Glossary of Antiquing Terms
These terms apply to Antiques, Antique Furniture,
Auctions, Glass, and Other Assorted Collectibles
A.S.I.D. – American Society of Interior Designers.
Abacus - The topmost horizontal tablet of a column’s capital to support the architrave.
Abstract - Category of non-objective images in modified form by distortion or simplification. Abstraction is the category of such modified images. (See also.)
Acacia - Trees of genus Acacia similar to locust trees. Some Australian and Sandwich Islands varieties produce beautiful veneers in a wide range of colors from yellow, red and green.
Acanthus - Ornament based on the leaves of the acanthus plant. It was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Acanthus Leaf - Decorative wood carving motive design based on the leaf of acanthus plants, common in 18th century. (genus Acanthus has large pointed leaves with a white-purple flower native to Mediterranean) Classic Greek and Roman origin found on the capital of Corinthian columns.
Acorn – An acorn-shaped wood turned ornament common in Jacobean furniture as finials on chair and bedposts, as pendants and profiles of table leg turnings.
Acroterium – Ornaments on top corners of secretaries, bookcases, highboys, and other prominent furniture. Originally, an ornament on the roof corners of classic Greek temples.
Adam Style - British neoclassical style established by architect-designer brothers Robert and James Adam that predominated from about 1760 to 1790. The Adam style was a reaction to the bolder and more fancy rococo style of the 1750s, it is characterized by slender, graceful lines, refined shapes, and restrained ornamentation.
Adaptation - Reproduction version in the style of original design or period, but not true to form.
Adelphi - The trade name or signature of the Adams brothers.
Afleck, Thomas - 18th century master cabinetmaker of Chippendale style. Moved to Philadelphia from London in 1763, died 1795.
Age of Oak, Walnut, Mahogany, Satinwood – English periods defined by the wood most used in furniture.
Age of Oak – 1500-1660
Age of Walnut – 1660-1720
Age of Mahogany – 1720-1765
Age of Satinwood – 1765-1800
Alcove – Part of a room that is recessed for a bed bookcase, cabinet, dining group, etc. Specialized beds were designed for alcoves in the 18th century. Bed alcoves existed in Pompeian rooms, and was common in northern Europe from the middle Ages onward.
Alder – Strong hard, wood similar to maple, readily accepts stains imitating darker woods.
Alla Prima – (ah-la pree-ma) Italian term, meaning to paint directly, without first drawing or under painting.
Amaranth – Purple toned wood used in veneers since the 18th century; also known as “purple heart” and “violet wood”.
Amboyna – East Indian wood, used as inlay and veneer since Roman times. Its burls are light red-brown, curled and highly mottled.
Ambry – A recess for storage in medieval churches, adding doors gives the cupboard form. English cupboards are large with doors and fitted with shelves for storage.
Angel Bed – A canopied bed with no front support.
Antiquing – Process to age wood furniture by applying a glaze of color, then rubbing surface coat to revel the base color underneath. Enhanced with crackled and aged paint and varnishes.
Apothecary Chest – A small chest of drawers used to store herbs for cooking and medicinal uses.
Apple Wood – Fine fruit hardwood used in colonial furniture.
Apron – A detailed lower structural panel skirt and rail profile that connects legs of furniture.
Apron - Horizontal piece of wood below a seat, tabletop, or case piece, sometimes called a “skirt”.
Armchair – Seat with both armrests and a backrest (see bergère and fauteuil).
Armoire – Tall and upright wardrobe, closet or cupboard with doors, shelves, rails, hooks for clothing storage; used as modern entertainment center or computer station.
Art Deco (c. 1920-30’s) – Style introduced from Paris exposition in 1925 celebrating art and industry in denouncing of Art Nouveau. 1930s American designers took this look further using asymmetry, smooth flowing streamlined forms, geometric styles in art, architecture and household furnishings.
Art Nouveau (c. 1880-1910) – A French style of flowing and nearly freeform shapes using elonged, shallow curved lines ending in a more whip like second curve. This “new art” was most popular in Europe, example Tiffany lamps with simple, flowing, ornate lines form nature.
Arts and Crafts (c. late 1800s – 1920s) – A furniture style and movement from end of 19th century England in reaction to the Victorian era excesses and the Gay Nineties. Also called Mission style, this movement sought to replace mass-produced Victorian furniture with simple hand craftsmanship, before it waned with the onset of World War I. Typically a deliberately simple shape, blocked, rectangular oak furniture style with exposed joinery and minimal ornamentation. America’s Gustav Stickley and England’s William Morris and John Ruskin are pre-eminently known.
Ash – Native hardwood of high strength and durability, widely used for framing furniture. Characteristics are an oak-like grain resembling pecan or hickory.
Aspen – ‘White’ poplar wood with a light-colored surface luster.
Bachelor’s Chest – Small low 18th century chest.
Backsplat – Wooden slat in middle of a chair’s back.
Bail – A drawer pull formed by a metal hook hanging freely between two studs.
Ball and Claw Foot – A carved foot motif that resembling a ball or egg held in an eagle, crane, dragon or lion’s claw. Most associated with 18th-century American and English furniture, the ball and claw foot’s origins were in China as the dragon claw clutching a pearl, crystal ball or jewel.
Balloon Chair – A Hepplewhite chair’s rounded-back modeled after a hot-air balloon.
Balloon Seat – Chair seat with a convex or horseshoe shaped front rail bowing forward.
Baluster – A turned vertical post or upright support, resembling a column. (Banister)
Baluster – Small closely spaced turned, square, or flat columns that support a rail or chair back.
Banding – Inlay or marquetry producing a contrasting color or grain with the surface it decorates.
Banister Back Chair – A chair with a back made of turned upright banisters usually topped by a crest rail and supported by a lower cross rail above the seat.
Banquette – An often built-in-place, long upholstered bench or seat.
Baroque – European style of the early 18th century that originated in Rome as an extension of ornamental Renaissance style. Baroque style is characterized by massive and heavily decorated, exaggerated, billowing and highly ornate design styles of oversize moldings twisted columns and elaborate scrolls.
Bat Wing – 18th century hardware that resembled a bat’s wing.
Bauhaus – Early 20th-century German design style from the school of architecture founder Walter Gropius. A minimalist and functional style with much influence on modern furniture and architecture design.
Beading – Raised decorative quarter or half round molding trim sometimes resembling a flat row of planate beads.
Beech – A relatively inexpensive hardwood, similar in appearance to maple. Beechwood is used for frames, veneers, and turned or bent parts.
Beidermeier – German style of design in first half of the 19th century. Inspired by Empire style with lightwoods and simple lines with lacquer or black enamel accents.
Bentwood – A wood steaming process of shaping curved chair and furniture parts. The best-known producer of bentwood furniture is Michael Thonet (1796 – 1871) of Vienna, a pioneer in mass production.
Bergère – French armchair built for comfort of wide proportions, upholstered back and sides, covered arms, a loose squab seat cushion and exposed wooden frame. Common during Louis XIV and Louis XV periods.
Birch – One tough American wood, with a light tone similar to maple and fine grain. Birch may have a variety of wood grain pattern (curly, straight and wavy) and will accept stain to resemble mahogany or walnut.
Birdcage – mechanism allowing a table top to tilt and pivot.
Block Foot – Squared and vertical foot of an untapered leg.
