Antique and Vintage Furniture Glossary

This glossary presents clear definitions of key phrases associated to vintage furnishings. It is a easy information for anybody trying to higher perceive the language used on this discipline. 

A

Acanthus: A carved decoration that includes leaves, usually discovered on the high of Corinthian columns and well-liked in Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian furnishings.

Adam Model: An 18th-century neoclassical fashion developed by the Adam brothers in Britain, characterised by delicate ornamentation, classical motifs, and an emphasis on symmetry. 

Apron: An ornamental aspect beneath the seat rail of a sofa, chair, cupboard, or desk.

Arcading: A carved architectural decoration within the form of arches. It may be seen on chair-backs and utilized on panels on coffers.

Armoire: A big wardrobe, sometimes from France.

Artwork Deco: A design fashion from the Nineteen Twenties and Nineteen Thirties characterised by daring geometric patterns, wealthy colours, and splendid supplies. Artwork Deco furnishings usually options modern strains and unique supplies like ebony, ivory, and chrome.

Artwork Nouveau: A mode from the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, recognized for its flowing, natural strains, floral motifs, and emphasis on craftsmanship. 

Astragal: A small molding used on glass for glazing bars.

B

Baize: a lining fabric often present in card tables.

Ball and Claw Foot: A furnishings leg design the place the foot resembles a fowl or animal claw greedy a ball. This fashion was well-liked within the 18th century, particularly in Chippendale furnishings.

Baluster: A turned vase-shaped publish supporting the staircase rail or a chair splat.

Bamboo Turning: Turned timber made to simulate bamboo, often painted.

Banding: Ornamental edging or inlaid border on wood furnishings.

Baroque: A extremely ornate and indulgent fashion that originated in Italy within the Seventeenth century. Baroque furnishings is characterised by its elaborate carvings, gilding, and dramatic curves.

Bead or Beading: a molding that resembles a string of beads.

Bergere: A chair with caned or upholstered sides.

Bevel: An edge that has been reduce at a slant.

Biedermeier: A mode of furnishings that originated in Germany and Austria within the early Nineteenth century, recognized for its clear strains, minimal ornamentation, and use of sunshine woods like birch and maple.

Black Forest: This furnishings is very carved and is thought for carved bears and different creatures of the forest, resembling deer and birds.

Bolection molding: an ornamental molding that initiatives past the face of a panel or body in raised panel partitions, doorways, and fireplaces.

Boulle: An ornamental kind of marquetry by which tortoiseshell, brass, copper, and tin had been utilized in elaborate floral or curving designs, named for French cupboard maker,  Andrè-Charles Boulle (Paris 1642-1732) who was often known as le joailler du meuble, or “The Furnishings Jeweler.”

Bombé: A French time period describing furnishings with an outward swelling curve, usually used for bureaus and commodes.

Bonheur-du-jour: A small, girls writing desk.

Bracket Foot: A foot kind with an outward straight proper angle and a curved inside, used on chests and cupboards.

Braiding: A ending ornament utilized in upholstery across the edges of chairs.

Breakfront: A entrance that has a number of projecting parts.

Bulb: the bulb-like a part of the customarily carved and turned helps of furnishings on tables, chairs, and so on.

Bun Foot: A rounded foot used on numerous sorts of furnishings.

Bureau: A desk with a sloping fall entrance. The flap is hinged above a chest of drawers.

C

Cabochon: A gem-shaped carved embellishment, polished and usually convex, usually discovered on the “knee” of a chair leg.

Cabriole Leg: A curved furnishings leg that options an outward curve on the high and an inward curve close to the underside. This fashion is usually related to Queen Anne and Louis XV furnishings.

Camelback: a chair or couch again that includes a high rail with a serpentine curve that kinds two humps downward and three humps upward.

Candelabra: A branched candlestick or lamp stand.

Canapé: A French time period for a settee or sofa.

Caning: A method by which skinny strips of cane, rattan, or different supplies are woven to kind a seat or backrest on chairs. Caning was well-liked within the 18th and Nineteenth centuries.

Cover: A draped overlaying of cloth suspended over a chunk of furnishings and supported by 4 posts, often on 4 poster beds.

Canted: Canted surfaces are beveled, chamfered, or obliquely confronted. They’re usually discovered on the corners of chests of drawers.

Canterbury: A decorative stand that includes compartments and divisions for papers, portfolios, envelopes, magazines, and so on.

