Gargoyle

[pschlute]

[Tronhard]

Technically, what you have there is a Grotesque!

A Gargoyle is a carved or formed Grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.

This is a gargoyle:

[pschlute]

Technically, what you have there is a Grotesque!

Thanks Trev... Never too old to learn.

[rpcrowe]

I have never heard the term grotesque as a noun, always as an adjective or adverb. I learn things every day...

Along those lines... One of the buildings at University of Southern California in Los Angeles has a series of grotesques (I always thought they were gargoyles) along the roof. One of these statues appears to be thumbing his nose at a very human like bust next to it, The story I was told is that the architect and the president of the University had some sort of altercation over financial payment and the statue thumbing its nose at the bust of the president was the architect's revenge.

I have no idea of whether it is true or not but, everytime I see an image of a gargoyle or a grotesque, I think about that story...