Let’s Talk About Wolf Teeth

Wolf teeth guard a house in my neighborhood.

One of the little joys in exploring the engravings (or spells) on peasant furniture is figuring out the geometry – because it is all pure geometry.

Complex patterns are easily picked apart with a pair of dividers. Even when the front of a chest looks like an asymmetrical mess, there is an inner logic. The pattern called “wolf teeth” is a prime example of this.

Wolf teeth appear on a lot of pieces of furniture and homes. They are a protection spell and, when looked at correctly, are like seeing a bumper sticker that says, “Insured by Smith & Wesson.”

When you find wolf teeth, they are nearly always a perfect row (as shown above). They begin and end neatly at the base of the tooth. It’s rare to see half-teeth at the beginning or end of a pattern.

That got me thinking about how to lay them out. There has to b…