architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, the dado is the lower part of a wall, below the

dado rail A dado rail, also known as a chair rail or surbase, is a type of moulding fixed horizontally to the wall around the perimeter of a room. The dado rail is traditionally part of the dado or wainscot and, although the purpose of the dado is main ...

and above the

skirting board In architecture, a baseboard (also called skirting board, skirting, wainscoting, mopboard, trim, floor molding, or base molding) is usually wooden or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the joint be ...

. The word is borrowed from Italian meaning "dice" or "cube", and refers to "

die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

", an architectural term for the middle section of a

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

Decorative treatment

This area is given a decorative treatment different from that for the upper part of the wall; for example

panelling Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

lincrusta Lincrusta is a deeply embossed wallcovering, invented by Frederick Walton. Walton was already known for patenting linoleum floor covering in 1860. Yarwood, Doreen (1990) "The Domestic Interior: Technology and the Home" pp. 902-948 ''In'' McNeil, ...

. The purpose of the dado treatment to a wall is both aesthetic and functional. Historically, the panelling below the

was installed to cover the lower part of the wall which was subject to stains associated with rising damp; additionally it provided protection from furniture and passing traffic. The dado rail itself is sometimes referred to misleadingly as a chair rail, though its function is principally aesthetic and not to protect the wall from chair backs.

Derivation

The name was first used in English as an architectural term for the part of a pedestal between the base and the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. As with many other architectural terms, the word is Italian in origin. The dado in a pedestal is roughly cubical in shape, and the word in Italian means "dice" or "cube" (ultimately Latin ''

datum In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted. ...

'', meaning "something given", hence also a die for casting lots). By extension, the dado becomes the lower part of a wall when the pedestal is treated as being continuous along the wall, with the cornice becoming the dado rail.

Gallery

File:Spring Hall Halifax 029.jpg, Dado in carved oak, designed by W.S. Barber at

Spring Hall, Halifax Spring Hall, also known as Spring Hall Mansions, is a mansion situated off the Huddersfield Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire. A house had been built on the site by 1614, but it was demolished in 1870 leaving only the cellars. It was rebuilt in Gothic ...

File:Château de Maisons-Laffitte - cabinet aux miroirs 05.JPG, Dado in a French chateau File:TajDado.jpg, Dado in

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

File:Leeds Central Library 21 February 2019 (208).JPG, Dado in

Leeds Central Library Leeds Central Library is a public library in Leeds. Situated in the city centre, on Calverley Street, it houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection and hosts the Leeds Art Gallery. Services avai ...

References

{{Authority control Types of wall Columns and entablature

Decorative treatment

Derivation

Gallery

See also

References