Block Front – Design is a unique American furniture form. John Towsend is attributed to creating the first block and shell furniture in 1766. Newport style is square blocked. Massachusetts is both square and round blocking. Front is usually divided vertically into three segments with a concave panel in the center and convex panels on either side. Panels frequently terminate in shell carvings or flat arches at the top. See also Break Front.
Bombe’ – Low “kettle” shape chest of the baroque-style bombe’ form derived from a shape used commonly for ancient Roman sarcophagi with bulging, convex shape on the front and sides. Bombe’ style is often used for Chests, commodes, bureaus, armoires.
Bonnet Top – A hooded or enclosed arch top pediment covering entire top, usually on a china cabinet, secretary, highboy or tall chest.
Bonnet Top – A pediment that covers the top of a case piece.
Book Matching – Sheets of veneer placed side-by-side, like book pages creating symmetrical patterns or mirror images.
Boss – An oval or rounded surface ornament.
Boston Rocker – Large 19th Century American rocker of wood with wide top-rail and a spindle back, and curved seat. They are commonly stenciled or painted.
Boullework – Elaborate inlay of wood or other materials used to embellish the surface. Often brass.
Bow Back – Windsor chair style.
Bow Front – Rounded front curve on wooden furniture.
Bracket Foot – Low straight vertical or ogee faced foot-running perpendicular from the corner of furniture case forming a right angle foot with decorative ends.
Breakfront – China cabinet divided into three vertical segments, with the middle section projecting forward. See also Blockfront.
Brewster Chair – Colonial American style chair with heavy wood turned spindles and leg posts, and relief carving. Typical of Jacobean period or Pilgrim style from about the middle of the 17th century.
Brocades – A Woven fabric resembling embroidery with a raised pattern.
Broken Color – Used first by Manet and the 19th century Impressionists in French painting, where color was applied in spots rather than the traditional method of smoothly blending colors and values. Broken color’s purer “Pointillism” was developed by Georges Seurat.
Broken Pediment – Ornamental crown molding of a tall 18th century furnishing such as a highboy or tall chest. The pediment across the top is interrupted or “broken” by an opening that highlights a carved finial detail such as a flame or an urn.
Buffet – A functional cupboard or sideboard for the dining room, without the storage china cabinet or hutch on top, designed to hold platters and serving dishes.
Bun Foot – A flattened ball foot with slim ankle. Popular on chests or seating pieces in William and Mary period.
Bureau – A dresser or chest-of-drawers commonly used to store clothing.
Burl – A large, rounded knot growth on a tree. The wood, Burl wood, has a distinctive and mottled grain makes highly figured veneers with beautiful swirled patterns.
Butler’s Tray Table – A tray, removable from the table legs on which it stands, with four flip-up handholds that create an oval tabletop is when the sides are down.
Butterfly Table – A drop leaf table with winged brackets that support the leaves
Cable – A twined rope molding design pattern.
Cabriole – Graceful, double curved ‘S’ shaped (usually table or chair leg) that gracefully curves out at the knee, turns in gradually tapering at the ankle and flares out at the foot. Resembling the leg of an animal (”goat” in Spanish, Italian for “goat’s leap”) Popular with Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture with widespread use in the late seventeenth century.
Cabriole Leg – A leg with an out curved knee and an in curved ankle.
Calligraphy – Beautiful handwriting historically practiced in the Orient and Near East also describes drawing or painting with decorative brushstrokes of calligraphy.
Camelback – 18th-century style with a distinctive triple-curved (camel back) frame with a raised central curve along the back. Often-used on sofa and chair backs with a pierced-shield design and anthemion or honeysuckle vine extending from the seat to the highest curve.
Camera Obscura – System of lenses and mirrors from the 16th to the 17th centuries functioning as a primitive camera such that artists could project a scene onto the painting surface.
Campaign Furniture – Portable collapsible furniture, often with handles, that folds flat or can be disassembled and re-assembled. It originated for military use and is commonly associated with colonialism.
Caning – split rattan or similar material soaked, woven and dried in place, commonly used to cover chair seats and backs.
Canopy – A fabric attached at the top of bedposts to a frame for decorative and practical function (privacy screen, bug net).
Captain’s Chair – A rounded spindle back Windsor chair.
Card Table – Folding table originating by English nobility’s passion for gambling in late 17th century.
Case Pieces – A piece of furniture with storage space.
Casegoods – General term of furniture designed for storage space. Including bedroom and dining room furniture, desks, bookcases and chests.
Cedar – An aromatic, knotty, softwood conifer frequently used to line chests, drawers and panel walls. Available in white or red varieties. Cedars fragrant pitch is well noted to keep insect pest away.
Chaise Lounge – Literally, a “long chair”, armchair, sofa or daybed with the upholstered back and seat lengthened for reclining. Modern chaise lounge styles are usually a single piece; but early version designs were two armchairs with a center stool or a bergère and a large stool.
Chamfer – The beveled cutting on an edge or corner.
Chandelier – Light fixture that hangs from the ceiling. French word for candlestick.
Channel Back – A chair back with fluting or grooves for decoration.
Channeling – A furrow or groove.
Charles of London – Low, rolled arm style of sofa or chair.
Checking – Natural development of cracks or splits in wood caused by expansion and contraction due to humidity fluctuations upon varying wood densities.
Cherry – A sturdy and hard wood of red-brown tone and straight, close grain. Cherry wood is easily worked, yet resists checking and warping. American and French18th century styles both use cherry as solid and veneer woods.
Chest on Chest – Tall chest of drawers in two sections, composed of a larger chest-of-drawers supporting another top chest.
Chesterfield – Overstuffed sofa or couch style with large rolled arms in one continuous curve with the back, deep button tufted upholstered ends and no exposed wood.
Chest-On-Chest – A case piece with a chest placed on top of another chest to form one unit.
Cheval Glass – Freestanding tall mirror in a vertical frame.
Chiaroscuro (cheer-a-scu-ro) – Italian for light and dark, referring to the use of light and shade to model form.
Chiffonier – A tall, narrow chest-of-drawers. A “semanier” is a chest with seven drawers.
China Cabinet – Cabinet with glass front doors (sometimes glass sides also), used to store and display fine china dishware.
Chinoiserie – Intricate pattern style influenced by Chinese art, painted or lacquered on furniture and as themes on fabric and wallpaper.
Chinoiserie - Raised – painted decoration of oriental design adorning furniture.
Chintz – Brightly printed cotton fabric, often glazed or “polished” high sheen, commonly used in casual rooms.
Chippendale – A period of furniture 1754-1790. Based on the designs of Thomas Chippendale.
Chippendale – Notable style (1750-1790) from Thomas Chippendale, a late 18th century cabinetmaker whose work was the first to evolve into its own elegant and formal furniture style following the American Queen Anne period. Adaptations from various periods and styles attest to Thomas Chippendale’s influence and ability to borrow styles and create variations. The Chippendale design is more rectangular than Queen Anne with graceful proportions and delicate decoration. Refined ornamentation was carved in classic, Chinese or English rococo form. Characteristics include handsome cabriole legs, claw and ball feet, and broken pediment tops including architecturally detailed columns, cornices and friezes. Block-front chests from Newport, Rhode Island and masterpiece highboys and chairs from Pennsylvania represent some of the pre-eminent American Chippendale design.
