- ADAM
- James, 1730-1794 and his brother Robert, 1728-1792, English architects and furniture designers.
- AMBOYNA
- Yellowish-brown burred wood imported from the West Indies and used as a veneer.
- ANCON
- A bracket or console, as one supporting part of a cornice.
- ANDRION
- One of a pair of metal stands usuallay of iron or brass for supporting logs in a fireplace.
- APPLIQUE
- Decorative element applied to the surface of a piece of furniture. May be wood, metal, or other material.
- ARMOIRE
- A large wardrobe or movable cupboard with doors that may contain fittings and shelves inside.
- ART NOUVEAU
- A style of fine and applied art current in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, characterized chiefly by curvilinear motifs derived from natural forms.
- ASTRAGAL
- A convex moulding mainly used to overlap the joining of double doors in secretaries, cupboards and bookcases. Also used as the framework for glazing such doors. Earlier and better quality furniture would be glazed by individual small panes of glass making up a complete window, later and more cost conscious furniture would have the glazing bars applied over a single large pane of glass.
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- BALLOON BACK
- A chair with the back shaped in the form of a spherical balloon.
- BARLEY TWIST
- Form of turning, popular in the late 17thC, which resembles a spiral of traditional barley sugar.
- BAROQUE
- Of or pertaining to a style of art and architecture developed principally in Italy and the north of the Alps in middle and western Europe during the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries. Extravagantly ornamented and characterized by conspicious curves, scrolls and highly ornate decoration. Italian in origin.
- BENTWOOD
- Wood steamed & bent for use in furniture.
- BERGERE
- The woven cane seating provided to a chair or the like. A chair of the 18th century, having arms with closed spaces between them and the seat.
- BIEDERMEIER
- Noting or pertaining to a style of furnishing common in German-speaking areas in the early and mid 19th century, generally a simplification of the French Empire style with much use of matched veneers, with accents of ebony inlay or black paint and often displaying architectural motifs. (after Gottlieb Biedermeier, imaginary unsophisticated author of poems actually composed by various writers and published in a German magazine from 1855 on.
- BLACKAMOOR
- A carved wooden figure of a Negro wearing Arabic or Turkish dress. The subject matter was originally copied from the slaves owned by early Venetians. They were generally made in pairs.
- BONHEUR DE JOUR
- Small french writing table with a raised back comprising a cabinet or shelves.
- BOMBE
- Curving or swelling outward. Also BOMBED. Swell front.
- BONNET TOP
- A top to a secretary, highboy etc., following in outline a broken pediment on the front.
- BRACKET CLOCK
- Originally a 17thC clock which had to be set high up on a bracket because of the length of the weights: now sometimes applied to any mantle or table clock.
- BRETAGNE
- The French name for Brittany, a region of NW France, where a specific style of carved furniture originates characterized by figures of country people, pierced sections and the employment of turned spindles often used in the shape of a wheel.
- BUFFET
- A sideboard or cabinet for holding china, table linens etc.
- BUN FOOT
- A foot having the form of a slightly flattened ball.
- BUREAU DE DAME
- Writing desk of delicate appearance and designed for use by ladies. Usually raised above slender cabriole legs and with one or two external drawers.
- BUREAU PLAT
- French writing table with a flat top and drawers in the frieze.
- BURL
- A small knot in a piece of wood. Also a dome shaped growth on the trunk of a tree sliced to make veneer.
- BUTLER'S TRAY
- A tray with a separate stand for portability that can be placed near to the serving area.
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- CABRIOLE LEG
- A shaped leg with an outward curved knee and an incurved ankle. Originating in Italy and is based on a representation of the rear leg of a leaping mountain goat.
- CALAMANDER
- Hardwood, imported from Sri Lanka, (of the same family as ebony), used in the Regency period for making small articles of furniture, as a veneer and for cross banding.
- CANTERBURY
- A stand having racks for holding magazines, sheet music etc. on edge.
- CAROLEAN
- Noting or pertaining to the reigns of Charles I & Charles II of England. Furniture characterized by the addition and increased elaboration of forms and motifs, with some Italian influence, unlike the intervening austere and utilitarian Cromwellian period.
- CARTOUCHE
- A rounded convex surface, usually surrounded with carved ornamental scrollwork, for receiving a painted or low relief decoration, as an escutcheon.
- CARVER
- A chair of the 17th century with arms. Nowadays, this term refers to a dining room chair with arms, that is normally positioned at the head of the table. Also said to have been derived from the fact that the master of the house would sit at table in this chair and carve the roast, hence Carver chair.