Carcase: The time period used to explain the physique of a chunk of furnishings.

Cartouche: A decorative panel within the type of a scroll or defend, usually utilized in Rococo furnishings. It usually contains a coat-of-arms, decorative monogram, or an inscription.

Caryatid: An ornamental upright feminine determine used within the place of a column. It’s usually discovered on 18th-century furnishings resembling chests and cabinets. It’s fairly widespread on some French furnishings.

Case Furnishings: Furnishings that gives storage.

Castellated: A sort of molding within the form of a fort high usually discovered on wardrobe and bookcase tops.

Cavetto: A hollowed molding that kinds the quadrant of a circle—a distinguished cornice in massive items of vintage furnishings.

Cellaret: A conveyable chest, case, or cupboard courting from the 18th century. It’s used to retailer bottles, decanters, and glasses.

Chaise Lounge: an upholstered chair with a lengthened seat forming a leg relaxation for reclining.

Chamfered: An edge that’s beveled or reduce away from the sq. of the highest or fringe of the piece.

Checker banding: An inlay of sunshine and darkish wooden forming a chess or checkerboard-type sample.

Chiffonier: A small sideboard or cupboard with a cabinet or drawers beneath.

Chinoiserie: A mode of ornament impressed by Chinese language artwork and design, well-liked within the 18th century.

Chippendale: A mode of furnishings named after English cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale, well-liked within the mid-18th century. Chippendale furnishings usually options intricate carvings, together with rococo, Gothic, and Chinese language influences.

Membership Foot (or pad foot): Typically on the base of a cabriole leg.

Cock Beading: a skinny beaded molding that’s carved across the edges of drawers.

Colonial: This fashion mirrored early American furnishings from the Seventeenth and 18th centuries, influenced by European designs however tailored to the sensible wants of the New World settlers. 

Commode: A low chest of drawers, usually with elaborate ornament.

Console Desk: A desk designed to be positioned towards a wall, usually with a half-moon form.

Corbel: An ornamental carved bracket usually seen on vintage bookcases.

Cornice: a horizontal molding on the high of furnishings items resembling bookcases, cupboards, and vintage wardrobes.

Credenza: A usually elaborate sideboard with a mirror again.

Crest Rail: The highest rail of a chair again, usually carved or embellished.

Cross banding: Skinny strips of ornamental cross-grained veneer.

D

Danish Fashionable: A mode from the mid-Twentieth century that emphasizes simplicity, performance, and clear strains, usually utilizing pure supplies like teak wooden. 

Davenport: A small writing desk with a sloping high.

Dentil: the moulding beneath the cornice consisting of a sequence of small rectangular formed blocks or “tooth”.

Directoire: A French fashion from the late 18th century, transitional between the Louis XVI and Empire types, that includes restrained ornamentation, classical motifs, and a extra simplified aesthetic. 

Dovetail Joint: A woodworking method used to hitch two items of wooden at proper angles. The interlocking pins and tails of the joint are extremely immune to being pulled aside, making it a standard methodology in vintage furnishings development.

Dowel: a headless pin of steel or wooden that matches right into a corresponding gap on one other piece, forming a joint that fastens them collectively.

Drop-leaf: A desk leaf that’s hinged to the aspect of the desk and designed to drop to the aspect of the desk when not in use.

Drum Desk: a spherical desk resembling a drum. It has a deep apron and usually options drawers within the frieze.

Dumbwaiter: a serving desk, often known as a tier desk. It options a number of cabinets.

E

Early American: A mode from the Seventeenth and 18th centuries in America, reflecting the sensible and durable designs delivered to the colonies by European settlers, usually made from regionally sourced wooden. 

Eastlake: A mode of furnishings from the late Nineteenth century, named after English designer Charles Eastlake. Eastlake furnishings options less complicated, extra geometric strains and sometimes consists of incised (engraved) ornament somewhat than elaborate carving.

Ebonized: Wooden that has been stained or painted black to resemble ebony.

Edwardian: Furnishings produced from 1901 to 1911 throughout King Edward VII’s reign in England.

Egg-and-dart: An ornamental molding that includes egg shapes alternating with dart-like factors.

Embossing: Stamping or hammering wooden and leather-based so {that a} design stands out above the floor.