Classicism – see Neo-classic
Claw and Ball – Oriental dragon claw with pearl or an animal’s paw evolved into an
American eagle talon’s claw grasping a ball.
Philadelphia style
Massachusetts style
Newport, Rhode Island style
New York style
Club Foot – resembles a turned club, usually on a cabriole leg.
Cockbead – Small, half-round mold beading applied to edges of a drawer fronts.
Collage (col-laj) – French word for cut and pasted scraps of materials, such as paper, cardboard, chair caning, playing cards, etc., to a painting or drawing surface; sometimes also combined with painting or drawing.
Colonial – Dominating style of this general American furniture period from about 1700 through the Revolutionary era. (William and Mary, Queen Ann, to early Chippendale) Formal styles are made of mahogany, cherry or walnut with simpler crafted furniture in pine, oak and maple woods with varied ornamentation. American Colonial term is also used to describe furniture that is high-backed, bulky and casual. The term “colonial” generally represents styles rooted in motherlands but adapted to the uses and materials of the colonies (esp. Africa, Americas, Caribbean and India).
Colonial Revival – Classic 18th century American style adaptations not all accurate. Revival furnishings were in vogue from the 1870s through the period after World War I.
Commode – Loosely defined as any type of small, low chest with doors or drawers; originally a French chest-of-drawers on legs.
Complementary Colors – Colors located opposite thee another on a color wheel (red and green, blue and orange, yellow and violet). When mixed together complementary colors will theoretically produce a neutral color temperature. A primary colors (red, yellow and blue) complement is a mix of the other two primaries. Pure complementary colors placed next to each other will appear much more vibrant. Shadows of an object’s primary color have the complementary color in it.
Concave (IN) and Convex (OUT) Shell Carving – A Newport furniture style.
Console – Term originally defined a bracket that supports cornices or shelves and later used to describe tables fixed to a wall and supported with legs only at the front. Modern use to describe any type of table in use along a wall.
Contemporary – Covers several furniture styles developed in the latter half of the 20th century with a form that rounded and softened the stark lines of modern designs.
Corner Chair – A chair with offset legs that will fit in a corner. (Roundabout)
Cornice – Molding set that crowns or runs horizontally along the top of a cabinet or other furniture.
Cornucopia – A horn shaped container with fruit and or flowers in it. Often-on Empire and Victorian furniture.
Credenza – A buffet or sideboard, often used as a serving table, with a cupboard below the surface. Originating in the 15th century, a recessed, upper tier was added in the 16th century. In addition, a horizontal filing cabinet frequently placed decoratively behind an office desk.
Crest Rail – The top horizontal rail on chairs and sofas.
Cross-Hatching – The technique of shading by using overlapped sets of parallel lines in drawing, etching, etc. Hatching is one set of parallel lines while cross-hatching is one set going in one direction, while the other overlapped set(s) are applied offset in often-perpendicular strokes.
Crotch Veneer – Highly desirable veneer cut from just below a tree’s crotch (V-shaped wood where trunk or branches meet).
Cupboard – A case piece for storing various items.
Cusped Corner (Cusp: point formed by intersection of two arcs) – The indented corner of a table top or other panel, created where two quarter round corners intersect.
Cyma Curve – A distinctive double “S” curve form popular in Queen Anne furniture.
Damask – Fabric (linen, cotton, silk or wool) with a reversible figured pattern woven into it, used for draperies and upholstered furniture.
Daybed – Any elongated seating piece designed for resting that can also function as a bed. Daybeds usually have a raised end. ex. chaise longue
Deciduous Trees – Shed or lose foliage at the end of a growing season period, not evergreen.
Dental Molding – Decorative trim in alternating rectangles and spaces.
Dentil Molding – Decorative moldings rectangular, tooth-like blocks (Dentils) and spaces of equal intervals along a cornice molding at the top of furniture. Found in 18th century architecture and design.
Diptych – Two separate paintings attached and displayed as one artwork.
Directoire – Style of French Revolution era furniture designs that spanned the end of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s conquest in 1799, bridging the Louis XVI and Empire styles. Named for the Directory government replacing Louis XVI that called for designs of less ostentation and a smaller scale while eliminating regal references.
Distressed – Furniture that is marred to simulate the aged look and use of an antique.
Douglas Fir – Light, strong conifer wood primarily used as drawer bottoms and linings.
Dovetail – Method of connecting parts of furniture with interlocking flared tenons that resemble a dove’s tail.
Dowel – A wooden pin used in constructing and repairing furniture.
Down – Use of feathers to fill cushions of upholstery, trapping air to provide warmth and comfort. The Eider duck’s soft fine down is highly valued.
Drake Foot – Three toe carved foot or”Trifid Foot”.
Dresser: Chest-of-drawers for clothes storage.
Drop Front – Hinged slant front of an upright desk cover that drops down to provide a level-writing surface. (See Slant front Desk)
Drop Leaf – An occasional or dining table with leave panels that are hinged and can be lowered when not in use.
Duncan Phyfe – A popular furniture style in the American Federal period (1783 to mid-19th century), characterized by lyre-shaped motifs and graceful outward curved feet on tables and sofas. Seats often have lyre-back designs, rolled top arms and rails.
Dustboard (Dustpanel) – A panel lining between drawers in a dresser or chest as a barrier to dust and loss of contents.
Dutch Foot – A style of disk or pad foot used on the turned or cabriole legs of chairs.
Early American – American furniture design (late 17th and early 18th centuries) from heavy European styles such as William and Mary or Jacobean. Characteristics are minimal decoration and straight lines; including gate leg and trestle tables, slat and ladder back chair styles. This style merged into what is now called Colonial, featuring Queen Anne and Chippendale design.
Easy chair – A wing chair.
Ebony – Dark, black, hard wood with fine grain widely used for veneers and inlays.
Eclectic – Decorating that harmoniously combines furniture and accessories of various periods and styles.
Egg and Dart – A classic molding design of ovals (egg) alternating with dart shapes on cornices.
Eglomise – Art of painting reverse on glass, used by the Sheraton style.
Elizabethan – Style of furniture with massive size and severe form that originated in England from 1558 to 1603 during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan style experienced a revival in the 1820s exhibiting heavy carving as well as large size.
Elm – Tough hardwood with a grain like ash wood, used mostly for furniture framing. (genus Ulmus)
Embossing – A stamping technique to raise in relief by compressing the surrounding wood, imitating a carved decorative area.
Empire (1800 – 1815) – A French Neoclassical style period dictated by Napoleon to create a relationship between Napoleon’s realm and great ancient empires. Characterized by imperial forms from Egypt, Greece and Rome; the Empire Furniture was ostensibly regal using rich metals and woods, decorated with such motifs as the letter N, bees, crowns, laurel leaves and mythological figures. Concurrent with American Federal (since 1790) period, specifically Sheraton furniture. Napoleonic Empire style included classical design components and ‘heavy’ designs combining lines and curves. Later, the Second Empire (since 1848) period was during America’s Victorian period.
End Matching – The placing of veneer sheets end-to-end producing an uninterrupted pattern.
Engraving – General term used to describe traditional printing processes, such as aquatint, dry point, etching, etc., where an image is made on metal plates or wood panels with engraving tools and chemicals, and usually printed through a press.
