Serpentine shape
A serpentine shape is any of certain curved shapes of an object or design, which are suggestive of the shape of a snake (the adjective "serpentine" is derived from the word serpent). Serpentine shapes occur in architecture, in furniture, and in mathematics.
The serpentine shape is observed in many architectural settings. It may provide strength, as in serpentine walls, it may allow the facade of a building to face in multiple directions, or it may be chosen for purely aesthetic reasons.
In furniture, serpentine-front dressers and cabinets have a convex section between two concave ones. This design was common in the Rococo period. Examples include Louis XV commodes and 18th-century English furniture.
Furniture with a concave section between two convex ones is sometimes referred to as reverse serpentine or oxbow.
The serpentine curve is a cubic curve as described by Isaac Newton, given by the cartesian equation y(a2 + x2) = abx. The origin is a point of inflection, the axis of x being an asymptote and the curve lies between the parallel lines 2y = ±b.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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