Empire: A mode that emerged within the early Nineteenth century in the course of the reign of Napoleon I, characterised by grandeur, sturdy classical influences, and the usage of wealthy supplies like mahogany, gilt, and marble. 

Engraving: the method of chopping or carving strains right into a wooden floor.

Escutcheon: An ornamental plate round a keyhole or door deal with, usually brass.

Étagère: A free-standing cupboard or wall shelving used to show small objects, typically with drawers and doorways.

F

Fauteuil: An upholstered armchair with open sides.

Federal Model: An American furnishings fashion from the late 18th and early Nineteenth centuries, influenced by neoclassical design. Federal furnishings usually options straight strains, inlays, and motifs resembling eagles, urns, and swags.

Fielded panel: A panel with beveled edges surrounding a flat central discipline. Typically seen on vintage coffers.

Finial: A decorative high piece, usually discovered on the highest of a chair again or bedpost.

Flip-top: A sort of vintage eating desk by which the tabletop tilts for storage.

Fluting: Ornamental vertical, carved parallel grooves usually seen on column legs.

French Sprucing: A sturdy end of excessive gloss created by making use of many layers of shellac to wooden. The method is believed to have originated in France within the late 1600s, therefore the identify.

French Provincial: French Provincial, typically used interchangeably with French Nation, refers to a adorning and furnishing fashion that originated within the provinces of France all through the 1700s and 1800s.

Frieze: Additionally referred to as the apron, it’s the perpendicular face beneath a tabletop, cornice, or drawer (case furnishings).

G

Gadrooning: An ornamental edging with a sequence of convex curves, usually discovered on the perimeters of tables and cupboards.

Gallery: A decorative steel or wooden railing across the fringe of a furnishings piece.

Geometric: A sort of molding used on Seventeenth-century oak furnishings.

Georgian: English furnishings courting from 1714 to 1800. Marked by its symmetry, proportion, and use of classical components, usually that includes mahogany wooden and elaborate carvings. Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Chippendale, and Adams had been among the many best-known designers and cupboard makers of this era.

Gesso: A white paint combination made from chalk, gypsum, and a binder, used as a base for gilding or portray. Gesso is usually discovered on vintage furnishings as an underlayer for gold leaf or ornamental portray.

Gilding: The ornament of an object with a skinny layer of gold, gold leaf, or gold foil.

Gothic Revival: A Nineteenth-century fashion that drew inspiration from medieval Gothic structure, characterised by pointed arches, intricate tracery, and an emphasis on vertical strains. 

H

Hassock: a tightly stuffed upholstered cushion usually used on footstools or chairs.

Hepplewhite: This fashion of furnishings, named after English cabinetmaker George Hepplewhite, was well-liked within the late 18th century. It’s recognized for its elegant, slender strains and motifs, resembling shield-back chairs and tapered legs.

Herringbone: Often known as feather banding, it’s a ornamental border of inlay round furnishings by which strips of veneer are laid at a 90-degree angle, forming a herringbone sample.

Excessive Victorian: A mid-to-late Nineteenth-century fashion characterised by heavy ornamentation, wealthy supplies, and eclectic influences from Gothic, Rococo, and Renaissance types. 

Hoof Toes: This fashion originated within the Seventeenth century and had been well-liked in furnishings types resembling Queen Anne, Chippendale, French Provencial, and Neoclassical. They had been formed just like the hooves of animals. Deer (pied-de-biche) was the commonest inspiration.  They had been thought of an emblem of luxurious and had been usually featured on high-end furnishings items.

Hutch: A cupboard or cabinet with open cabinets on high.

I – Ok

Inlay: The strategy of embedding items of contrasting materials, resembling wooden, ivory, or steel, into the floor of furnishings to create ornamental patterns. Inlay work is usually seen in vintage furnishings, including visible curiosity and worth.

Italian Renaissance: Common in the course of the 1400s to 1600s, it’s a fashion of inside design that emphasizes luxurious and opulence.

Jacobean: A mode of furnishings from the early Seventeenth century, in the course of the reign of James I of England. Jacobean furnishings is often heavy and durable, with easy strains and minimal ornamentation.

Japanning: A sort of lacquerwork that imitates Asian lacquer strategies.

Joinery: the craft of woodworking via mortise and tenon, dovetail, tongue and groove, dowels, and so on.

Klismos: An historic Greek fashion of chair that was revived in numerous intervals, together with the Neoclassical period, recognized for its distinctive curved, splayed legs and easy, elegant kind. 