- CARYATID
- A sculptured female figure used as a column.
- CHARLES I
- Charles I, born 1600, reigned 1625-1649.
- CHARLES II
- Charles II born 1630, reigned 1660-1685.
- CHARLES X
- Charles X reigned 1824 to 1830.
- CHIFFONIER
- A term used for many types of furniture such as, a high chest of drawers or bureau often having a mirror, a low bookcase of the English Regency with grille doors or doorless, a shallow tall, open piece of furniture of the 18th century having shelves for the display of china and more recently covering sideboards, sideboards with glass display features and the more delicate china & glass storage cabinets.
- CHINESE CHIPPENDALE
- An English Rococo style using Chinese or quasi-Chinese motifs.
- CHIPPENDALE
- Thomas, 1718?-1779. English cabinetmaker and furniture designer. Of or in the style of Thomas Chippendale.
- CINQUEFOIL
- A panellike ornament consisting of 5 lobes, divided by cusps, radiating from a common center, often seen in ecclesiastical architecture.
- COMMODE
- A low cabinet, often containing drawers. A stand or cupboard containing a washbasin or chamber. Derived from the French word "commodious" meaning "convenient".
- CONSOLE TABLE
- A table supported by consoles or brackets fixed to a wall or a table, often with bracket-like legs, designed to fit against a wall. Derived from the French word for "bracket".
- CORNICE
- The top section of an armoire or cabinet. Also referred to as a crown.
- COROMANDEL WOOD
- Wood from the Coromandel coast of India, similar blackish appearance to calamandar. Used from C1870 for banding and for small pieces of furniture.
- CREDENZA
- Nowadays used to describe a side cabinet which is highly decorated and shaped. Originally it was an Italian sideboard used as a serving table.
- CROCKET
- A medieval ornament, almost always depicting a plant form, and curving up and away from the supporting surface and partially returning upon itself in a knoblike tremination.
- CROMWELL
- Oliver Cromwell, British general, Puritan stateman and Lord Protector of England 1653-1658. Born 1599 died 1658
- CROMWELLIAN
- Noting or pertaining to the style of English furnishings of the middle 17th century , characterized by austerity & utilitarianism by the use of oak and leather and by simple decorative mouldings.
- CROTCH VENEER
- A piece of crotch-wood.
- CROTCH-WOOD
- Where the branches come together to form a forked area. Veneer wood from a tree crotch. eg. Crotch mahogany ( English term is Flame Mahogany ).
- CROWN
- The top section of an armoire or cabinet. Also referred to as a cornice.
- CUP & COVER
- Carved decoration found on the bulbous turned legs of some Elizabethan furniture.
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- DANTE CHAIR
- Italian furniture, a chair of the Renaissance having 2 traverse pairs of curved legs crossing beneath the seat and rising to support the arms and back. See also Savonarola chair.
- DAVENPORT
- A small writing desk said to be named after Captain Davenport who commissioned it.
- DIRECTOIRE
- French style of furnishings of the mid 1790's characterized by increasing use of Greco-Roman forms and towards the end of the period, Egyptian motifs.
- DOWEL
- A circular wooden pin used to fasten together 2 pieces of wood.
- DOVETAIL
- A tenon broader at its end than at its base. A joint formed by one or more such tenons fitting tightly within corresponding mortises.
- DUNCAN PHYFE
- Pertaining to or resembling the furniture made by Duncan Phyfe, especially the earlier pieces in the Sheraton & Directoire styles.
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- EASTLAKE
- Noting or pertaining to an English & American style of furniture and decoration originally introduced c1870 as a revival of former standards of workmanship and decoration but ending as an adaption of Gothic & Japanese motifs. Named after Sir Charles Eastlake (1796-1865), English art critic. The term is not widely used in England and the same period is generally referred to as Late Victorian or Renaissance Revival.
- EBONIZED
- Wood stained black to simulate ebony.
- ELECTROPLATE
- A process using an electrical current to coat a base metal or alloy with silver. Invented in the 1830's and gradually superseeding Sheffield Plate.
- ELIZABETH I
- Elizabeth Tudor,1533-1603 queen of England, 1558-1603 (successor of Mary I; daughter of Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn).
- ELIZABETHAN
- Noting or pertaining to an English Renaissance style of architecture of the reign of Elizabeth I characterized by fantastic sculptured or moulded ornaments of German or Flemish origin, symmetrical layouts and an emphasis on domestic architecture.