Escutcheon – Shaped decorative shield around a keyhole or the back plate of a drawer pull.
étagère - An open freestanding cabinet with a series of open shelves supported by slender columns to display smaller accessories and curios.
Federal – The furniture made from the early 19th century and coinciding with the formation of the federal government.
Finial – A turned or carved ornament used to embellish furniture.
Fluting – Parallel concave channels used as a decorating device. If the channels are convex, it is called reeding.
Fretwork – Decorative trim of open cut patterns formed by the fret saw or carved.
Gallery Rail – Usually a small, brass railing, bordering a sideboard buffet server or dining room table.
Gate-Leg Table – A drop-leaf table on which the legs are connected by stretchers. The legs act as swinging gates and extend to support the top. The same without stretchers are called swing leg tables.
genre ( jahn-re) – Paintings that represent scenes of everyday life, popular from the 17th – 19th centuries.
Georgian – In America, Early Georgian style is since 1727. An elegant design, evolved heavier and increasingly ornate than earlier Queen Anne forms. Characteristics include diverse decoration ornate carvings, highly carved cabriole legs with ball and claw feet, and open back splats. Popular theme elements were eagle and lion heads and claws, leaves and satyr mask. Relating also to the Hanoverian kings of England George I, II, III and IV (1714-1837).
Gesso – An undercoating medium used on the canvas or other painting surface before painting, to prime the canvas; usually a white, chalky, thick liquid. In the mid-20th century, gesso became available already commercially prepared; before this time, artists often mixed their own gesso mixture.
Gildinggold – Coating with a thin layer of gold foil leaf, or a faux resemblance.
Glaze – Technique of using a thin layer of translucent surface color to modify the tone or color underneath. A Glaze in the finishing process of furniture is whipped, blended and applied by hand to highlight the grained character and color of wood.
Gothic – A style with pointed arches and foils. Often mixed with Chinese and Rococo elements.
Gothic Revival – A mid-1800s style inspired by Gothic and medieval influences. Characteristics of flowing slender piers up to pointed arch vaulting, buttressing and other Gothic cathedral architecture features from 12th – 16th century northern France and then Europe. Characteristic furniture forms include large, heavy pieces with generously carved Gothic architectural motifs. Chests were banded in decorative wrought iron. X-framed chairs trestle tables, and estate beds are other Gothic items.
Grisaille (gri-zale) – French term for painting entirely in neutral gray tones of one color (monochrome) such as for decoration, under-painting or a model for an engraver.
Guild – Middle Ages Tradesmen often formed guilds of eclectic trades for economic, social and religious benefits. In Florence, Italy, painters were originally in the same guild as apothecaries and physicians. Unless a painter was in the personal service of a ruling prince, all painters had to join a guild. Only competent artisans who submitted an approved ‘master-piece’ to the guild could become Masters and then be allowed to set up a studio business, teach pupils and hire journeymen. Master Studios operated under the supervision of Guild officers who uniformly regulated even the materials used. The Guild’s demanding performance and control caused artists like Michelangelo, da Vinci and others to insist on the artist’s freedom and originality as an inspired gentleman scholar. That new attitude of artists led to use of academies rather than guilds in teaching of the arts.
Hackberry – (genus Celtis) – A light blonde color elm-like wood of southern United States. Has small black purple berry like fruits, edible with large pits.
Hardwoods – A category of deciduous tree woods cut from: beech, cherry, maple, mahogany oak, walnut and others.
Harvest Table – A narrow rectangular hinged drop leaf table of colonial design.
Hassock – Footstool, upholstered and large enough to be used for seating.
Hatching – A technique used indicate light and shade of form using of parallel lines of varying width, darkness and spacing. Cross-hatching is two or more offset and overlapping sets of these hatchings.
Headboard – The entire head framework or boards within the head section of a bed.
Heartwood – The densest, hardest part of a tree trunk located deep within the tree. The outer wood is sapwood, which dries at a different rate.
Hepplewhite (1785-1810) – Style named for cabinetmaker George Hepplewhite, whose furniture drawings were published postmortem in 1786. Related to the Federal style in the United States, a neoclassical furniture style following Chippendale from the late 1700s to about 1820. Hepplewhite style was more delicate than Chippendale having less angular shape, use of slimmer line and ushered in the American Federal period. Overlaps the Sheraton style period, sharing many design elements. Characterized by restrained design use of classic forms (like urns and shields), carved stars and American eagles and an emphasis on inlay. Tapered square legs typically ended with flared bracket or spade feet. The Prince of Wales’s feather motif was often on Hepplewhite chair backs. Shield back chairs, banquet tables and Sideboards were important new furniture forms of these periods.
Hickory - A tough, hard and heavy wood used in structural elements and as a veneer. Pecan trees are a species of hickory.
High Chest – A tall chest of drawers or a highboy.
Hackberry – (genus Celtis) – A light blonde color elm-like wood of southern United States. Has small black purple berrylike fruits, edible with large pits.
Highboy – A tall chest of drawers, developed in 18th century usually composed of two sections. A top section with drawers was often topped with a decorative broken pediment crown. The upper chest sits on either a table-like structure or a lowboy with long legs, as opposed to a simple chest-on-chest with short bracket feet.
Highlighting – In furniture finishing, the technique of removing colored finish materials in a pattern which enhances the natural grain patterns.
Hitchcock Chair – A painted chair with stenciled design on the backrest, named after its American designer.
Hoop Back Chair – Queen Anne or Hepplewhite chair with a top rail curving directly into the arms.
Huntboard – A sideboard type used in serving food and drinks after a hunt. Huntboard design is lightweight and portable so as to be moved outdoors.
Hutch – Enclosed storage cupboard, chest or cabinet with doors holding shelves resting on a solid base and usually on legs.
Iconography – Knowledge and use of symbolic pictorial representations in art, often the meanings vary when interpreted by others.
Impasto – Italian term for very thickly applied paint onto the canvas resulting in obvious brushstrokes.
Inlay – A decorative treatment set into the surface of the wood that uses wood or other materials to form bands of color (string) pictorial images (marquetry) or geometric shapes (parquetry). The material could consist of exotic woods, metal, tortoiseshell, mother of pearl, ivory or other materials.
Intaglio – An illustration or design cut into a surface.
Intarsia – A decorative technique, similar to inlay, of sinking a design scene across an entire solid wood surface.
International Style – Modern furniture style developed in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s most notably Germany’s Bauhaus, with such artisans as Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. International Style hallmarks are an absence of decoration and simple lines utilizing industrial production and materials, such as chrome and glass, to impart a divergence from early furniture traditions.
Jacobean – Period of English furniture during the first half of 17th century, sometimes called the Pilgrim style, named for King James I (1603 to 1625). This comfortable and robust style continued through the reign of Charles I (1625 to 1649). A medieval appearance and dark finish characterized by heavy turnings for legs and spindles typify the Jacobean period. Furniture from this period can be extremely simple or covered with elaborate relief carvings usually with wood of oak and or pine.
Japanning – The western practice of imitating Oriental lacquer work. A wood base is covered with paint, and designs are built up with gesso and guilded or silvered.
Kas – A large wardrobe with heavy panels. Usually somewhat squatter than a wardrobe.
Kiln Drying – The process of drying cut lumber in a kiln to gradually eliminate moisture from the center to the outer surfaces. Kiln drying helps prevent wood from future checking and cracking.