Kneehole Desk: A desk with an area for the knees, usually with drawers on both aspect.

L

Liming: A end often seen on interval oak furnishings. The method makes use of a white paste to fill open wooden pores, which supplies the furnishings a particular look.

Linenfold: A carved ornament that resembles folded linen, usually discovered on paneling.

Lowboy: A chest of drawers mounted on quick legs.

Louis XV: A French Rococo fashion from the mid-18th century, characterised by its asymmetry, curved strains, and ornate, floral motifs, usually that includes intricate marquetry and gilding.

Louis XVI: A late 18th-century French fashion that returned to classical symmetry and straight strains, with restrained ornament, usually incorporating classical motifs like fluted columns and laurel wreaths.

M – N

Marquetry: An ornamental method that includes creating patterns or photos utilizing items of veneer, usually wooden, inlaid into the floor of furnishings. Marquetry was well-liked within the Seventeenth and 18th centuries.

Mid-Century Fashionable: A design motion from the mid-Twentieth century (roughly Nineteen Forties-Sixties) characterised by clear strains, natural shapes, and a give attention to operate. Mid-century fashionable furnishings usually options supplies like teak, walnut, fiberglass, and molded plastic.

Mission: An early Twentieth-century American fashion, a part of the Arts and Crafts motion, emphasizing simplicity, handcrafted high quality, and the usage of oak wooden with uncovered joinery. 

Miter joint: A framing method utilizing 45-degree angles to hitch wooden edges.

Mom of Pearl: the onerous, iridescent interior ling of shells like oysters and mussels used as an ornamental inlay in furnishings.

Neoclassical: A mode impressed by the artwork and structure of historic Greece and Rome, well-liked within the late 18th and early Nineteenth centuries. It options clear strains, symmetry, and classical motifs resembling columns, laurel wreaths, and urns.

Napoleon III: A French fashion that developed in the course of the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870), characterised by eclecticism and the revival of earlier types like Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo. This fashion usually options elaborate ornamentation and wealthy supplies. 

O

Occasional desk: a time period for small tables resembling aspect tables, espresso tables, lamp tables, and so on.

Ormolu: A gilding method utilizing a gold and mercury amalgam to brighten furnishings, particularly in the course of the 18th century in France. Ormolu is usually discovered on clocks, candlesticks, and mounts on tremendous vintage furnishings.

Ottoman: A low, upholstered seat with no again or arms. Typically used as a footrest, it could have cupboard space inside.

Oyster veneering: A method used on William and Mary furnishings. It’s achieved by chopping or slicing the smaller branches of sure timber, resembling walnut or olive, and piecing them collectively.

P

Palladian: A mode primarily based on the designs of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio, well-liked within the 18th century, characterised by symmetry, classical proportions, and the usage of components like columns and pediments. 

Parquetry: Inlay work produced from small items of wooden organized in geometric patterns.

Associate’s desk: a desk massive sufficient to seat two individuals dealing with one another with working drawers or cabinets on each side.

Patera: A spherical or oval motif incorporating fluting leaves or flower petals, often carved or inlaid.

Patina: The floor look of a chunk of furnishings that has aged over time, usually seen as a fascinating attribute in antiques. Patina can embrace put on, discoloration, and a tender sheen that provides to the character of the piece.

Pedestal: An upright assist, both turned or within the type of a cabinet.

Pediment: The triangular high part of a chunk of furnishings, usually discovered on cupboards and bookcases.

Pembroke desk: A sort of drop leaf desk.

Pie-crust edge: Often discovered on tables, the sting is carved in a scallop form.

Pier Desk: A desk designed to be positioned towards a wall, usually between home windows.

Pilaster: An ornamental flattened column on furnishings that doesn’t present structural assist.

Plinth: The low sq. base of a chunk of furnishings.

Provincial: Refers to furnishings types from the French provinces, less complicated and extra rustic variations of Parisian designs, usually handcrafted with native supplies. 

Q – R

Quatrefoil: An ornamental aspect with 4 lobes or leaves.

Queen Anne: A mode of furnishings well-liked within the early 18th century, named after Queen Anne of England. Queen Anne furnishings is thought for its swish, curving strains, together with cabriole legs and scalloped shell motifs.

Reeding: A sequence of parallel convex ridges, usually used on legs and columns.