- EMPIRE
- Noting or pertaining to the style of architecture, furnishings and decorations prevailing in France and imitated to a greater or lesser extent in various other countries, c1800-1830; characterized by the use of delicate but elaborate ornamentation imitated from Greek & Roman examples or containing classical illlusions, as animal forms for the wreaths, torches, caryatids, lyres,urns etc., and by the occasional use of military and Egyptian motifs and, under the Empire itself, of symbols alluding to Napoleon as bees or the letter N.
- EPNS
- Electroplated nickel silver. A nickel alloy covered with a layer of silver using the electroplate process.
- ESCAPEMENT
- The portion of a watch or clock that measures beats and controls the speed of the going train.
- ESCRITOIRE
- A writing desk.
- ESCUTCHEON
- A shield or shieldlike surface on which a coat of arms is depicted. An ornamental or protective plate around a keyhole, door handle, drawer pull, light switch, etc.
- ETAGERE
- A series of open shelves for bric-a-brac.
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- FESTOON
- A string of flowers, foliage or ribbons etc. suspended in a curve between 2 points. A decorative representation of this, as in architectural work and pottery or in the case of furniture by metal applique or carvings.
- FIDDLEBACK
- Descriptive of a particular grain of mahogany veneer which resembles the back of a violin.
- FIELDED PANEL
- A panel with bevelled or chamferred edges.
- FINIAL
- A ormanental terminal feature to a piece of furniture.
- FLEMISH SCROLL
- A scroll, as on a chair leg, having the form of two intersecting and oppositely opposed curved C-scrolls.
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- FLUTED
- Border that resembles a scalloped edge. Used as a decoration on furniture, glass, silver and porcelain items.
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- FOIL
- An arch or a rounded space between cusps as in the tracery of a window or other ornamentation.
- FLY RAIL
- A horizontally swinging rail for supporting a drop leaf.
- FUSEE
- 18thC clockwork invention: a cone shaped drum , linked to the spring barrel by a length of gut or chain. The shape compensates for the declining strength of the mainspring thus ensuring constant timekeeping.
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- GADROON
- A border or ornament comprising radiating lobes of either carved or straight form. Used from the late Elizabethan period.
- GALLERY
- A railing of wood or brass rods at the rear, or rear and sides, of a top or shelf.
- GATELEG
- A table leg that swings out to support a table leaf, somewhat resembling a fence gate, hence the name.
- GESSO
- A mixture of plaster of Paris, glue & water applied to wood surfaces to fill pores and obtain a glass-like smoothness. Used where the surface is to be gold leafed or faux painted to simulate veneer.
- GIRANDOLE
- A carved and gilt candle sconce incorporating a mirror.
- GOTHIC
- Noting or pertaining to a style of architecture, originating in Fran ce in the middle of the 12th century and existing in the western half of Europe through the middle of the 16th century, characterized by the use of the pointed arch and the ribbed vault, by the use of fine woodwork and stonework, by a progressive lightening of structure, and by the use of such features a flying buttresses, ornamental gables, crockets, foils etc..
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- HAREWOOD
- Sycamore which has been stained a greenish color. It is used mainly as an inlay and was known as silverwood in the 18th century.
- HEPPLEWHITE
- George, died 1786, English furniture designer and cabinetmaker. Noting the style prevailing in English furniture c1780-1795, as illustrated in designs published by George Hepplewhite in 1788, reflecting Adam and Louis XVI influences.
- HIGHBOY
- A tall chest of drawers on legs.
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- IMBRICATION
- An overlapping as of tiles or shingles, a decoration or pattern resembling this.
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- JACOBEAN
- Of or pertaining to James I of England or to his period, and furniture prevailing in England in the first half of the 17th century.
- JAMES II
- James II, born 1633, died 1701. King of England, Ireland & Scotland 1658-1689.
- JARDINIERE
- An ornamental receptacle for holding plants, flowers etc.
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- KNIFE BOX
- An ornamental box with a sloping lid for the storage of table knives.
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- LINENFOLD
- Carved decoration which resembles folded linen.
- LINGERE
- A single door armoire fitted with shelving to house lingerie, bed linens etc.
- LOADED
- In silverware, a hollow part of a vessel, usually a candlestick, filled with pitch or sand for weight and stability.
- LOUIS PHILLIPE
- Born 1773, Died 1850. King of the French 1830-1848. Known before accession as Louis Phillipe duc d'Orleans.