Klismos – Ancient Greek chair with saber-shaped legs, splayed at the front and the back legs continue up to support a shoulder height and curved back.
Knee – The convex portion at the outer top portion of a carved cabriole leg.
Knock Down – (KD) Furniture sold unassembled or partially assembled.
Lacquer – A hard, clear, quick-drying, cellulose-based varnish. Applied as a top coat on furniture in several thin layers, each dried and sanded, then polished to a very high sheen.
Ladder-Back – Term used to describe a style of chair with a back containing a series of horizontal slats resembling a ladder between two upright posts.
Laminate – Binding layers of wood panels laid alternately across the grains and bonded for strength and durability.
Lattice – Carved, decorative, diagonal or square crisscross pattern network in cutout panel work, on screens, chair backs, highboy pediments, etc.
Lauan – Hardwood promoted as Philippine mahogany and with a red-brown color and attractive graining.
Lawson – An overstuffed sofa or chair with a square back, trimmed square or rounded lowered arms accented with a slight roll and broad seat cushions.
Leaf – tabletop extension panel
Lincoln Rocker – A high backed, upholstered rocker chair and armrests, with the wood frame exposed.
Linear – A quality making use of line in painting, sculpture and design; relating to movement direction in composition, or the actual use of line elements.
Linseed Oil – Oil extracted from flax seed used as an ingredient in oil paints and varnishes.
Lintel – A horizontal member, spanning opening between columns or over a door, window, etc.
Lip Mold – Molded drawer or door front rabbet edge that is extended to cover the joint between the case and front.
Local Color – The actual color of a form or object not influenced by the effects of atmospheric light or reflected color.
Lolling Chair – An armchair with a high-upholstered back and seat and open arms. (Martha Washington chair)
Lowboy – A low case piece on high legs.
Louis XIV – Reserved version of Baroque style during the reign of Louis XIV in France (1643 to 1715). Decoration and furnishings reflected large, formal grandeur featuring modest rather than exaggerated curves. Decorative motifs were ornate, often carved boldly, including the popular fleur-de-lis, flower and fruit garlands, mythological beasts and animal forms.
Louis XIV, XV and XVI – Classic French designs from mid-17th century to the end of the 18th century. The King Louis styles evolved progressively somewhat more refined and simple. But with lines and some ornamentation, Louis XVI has geometric s and minimal ornamentation.
Louis XV – Rococo style during the reign of Louis XV in France (1723 to 1774). Louis XV was exemplified by a simpler, more feminine and diminutive scale, with freeform ornamentation, rounded edges, and flowing curved lines. Veneers sometimes included oriental lacquer and porcelain plaques.
Louis XVI – Neoclassical revival style during the reign of Louis XVI in France (1774 to 1792). Furniture of this period became more geometric and rectilinear shaped; for instance, cylindrical or square legs rather than cabriole shaped. Decoration, though opulent, was restrained in reaction to earlier rococo styles; for example, floral themes were replaced by motifs of architectural and straight lines.
Louvered Doors – Doors with a series of parallel slats to designed allow airflow.
Love Seat – A small, upholstered sofa or a double chair structured to comfortably seat two people originally from Queen Anne style.
Low Boy – A low or short chest or table with drawers, often on short legs.
Lyre – A stringed instrument used as design on Empire pieces.
Lyre – An ancient Greek harp
Lyrical – A quality in describing various arts that refers to an ethereal, musical, and poetic quality of artistic expression containing a certain spiritual or emotional quality.
Mannerism – Italian style of art in 16th century with characteristics of somewhat distorted forms to create heightened emotions. Example: the artist Pontormo.
Maple – A very hard, fine-grained wood popularly used for colonial American furniture as well as contemporary furnishings. Maplewood is generally a light color, yet some Maplewood has a reddish hue, stainable to cherry wood’s similar grain. Veneers made from grain patterns of Birdseye and wavy maple are much desirable.
Marlborough Foot – Squared block foot under a slightly tapered or straight Chippendale leg.
Marlborough Leg - A straight square leg ending in a block foot.
Mortise and Tenon – A system of joinery that fitted a tenon from one piece of wood into a mortise (rectangular hole) on another piece. Usually secured with a round peg.
Mahogany – A close-grained, red-brown wood known for fine woodworking and excellent finishing qualities. This highly desired wood is from the tropical Mahogany tree from which much sought after types are milled, such as Honduras and Cuban. Mahogany is used for both solid woods and for veneers such as crotch mahogany, cut from beneath a fork of the tree.
Marquetry – Decorative inlay patterns made of contrasting wood veneer (ivory, metal or mother of pearl), usually set flush into the entire surface.
Medium – The technique or material an artist works in.
Mission – This American style evolved in the early 20th century out of the English Arts and Crafts movement in reaction to Victorian furniture excesses. A heavy, simple, rectilinear furniture style with spare use of lines and exposed construction techniques; primarily of dark-oak. The Mission style’s origins are represented by Gustav Stickley and the Roycroft Community of upstate New York.
Modeling – 3-dimension effects created by the use of changes in color, light, cross-hatching, etc.
Modern Art – The general period from 1905 to 1955, when Pop Art ushered in the postmodern period in art.
Moderne Furniture – American style of furniture in the 1930’s with architectural, clean and streamlined furnishings. A 20th century style rooted in Germany’s Bauhaus School of Scandinavian designs and Europe’s Art Deco and International Styles. Moderne features are asymmetry, curves contrasting with straight lines, polished surfaces and sleek shapes, utilizing manufacturing processes and new materials adapted from industrial design and skyscraper architecture.
Modular Furniture – Units of that can be rearranged or stacked in different conformations of design plans.
Moiré – A fabric with wavy patterns resembling water on silk.
Molding – Ornamental profiled strips projecting from and applied to a surface or frame.
Motif (mo-teef) – French term describing a recurring decorative theme, element or component of subject matter or content.
Motion Furniture – General term for reclining beds, chairs or sofas with moving parts that allow users to lean back with legs extended.
Myrtle – A burl wood with curly and intricate graining.
Negative Space – Referring to the patterns created by “empty” areas in a painting, sculpture or other design where there is no form or object.
Neo-Classic Style – Revivals in ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian themes, that first occurred during the Renaissance and again throughout the late 18th and 19th centuries; often fueled by archeological discoveries. Neoclassical designs in furniture relate to the Adam, Empire, Sheraton, Hepplewhite and Federal periods as well as the later Beidermeier styles.
Neo-Gothic – Revivals of Gothic styles during the 18th and 19th centuries; first (c. 1745) with references to Gothic arches and tracery on rococo furniture and later with Gothic motifs added to neoclassical forms.
Nest of Tables – A group of tables that stack largest on top to smallest on bottom.
Naturalism – Painting style that uses an expression of subject’s color and tone to result in a representative or impressionistic appearance of forms and landscapes.
Neutral Color – In color theory, neutral colors are mixed by the combination of two complementary colors resulting in neither warm nor cool colors.
Non-Representational – Non-representational art is not based on physical appearances. It includes several types of art: abstract, decorative and non-objective; in contrast to representational art, based on realistic images.
O
Oak – A strong, hard, wood with accentuated texture and grain enhanced when quarter sawn. A popular wood for country, casual, Mission furniture and decorative structural elements.