Regency: A mode of furnishings from the early Nineteenth century, in the course of the English Regency interval. Regency furnishings usually options elegant, neoclassical designs with influences from historic Greece and Rome, together with saber legs and brass inlays.

Reduction: A molded, carved, or stamped ornament that protrudes from the floor of a chunk of furnishings, forming a sample.

Rococo: A extremely ornamental fashion of furnishings that originated in France within the early 18th century. Rococo furnishings is characterised by elaborate carvings, asymmetrical kinds, and motifs resembling shells, scrolls, and flowers.

S

Salon Set: Often known as a Salon Parlor Set, it’s a full set of matched seating furnishings for a selected room.

Sarcophagus: an oblong, coffin-shaped field with tapering sides.

Scallop Shell Carving: A semi-circular shell with ridges resembling a shell. This decorative motif was widespread in furnishings design in the course of the Queen Anne and Georgian intervals.

Scroll pediment: An open-topped curved pediment, its two S-shaped sides ending in scrolls. It’s also known as bonnet-scroll, bonnet-top, gooseneck, or swan-neck.

Scumble: An early kind of ache end designed to appear like fake grain.

Shaker: A Nineteenth-century American fashion developed by the Shaker non secular group, characterised by simplicity, performance, and a scarcity of ornamentation, with a give attention to high quality craftsmanship. 

Sheraton: An 18th-century English fashion named after Thomas Sheraton, recognized for its refined, neoclassical design with straight strains, mild development, and the usage of veneers and inlays. 

Defend again: Frequent in Hepplewhite designs, the again of the chair is formed like a defend.

Sideboard: A bigger kind of dining-room furnishings with a flat high and(usually) a again for displaying china and glass. The physique is a storage unit composed of drawers, typically flanked by cupboards with doorways on either side.

Specimen Desk: Constructed from a wide range of veneers in a design that showcases the totally different grains and traits of the woods.

Splat: The vertical central aspect of a chair again, usually formed and embellished. The design of the splat may help establish the interval and elegance of a chunk of furnishings.

Stretcher: the stabilizing rail on the backside of furnishings, which regularly kinds X, H, or Y shapes.

Stringing: Ornamental inlay within the type of tremendous strains.

T

Tea Caddy: a small, ornamental field created for storing tea leaves.

Tallboy: A excessive chest of drawers.

Tambour: A versatile sliding door made from slender strips of wooden.

Tapestry: A heavy, handwoven cloth discovered on some upholstered furnishings.

Tudor: A mode from the early sixteenth century in England, characterised by heavy, strong development, darkish woods, and ornate carvings, usually with Gothic influences. 

U – Z

Upholstered Victorian: Refers back to the closely upholstered furnishings of the Victorian period, usually that includes deep button-tufting, plush materials, and elaborate frames with carved wooden particulars.

Veneer: A skinny layer of tremendous wooden utilized to the furnishings’s floor, usually used to create ornamental results or cowl cheaper wooden. Veneering was a standard method in vintage furnishings, permitting for intricate patterns and designs.

Venetian: A mode originating from Venice, Italy, recognized for its ornate and ornamental options, together with painted and gilded furnishings, usually with components like mirrors, intricate carvings, and elaborate inlays. 

Victorian: Furnishings produced by way of the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901).

Webbing: Strapping that’s used to assist upholstered seats in vintage or classic chairs.

William IV: Furnishings produced in the course of the reign of King William from 1830-1837.

Windsor: An English and American fashion of chair courting from the 18th century, characterised by a strong wood seat with a backrest and legs made from spindles, usually with a barely splayed design for stability. 

X-Body Chairs: Often known as “Savonarola” or “Dante” chairs, these are chairs with an X-shaped body, well-liked within the Renaissance interval and revived in numerous types, notably in the course of the Nineteenth century. 

X-Stretcher: A cross-shaped assist construction discovered on the legs of tables and chairs.

Yorkshire: A regional fashion from England, notably recognized for its sturdy, rustic, and sensible furnishings, usually made from oak and that includes easy, useful designs.

Z

Zigzag Chair: A contemporary chair design with a particular zigzag form.

Zitan Furnishings: Refers to furnishings produced from Zitan wooden, a uncommon and extremely prized hardwood from China, usually utilized in Ming and Qing dynasty furnishings, recognized for its wealthy, deep colour and tremendous grain. 

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