Horseback and Rule Band: The Curves of Hard Mountain Gable Ends

Show the gable end of a modest Taiwanese Minnan temple or shrine, built with a flush gable rather than a swallowtail ridge. Render the gable wall rising to meet the roof in a smooth rounded crown — the horseback form — its silhouette a soft continuous curve whose shape follows one of the traditional five-element types, here the rounded metal form. Detail the sloping ridge bands running down each side of the gable as raised plaster mouldings finished in a pale lime render with a dark edging line. Set a decorative plaster or ceramic ornament at the crown and a small hanging-fish motif below it. Keep the wall in a warm ochre lime plaster over rubble stone, weathered and patched, with a plinth of grey stone blocks. Lay the roof in warm orange barrel tiles. Show an overcast diffuse light so the curve and its shadow read clearly. Photorealistic, restrained, weathered and vernacular, eye-level three-quarter view of the gable.