Occasional Table – Generic term for smaller pieces like end and coffee tables.
Ogee – Classical “S” shaped molding with a double cyma-curved shape, as in an ogee bracket foot. Chippendale period case good pieces frequently use Ogee bracket feet that wrap around both sides of a corner, and have a double curve or cyma profile.
Oiling – Process of applying several layers of refined linseed oil to finished natural woods of good color such as walnut and mahogany.
One-Point Linear Perspective – A mathematical system, developed in 15th century Italy, to show distance by a stationary viewer in two-dimensional space thru use of converging lines to a single vanishing point on the horizon. Two-point linear perspective was later developed as a valuable tool to visualize, for example, a very long and tall brick wall’s corner fading into two separate points on the horizon.
Organic – Term describing elements derived from natural forms.
Ormolu – Bronze or brass decorative mounts covered in gilt used to decorate furniture, mostly in the Empire and Victorian periods.
Oxbow Front – The reverse of a serpentine front.
Ottoman – A low upholstered bench or seat, with no arms or back, used as a footstool; named after Turkish influences of the early 18th century.
Overlay – A decorative or protective covering applied to a flat surface.
Pad Foot – A simple disk or oval shaped foot under a cabriole leg, usually with a pad on the bottom. (See also: Dutch Foot).
Painterly – Describes a style of painting created by technique of applying areas or patches of color and not linear or outline drawing. Painterly image form edges have the propensity to merge into the background rather than separated by delineated outlines. Titian and Rembrandt are known to have used painterly approaches.
Palette – A thin panel utilized to hold and mix the paint for painting; also describes the range of colors actually used in a project.
Palladian Style – Based on designs by mid-16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio whose style is still used in columns and windows today. Characterized by very dramatic and large cornices, pediments, and sculptural ornamentations of acanthus leaves, eagles, scallop shells, and similar motifs, created in a massive scale.
Panel – Generally a board covering a large flat surface.
Paper Mache – Material made from paper pulp, usually bonded with “wallpaper paste”, modeled into products and painted when dry.
Parquetry – Furniture inlaid with a mosaic of geometrical patterned designs (such as herringbone) similar to parquet floors made from woods of different colors or tones.
Parsons Table – Simple, squared edge tables with equal width apron and legs; from the Parsons School of Design during the 1950s.
Particle Board (fiberboard or chip board) – A composite of wood chips and resin or other binding agents compressed into panels resulting in a strong core material used under veneers or other unseen areas.
Pastel – A pigmented chalk drawing stick, the drawing made by pastel sticks, or the soft pale tinted shade of a color.
Patina – The aging effect taken onto a surface’s finish only thru age, use and care. The natural patina imparted to antique wood furniture surfaces is irreplaceable.
Paw Foot – A foot carved to represent an animal’s claw.
Pecan – A type of hickory wood with strong graining patterns and usually stained medium dark in color.
Pedestal Table – A table supported by a single, central base pedestal or a columnar base.
Pediment – The typically a triangular, sometimes scroll shaped, ornamental crest with moldings across the top of tall 18th century piece such as high boy, chest or other case goods. Some types are the Broken Pediment and Bonnet Top.
Pembroke – Small drop-leaf table, rectangular with a drawer, named from England’s Earl of Pembroke (c. 1771).
Pembroke Table – A type of drop leaf table with leaves that fold down almost to the floor.
Pencil-Post Bed – A bed of generally simple design with four slim posts rising six to eight feet; optionally topped with a canopy.
Pendant – A hanging decoration, usually a form of turning.
Pentimenti – Italian term describing the underlying marks remaining from an artist’s layout and corrections of a painting’s development, adding expressive richness.
Perspective – A geometric technique for representing three-dimensional objects and spatial relationships on a two-dimensioned surface (Types – atmospheric perspective, See also – one-point linear perspective, and two-point linear perspective).
Photomontage (photo-montaj) – A technique of combining photographs or parts into another image, often used by Surrealists such as Max Ernst in the 1920’s.
Pickling – A process of rubbing white paint or chemicals into previously finished wood.
Picture Plane – The flat plane of the surface on which an image is painted, as a window into which the viewer looked into the painting’s distance.
Piecrust Table – A round table top commonly set upon a three-legged pedestal base and ornamented with a scalloped raised edging that resembles a crimped piecrust.
Pier Glass – A large mirror suspended window-height above a table.
Pier Table – A table built to stand against a wall, usually with a mirror at the bottom.
Piercing – Cutout decorative openwork detail carved as in chair splats, stretchers or other 18th century furniture.
Pilaster – A flattened half-round or thin rectangular column decoration applied to vertical surfaces of furniture, bookcases, etc.
Pilgrim – Furniture built in the 17th century.
Pine – A knotty, soft wood used as a solid wood on country or rustic furniture and construction.
Plinth – The lowest member of a column or chest resting squarely on the floor rather than on legs.
Plywood – Layers of wood veneers binded with the grains crossing at right angles to each other for strength and resistance to warping.
Polyurethane – Modern synthetic material available in varying degrees of density and hardness. In liquid form urethane is used as a tough and durable paint finish and, when foamed, as a cushion upholstery material.
Prima Vera – A light colored wood also misnamed as white mahogany.
Printmaking – General category of fine art printing processes, includes – etching (metal plate), lithography (heavy stone), woodcut (wood or linoleum block), and silkscreen (thru screen-held patterns), in which multiple images are made printing inks.
Proportion - The relationship in scale and symmetry of one part to the whole; also refers to the relative sizes of compositional elements and their optimal positions for good design.
Provincial – Furniture designs inspired by the major centers of a country yet crafted in a local area in adaption to use local materials, tastes, trades and ways of life.
Pulls – Handles, especially on case furniture.
Quarter Sawn – A lumber milling method of cutting logs lengthways into quarters for strength and distinctive graining patterns. Quarter Sawn wood was commonly used in Mission furniture and others.
Queen Anne – A period of furniture 1725-1755.
Rail – A horizontal piece of wood that joins two vertical pieces.
Rail – A strong horizontal member of a furniture piece.
Rattan – A thick vine utilized as material cut into strips for wicker or larger shapes are bent in making casual furniture.
Realism – Representational painting, which depicts forms and images as they actually are, without idealizing.
Récamier – An elegant daybed, sofa or chaise popular in the Empire and Victorian eras, named after Madame Récamier of Parisian society in the early 1800’s. Sometimes called fainting couches, Récamiers are shaped like a Roman reclining couch with a sloping-back headboard at one end rising to meet a high and often rolled arm, and shorter curved footboard on the other end not much higher than the seat.
Red Gum – A fine-grained wood often stained to resemble mahogany or walnut.
Redwood – A highly durable wood valued for its strength and ease in woodworking. Redwood is highly resistant to decay and weathers to an appealing patina, qualities popular for outdoor furniture.
Reeding – A series of ornamental bead moldings set together in parallel lines, which run the length of the post or leg.
Reeding – The opposite of fluting.
Refectory Table – A narrow, long table first used in the dining-hall of religious orders.
Régence Style – When France was ruled by a regent, between Louis XIV in 1715 and Louis XV in 1723, this furniture style was a comparable transition from heavy, straight lines to lighter, graceful curves during the transition
Regency Style – British Neoclassical furniture style popular during the first half of the 19th century so named for the Prince of Wales, who ruled as regent from 1811 to 1820 because of his father King George III’s insanity. Occurring simultaneous with Directoire and Empire styles in France, the Regency Style inspired Adaptations and reproductions of Greek and Roman furniture, such as the Klismos chair.