- LOUIS XV
- Louis Quinze, noting or pertaining to the Rococo style of architecture, furnishings and decoration prevailing in France in the early and mid-18th century, characterized by fantasy, lightness, elegance and comfort. Louis reigned from 1715 to 1774.
- LOUIS XVI
- Louis Seize, noting or pertaining to the Rococo style of architecture, furnishings and decoration prevailing in France at the end of the18th century, continuing the lightness of the Louis Quinze period with a stricter adherence to classical models. Louis XVI reigned 1774 to 1792.
- LOUIS XVIII
- Born 1755 Died 1824. King of France 1814-1824, the brother of King Louis XVI.
- LOWBOY
- A low chest of drawers on legs resembling the lower part of a highboy.
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- MARQUETRY
- Inlaid work of variously colored woods or other materials creating intricate designs, pattens or real life subjects.
- MARRIAGE
- The bringing together of 2 unrelated parts to form one piece of furniture.
- MISSION STYLE
- Noting or pertaining to a style of American furniture of the early 20th century, created in supposed imitation of the furnishings of the Spanish missions of California and characterized by the use of dark stained wood, by heaviness, and by extreme plainness.
- MORRIS CHAIR
- A large armchair having an adjustable back and loose removable cushions (named after William Morris 1834-1896).
- MORTISE
- A notch, hole, groove or slot made in a piece of wood to receive a tenon of the same dimensions.
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- NAPOLEON I
- Napoleon Bonaparte "the little corporal" 1769-1821, French general born in Corcisa. Napoleon reigned as Emperor from 1804 to 1815.
- NAPOLEON III
- Louis Napoleon Bonaparte 1808-1873. President of France 1848-1852, known as the "Second Republic", emperor of France 1852-1870, known as the "Second Empire".
- NAPOLEONIC
- Pertaining to, resembling or suggestive of Napoleon I.
- NEWEL POST
- A post supporting one end of a handrail at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs.
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- ORMOLU
- An alloy of copper & zinc, used to imitate gold. Gilded metal especially brass or bronze. Gold or gold powder prepared for use in gilding.
- OVERMANTLE
- Area above a mantlepiece, often consisting of a mirror in an ornate frame, or some architectural feature in wood or stone.
- OVERSTUFFED
- Descriptive of upholstered furniture where the covering extends over the frame of the item.
- OX-BOW
- A front, as of a chest of drawers, having a horizontal compound curve with a concave section between two convex ones.
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- PARQUETRY
- Mosaic use of wood employed in a variety of applications from floors to furniture.
- PEMBROKE TABLE
- A drop-leaf table with fly rails and with a drawer at one end or both ends of the skirt (may have been named after Pembroke, English aristocratic family).
- Pewter
- Alloy of tin and lead. The higher the tin content the higher the quality. Antimony, in small quantities, was sometimes added to make it hard and with a highly polished surface.
- PHYFE, DUNCAN
- Pertaining to or resembling the furniture made by Duncan Phyfe, especially the earlier pieces in the Sheraton & Directoire styles.
- PIER GLASS OR MIRROR
- Mirror to be fixed to the pier, or wall, between two tall window openings, often partnered by a matching pier table. Made from the mid 17thC.
- POLE SCREEN
- Small adjustable screen mounted on a pole designed to stand in front of an open fire to shield a lady's face from the heat.
- PRESSED GLASS
- Early 19thC invention, exploited rapidly in America, whereby mechanical pressure was used to form glassware in a mould.
- PUTTI
- Emerging from the Renaissance period, depictions of two or more small naked boys with wings, often seen in paintings and in metal work on lamps, vases & urns.
- PUTTO
- The singular of PUTTI.
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- QUARTER SAWN
- Lumber from quarter sections of logs so that the annual rings in any board form at least a 45º angle with the faces of the board.
- QUARTER-VENEERED
- Four consecutively cut, and therefore identical, pieces of veneer laid at opposite ends to each other to give a mirrored effect.
- QUATREFOIL
- A panellike ornament consisting of 4 lobes, divided by cusps, radiating from a common center, often seen in ecclesiastical architecture.
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- REFECTORY TABLE
- Long narrow table having a single stretcher between trestlelike supports at the ends. A narrow table with extensible ends.
- REGENCY
- The period 1811-1820 during which George, Prince of Wales, later George IV of England, was Regent. Pertaining to the style of furnishings and decoration of the British Regency somewhat similar to the French Directoire & Empire styles and characterised by close imitation of ancient Greek forms and looser adaptations of ancient Roman, Gothic, Chinese & Egyptian forms, the progress being from simplicity & elegance to lavishness & coarseness.
