the peaks and sometimes the corners of roofs, often they use the face of demons and it's a kind of ward. I should do more research and make a post about that!
Please do!
I've never seen that on our houses in France... ;-)
These are lovely ornements ^_^
I like the second one with the bear/wolf/horse :P
I have a feeling that these geveltekens hail from ancient times. It would be a good subject to research into. Thanks for a good original post. Upvoted, followed and resteemed. Goodluck.