Relief – Raised, sculptural carving elements.
Reproduction – New furniture created as an authentic copy of an antique.
Restorations – Antiques and collectibles that are brought back to original conditions through careful reconstruction, recreation of missing parts and refinishing in the same patinas.
Return – The part of an L-shaped desk that is at a right angle to the main desk, allowing more working surface.
Ribbon Back – A splat that resembles gathered ribbons on a chair back.
Rice Carved Posters – Style originating in the Carolinas and northern Georgia of heavy, tall bedposts carved with such motifs as rice and tobacco plants symbolizing a plantation owner’s wealth.
Rococo – A style of furniture composed of lively free form organic ornament and curvilinear form.
Rococo Revival – A Victorian style popular from the 1850s -1870s, best known for excessively ornamented, elaborately carved rosewood parlor furniture, balloon-backed chairs and Camelback (triple-crested) sofas.
Rococo Style – Widespread 18th-century European furniture design style, originating from the Régence style in early 18th century France. Made of rich woods, the Rococo Style was an elaborate, daintier and more refined version of earlier Baroque styles that was noted for ornate and asymmetrical designs with versions of shells, elaborate scrollwork and dripping water used during the Louis XIV and XV periods.
Roll Top Desk – A writing desk with a curved slatted panel that rolls down to cover its surface.
Rose-Head Nails – Hand forged nails made in the 18th century. The heads somewhat resemble roses.
Rosette – A circular ornamentation button, often carved to resemble a rose like flower often used on ‘broken piedmonts’.
Rosewood, Brazilian – Dark red-brown to deep-purple wood with distinctive black graining. Commonly used on guitar fret boards, furniture and boxes.
Rubbed Finish – A finish hand-polished with abrasives and lubricants for a master surface and reduced sheen.
Rubbing – A technique of rubbing a pigment onto material placed over a textured surface to replicate that texture into as an image (See also Frottage).
Rule Joint – A quarter-round wood joint molded between a drop leaf and tabletop, leaving minimal space when the leaf is set down.
Runner – The long, curved rocker element of a rocking chair. Also A long narrow carpet
Rush Seat Chair – A rustic American or French chair with seats woven of twisted rushes (see also Caning).
Rustic – Simple style typical of rural country crafting.
Saber Leg – A leg that is curved like a saber or that curves inward to form an S shape.
Satinwood – Light colored wood used as cabinet wood and for veneers with soft-grained features.
Scroll Bracket – A decorative brace-like member at juncture of legs and aprons on tables, cases, and chairs, characteristic of the Chippendale style.
Scroll Foot – A foot shaped like a rolled up scroll.
Scumbling – A technique of painting consisting by dabbing a layer of opaque paint over a base coat of a different color or tone, so that the lower layer shows through in an uneven, broken effect (an opposite of glazing).
Seasoning – Process of drying wood by removing the moisture, either naturally or in humidity controlled environment.
Secretary – Slant-front desk sitting on top of a chest of drawers (popular in America and England in the 18th and 19th centuries). Secretaries of this period usually had a bookcase superstructure with a bonnet top piedmont above the desk that contains cubbyholes and slots.
Semenier – A tall, narrow, seven-drawer lingerie chest, from an old French term for “seven”. Authentic semaniers must have seven drawers, one for each day of the week; otherwise, it would be referred to as a chiffonier.
Serpentine – A double curve. Opposite of oxbow.
Serpentine Front – A waving, compound curve with convex center and concave ends (two cyma curves) on the front of a chest or desk drawer and door fronts. Serpentine fronts are features utilized on various French and Hepplewhite styles.
Serving Table – A long narrow table that has drawers for linens, silver, etc.
Settee – An elongated chair or bench with a back and arms accommodating two or more people the settee first evolved in the 17th century, before the sofa and was often upholstered.
Settle – A long wooden bench with high back and solid arms, often had a hinged seat covering storage space with drawers, brought from England to America by the pilgrims.
Sfumato (sfu-ma-to) – Italian term meaning smoke, describing the soft blending of light and shade of figure modeling. Da Vinci wrote in his Notes on Painting: ‘light and shade should blend without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke’.
Sgraffito (sgraf-ee-to) – Italian term meaning scratched; in painting, one color is laid over another, and scratched to reveal the color underneath.
Shade – A darker value of a color, as opposed to a tint, which is a lighter shade of a color. Also, the process of creating a three-dimensional effect using lights and darks. A window or light shade is the actual element that shields direct light from the viewer.
Shaker – Furniture style design combining functionality and beauty and made by Shakers. This style characterized by no decorations with spare, elegant lines, straight, tapered legs, and woven-strap seats as shown in the tall, slim Shaker ladder-back chair. Shakers were founded in the 18th century American as a communal, religious sect, whose namesake was derived from the movements of their dancing.
Shell Motif – Usually in the form of a scallop shell, decorative shell carvings were popular in Queen Anne and Chippendale styles.
Sheraton (c. 1795-1820) – Furniture style was an elegant elaboration of neoclassical forms named after England’s Thomas Sheraton, whose designs were published in the early 1700s. Sheraton pieces were more delicate and with diminished classical ornamentation than the Adam style, yet more linear, segmented and severe than similar Hepplewhite forms. Classic features included fluted columns, painted decoration, reeding, skillful inlays and bands of contrasting veneer woods. Chairs contained openwork backs with lyre, swag or urn themes with characteristically tapered and usually turned legs (earlier Hepplewhite styles were square). Sideboards were popular furniture of this period. Duncan Phyfe (1795-1848) a cabinetmaker in New York was well known for the late Sheraton style in America.
Shield Back – The back of a Sheraton or Hepplewaite chair in the shape of a shield.
Shirt – The fabric along the bottom edge of upholstered furniture that conceals the legs.
Shoji Screen – Translucent Oriental screen made of wood frame and rice paper, often used as a room divider.
Side Chair – Smaller scale chair with no arms stood against a wall when not in use.
Sideboard – A serving or buffet table with a wide center drawer at the center flanked by cupboard shelves or drawers on the sides for holding plates and silver. Used in a dining room for displaying food ready for serving. Sideboards are generally long and narrow or may have a foldout top. Traditional 19th century sideboards sometimes had a brass “gallery.” rail on the top sides and back to keep serving items from sliding off.
Slat-Back – Early American chair design using horizontal slats to form the back.
Sleigh Bed – 19th century American version developed from a renowned French Empire design with a scrolled, high headboard and slightly lower footboard resembling the shape of a horse-drawn sleigh.
Slip Matching – Veneering process of placing sheets side-by-side to produce diamond, herringbone and checkered patterns.
Slip Seat – A removable, upholstered chair or bench seat.
Slipper Chair – A low, armless, usually upholstered chair, often with short legs, a skirt and high back in 18th century America for bedrooms.
Snake Foot – Carved foot, usually on tripod bases, with slender, undulating lines suggestive of a snake’s form.
Sofa – A development of the armchair in the mid-18th century, very popular by the early 1800s with the use of springs for comfort. Longer and less formal than a settee, the sofa enjoys widespread use in modern times.
