Bowtell is a medieval term in architecture for a round or corniced molding below the abacus in a Tuscan or Roman Doric capital; the word is a variant of boltel, which is probably the diminutive of bolt, the shaft of an arrow or javelin. A roving bowtell is one which passes up the side of a bench end and round a finial, the term roving being applied to that which follows the line of a curve.

References