mouse-tooth finish

tumbling course

A sloping course of bricks that are set perpendicular to a straight-line gable in Dutch architecture or its derivatives; such an arrangement provides a better seal against the penetration of moisture through the masonry joints than one in which all courses of bricks within the gable are laid in horizontal courses up to the peak of the gable. Where a sloping course of bricks intersects a horizontal masonry course, the arrangement of brickwork so formed is called a mouse-tooth pattern.