Sofa Table – typically, a long and narrow table with drop-leaf ends and drawers used to store game boards.
Softwoods – Woods from conifers (such as fir, pine and spruce) rather than deciduous trees.
Spade Foot – A tapered, squared foot design resembling the outline of a spade typically found in Hepplewhite styles.
Spatial Cues – Eclectic artistic techniques of indicating 3-D space and form in 2-D images. Examples include: modeling form and distance with light and shade; a linear perspective system of converging lines; overlapping forms to indicate relative space; diminishing sizes in perspective; vertical positioning to indicate depth; use of atmospheric color intensities; and any other method to manipulate shape, color and size relationships.
Spindle – Turned wood lengths, for example, used in a vertical series for a chair back.
Splat – A flat, vertical, wood support member in the middle of a chair’s open back, often carved or ornamented.
Spring Down – Upholstery cushions made of spring coils wrapped with polyurethane, and covered with down batten.
Spruce – A strong, lightwood that cures and glues well, often a core material under veneers.
Staining – Furniture finishing process of applying dye colors which permeate into the wood. Stained woods are usually finished with a clear coat after drying.
Stile – The vertical outside part of cabinet and door frames.
Stippling – A laborious drawing technique of constructing an image of small dots; also used in painting (pointillism).
Stretcher – Horizontal furniture bracing of an “H” or “X” shape, typically connecting table or chair legs. In paintings, stretchers are the wooden framework that a canvas is ’stretched’ across and held in place.
Study – A preliminary artwork created to model a larger, usually more complex work.
Tambour Desk – Roll top desk with a cover made of tambours, a series of narrow slats of wood glued to a strong cloth. The tambour edges slide up and down in grooves along the edges of the desk frame.
Tapestry – A decorative fabric image, like needlepoint effect, usually hung on cold castle walls for warmth and decor.
Tea Table – A smaller portable table, frequently used in place of coffee or end tables. Tea table tops often have raised edges resembling a tray and side pullouts for candles. A tilt top is popular with tripod foot tea tables.
Teak – A yellow tan to dark brown hardwood, so strong and durable that it is used for shipbuilding as well as furniture. Teakwood furniture designs commonly have clean, simple lines such as modern Scandinavian styles. Frequently finished by oiling, teakwood may show varied grains and is used as both solids and veneers.
Tester – The wooden framework that supports a canopy or drapes at the top of a high post bed. (Canopy)
Tight Seat – Upholstered furniture with springs, covered with layer of padding over which has the fabric pulled to cover directly.
Tilt Top – A table with a hinged top that can stand vertically for storage and display when not in use.
Tint – A light value of a color (light blue) as opposed to a dark value or shade (dark blue).
Tone – The degree of light or dark in area line, or shape in terms of black to white; also called value (light or dark blue, or light or dark gray).
Torchiere – A floor lamp with a flared shade directing light upward.
Transitional – Design that blends various style influences.
Trestle Table – Long, narrow table supported with two T-shaped uprights joined together with a single stretcher, used in many country style designs.
Trifid Foot – Three toe carved foot. (See Drake foot)
Trompe l’oeil – French term describing to “fool the eye” used in two-dimension designs to appear as a three-dimension object.
Trumeau – A two-part mirror frame style with an ornamental panel is displayed above the glass mirror.
Tulipwood – A species of deciduous poplar tree timber, usually a light color, yellow toned and deep purple or red stripes. Often used in ‘hidden’ furniture parts or prototype work.
Turning – The shaping of wood lengths while spinning on a central axis, as on a lathe. Legs, trim, spindles and finials are common turned elements of furniture.
Tuxedo – A style of square framed sofa or chair formed by equal heights of armrests and the back.
Two-Point Linear Perspective – A modern evolution of three-dimensional, one-point perspective, utilizing two or more vanishing points on the horizon line to create a more natural depiction of space in two-dimensional designs.
Underpainting – A base layer of color or tone, usually a thin translucent painted layer, used to establish the general layout of a painting or object’s finish.
Upholstery – Fabric covering of chairs and sofas, usually over padding and a wood framed construction.
Uprights – Vertical outer chair posts.
Value – The degree of light or dark in area line, or shape in terms of black to white; also called tone (light or dark blue, or light or dark gray).
Varnish – A hard, clear finish for wood.
Veneer – Thin-cut layer of beautiful grain patterned, fine quality, wood inlay, permanently bonded to an object for enrichment of strength, pattern and finish (See also inlay, marquetry, and parquetry).
Victorian – Furniture style named for England’s Queen Victoria (reigned 1837 – 1901) that was popular thru the middle and end of the 19th century. Furniture was usually dark finished in rosewood, mahogany and walnut. Victorian styles often elaborated on rococo and Louis XV styles with complicated curvilinear designs and luxuriant upholstery. Characteristics include carved floral motifs, oval chair backs, horsehair padding, and marble topped dressers and tables.
Vitrine – China or curio Cabinet display with a glass door front (sometimes glass top and sides also).
Volumetric – A three-dimensional, solid quality of objects and space in two dimension images.
Volute – spiral, scrolled, coil ornamentation, usually a carved.
Walnut – A highly desirable and darker wood used in cabinets and veneers. Walnut is easily carved, has distinctive graining and is common in outstanding many English and American antiques.
Wardrobe – An upright, tall cabinet with door(s) used for clothing storage, it may also contain a chest of drawers.
Warm Colors – Theory of colors containing a lot of yellow, as opposed to cool colors containing more blue. Warm colors seem to be closer to the viewer and cooler colors fade into the background.
Wash – Technique of applying thin, translucent layers of paint commonly used in watercolors.
Webbing – The foundation of upholstered furniture attached to the wood frame and made of woven strips of (usually synthetic) material.
Welt – A cord, covered with fabric and sewn into the seam of upholstery as decorative trim.
Whitewood – A common name for yellow poplar wood.
William and Mary – Style period named for the late 17th century reign of English King William III and Queen Mary II. William and Mary style came to America after the early colonial period since the early 1700s. It represented a provincial, country American Baroque style. Design characteristics included curved lines, bun (ball) feet, oriental lacquer work, and the Dutch influence of William in oyster veneer and floral marquetry. Furniture of this period includes upholstered armchairs with high backs, highboys and lowboys.
Willow – Lengths of willow withes are wove in wicker furniture; the wood is best useful as solid.
Windsor Chair – A style of chair originating near Windsor castle circa 1710 possibly from wheel-makers. Windsor chairs had a bent wood back frame with a back that has a pierced spline flanked with shaped spindles. It was also a popular 19th century wooden chair style.
Wing Chair – An upholstered easy or lounge chair with ‘wings’ projecting on either side of a high chair back curving to upholstered arms.
Wood Grains – crotched grain flamed wood grain, quilted wood grain.
Woodcuts – Veneer, Crosscut, Quarter Sawn.
Woods See Each – Burl, Mahogany, Hardwood, Oak, Maple, and Walnut.
Yellow Poplar – Wood of the tulip poplar tree yielding a straight-grained, pale wood especially useful as a core wood for cabinetry.
Yew – Hard, durable wood of the evergreen yew with a warm, light red-brown tone; useful for veneers, cabinetwork and archery bows.
Zebrawood – An African wood that is quarter sawn to reveal graining of dark stripes on a lighter background.
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