- RENAISSANCE
- Noting or pertaining to the furnishings or decorations of the Renaissance, in which motifs and classical derivation frequently appear.
- RENT TABLE
- A drum table of the 18th century having 6 drawers and originally used by landlords to keep rent and papers pertaining to their estates.
- RESTORATION
- The reign of Charles II saw the return to power of the monarchy after the rule of Oliver Cromwell, British general, Puritan stateman and Lord Protector of England 1653-1658, and this period, together with that of James II, the successor to Charles II, is referred to as the Restoration.
- ROCOCO
- A style of architecture and decoration originating in France around 1720, evolved from Baroque types and distinguished by its elegant refinement in using different materials ( stucco, metal, wood, mirrors, tapestries) for a delicate overall effect and by its ornament of shellwork, foliage, etc.
- ROSEWOOD
- Any of various cabinet woods, sometimes with a roselike odor, yielded by certain tropical, fabaceous trees, especially of the genus Dalbergia.
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- SABRE LEG
- Elegant curving leg from the end of the 18th century, popular in the Regency period. Also known as Trafalgar leg.
- SAVONAROLA CHAIR
- Italian furniture, a chair of the Renaissance, having a number of pairs of transverse legs crossing beneath the seat and rising to support the arms and back (after Girolama Savonarola, 1452-1498, Italian monk, reformer and martyr). See also Dante chair .
- SCIMITAR FOOT
- Any short leg or foot as to a pedestal table, having the form of an arc tangent to the floor plane.
- SERPENTINE FRONT
- A front as of a chest of drawers having a horizontal compound curve with a convex section between two concave ones.
- SETTLE
- A long seat or bench, usually wooden with arms and a high back.
- SHERATON
- Thomas, 1751-1806. English cabinetmaker and furniture designer. Of or in the style of furniture designed by Thomas Sheraton.
- SLEIGH BED
- A bed of the Empire period having raised ends terminating in outward scrolls.
- SNAKE FOOT
- An elongated foot or short leg, as to a pedestal table, having the form of an ogee tangent to the floor plane.
- SPANISH FOOT
- A carved pyramidical foot having concave fluted sides usually ending in a scroll at the bottom.
- SPELTER
- Zinc treated to look like bronze and much used as an inexpensive substitute in Art Nouveau applique ornament and Art Deco figures.
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- TALLBOY
- American term used for a chest-on-chest.
- TAMBOUR
- The flexible shutter used as a desk top or in place of a door, composed of a number of closely set wood strips attached to a piece of cloth, the whole sliding in grooves along the sides or at the top and bottom.
- TAZZA
- A wide but shallow bowl on a stem with a foot.
- TEAPOY
- Piece of furniture in the form of a tea caddy on legs with a hinged lid opening to reveal caddies, mixing bowl and other tea drinking accessories.
- TENON
- Projection formed on the end of a timber for insertion into a mortise of the same dimensions.
- TESTER
- A wooden canopy over a bedstead supported by either 2 or 4 posts. When extending over the whole beds it is known as a full tester or if only over the bedhead it is known as a half tester.
- TORCHERE
- A tall stand for a candelabrum .
- TREFOIL
- A panellike ornament consisting of 3 lobes, divided by cusps, radiating from a common center, often seen in ecclesiastical architecture.
- TRUMPET LEG
- A turned leg that flares upward and outward from a narrow lower end.
- TULIPWOOD
- Yellow-brown wood with reddish stripe, imported from Central & South America and used as a veneer and for inlay and cross banding.
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- U
- No entries under this letter yet.
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- VALET
- A stand or rack often containing a fitted coat hanger for jackets, hats and a tray for other gentlemens accouterments.
- VENEER
- A very thin layer of wood for facing or inlaying wood.
- VICTORIA
- Queen Victoria, 1819-1901. Queen of Great Britain 1837-1901 and Empress of India 1876-1901.
- VICTORIAN
- Of or pertaining to the architecture, furnishings and decoration of English speaking countries during the reign of Queen Victoria. This period reflected many changes of style brought on as a consequence of aesthetic and philosophical controversy, technological innovations and changes of fashion. Trends ranged from classicism at the start to romanticism & eclecticism at the middle of the period and thence to classicism again.
- VITRINE
- A display cabinet, wholly glazed on the front and often on the sides and top.
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- WINGED CHAIR
- A large upholstered chair having a back with wings.
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- X
- No entries under this letter yet.
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- Y
- No entries under this letter yet.
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- Z
- No entries under this letter yet.
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