Definitions of ANTIQUE TERMS
(looking for a term, click on the letter it starts with)A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Abacus - The top horizontal tablet of a column’s capital. Also a calculation tool constructed of wood with beads sliding on wires. Still widely used in the far East.
Acanthus – A classical wood carving design based on the leaf of acanthus plants, common in 18th century. Greek and Roman origin found on the capital of Corinthian columns.
Acid cutting - Method used for decorating glass. An object is coated with an acid-resistant substance (usually wax). A design is scratched or carved in the wax, exposing the underlying glass, and the whole item dipped in acid, which fixes the design.
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.
Adam Style - 1760 to 1790. The Adam style was a reaction to the bolder and more fancy rococo style of the 1750s, characterized by slender, graceful lines, refined shapes, and restrained ornamentation.
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
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.
Ambrotype - A photograph made by exposing a glass plate treated with light-sensitive wet colloidal. The negative was made positive by backing with black paper or paint.
Anthemion - A formalized decorative motif based on honeysuckle, particularly popular from the late 18th century.
Apothecary Chest – A small chest of drawers used to store herbs for cooking and medicinal purposes. .
Apron – length of wood beneath the bottom section - between the legs of a chair, table or stand usually shaped, carved, or pierce. lower structural panel skirt and rail profile that connects legs of furniture, Often decorated and is sometimes called a “skirt”. .
Arabesque - A repetitive, intricate pattern derived from Arab designs based originally on plant and flower motifs. .
Arcading - Series of arches, usually supported on columns.
Armorial - Engraved design showing a crest or coat of arms. .
Armoire – Tall, upright wardrobe, closet or cupboard with doors, shelves, rails, hooks for clothing storage.
Art Deco (c. 1920-30’s) – Style introduced from Paris exposition in 1925 celebrating art and industry in denouncing of Art Nouveau. Lines are simple and angular. American designers used asymmetry, smooth flowing streamlined forms, geometric styles in art, architecture and household furnishings. Popular between WWI and WWII. .
Art Nouveau (c. 1880-1910) – Flamboyant movement with French style of flowing and freeform shapes using shallow curved lines ending in a whip like second curve and sensuous forms. Inspired greatly by the work of Japanese artists. This “new art” was most popular in Europe, Tiffany lamps, .
Arts and Crafts (c. 1895 – 1920s) – (Mission Style) A late 19th century English movement led by William Morris in reaction to the Victorian era excesses and the Gay Nineties. This movement sought to replace mass-produced Victorian furniture with simple hand craftsmanship, before it waned with the onset of World War I. A simple shape, blocked, rectangular oak furniture style with exposed joinery and minimal ornamentation. America’s Gustav Stickley and John Ruskin are pre-eminently associated with this period.
Atlantes - The male equivalent of a caryatid. Sculptured male figures used as supports in place of a column or furniture leg. Used in the 17thC. and in the classical revival in the early 19th C. Female supporting figures are called caryatids.
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B
Baccarat - In 1764, King Louis XV of France gave permission to build a glassworks in the town of Baccarat in the Lorraine region of Eastern France. Production consisted of window panes, mirrors and stemware until 1816 when the first crystal oven went into operation. By that time, over 3000 workers were employed at the site. Baccaerat first marked its work with a registered mark in 1860. Durng 1846-1849 Baccarat signed some of their high quaility glass millefiori paperweights with the letter B and the year date in a composite cane. In 1907, production of perfune bottles was over 4000 per day. In 1936, began marking all of its works via acid or sanblasting In 1993, began making jewelry and in 19787 expanded in perfume.
Bachelor’s Chest – A small chest of drawers with a fold-over top supported by slides.
Back splat – Wooden slat in middle of a chair’s back.
Bail – A drawer pull formed by a metal hook hanging freely between two studs.
Bakelite - Plastic that is highly durable and easily dyed, very hard and opaque. Used for low-cost art-deco jewelry and everything from ashtrays to radios.
Ball and Claw Foot – A carved foot motif 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.
Balluster - A turned and shaped column, which swells out in the lower halfand it often used in the stem of a table. Whe the swelling is in the upper half, it is known as an inverted baluster.
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 – Turned column shaped like screw threads. Barley Twist (England). A popular design for table and chair legs as well as candle sticks.
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.
Barley Twist - The turning of a leg or column resembling a screw thread. Also, known as spiral twist, open barley twist or barley sugar twist.
Baroque – A style originating in Italy in the early 17th century. Extravagantly ornate, billowing with oversize molding.
Bat Wing – 18th century hardware that resembled a bat’s wing.
Beading – Raised decorative quarter or half round molding trim sometimes resembling a flat row of beads.
Bed-down candle - A short candle that burned for only 15 or 20 minutes and extinguished itself after one had gone to bed.
Bed Warmer - A long-handled brass or copper pan that held hot coals for warming the bed. Referred to as a "warming pan" in England.
Beech – A relatively inexpensive hardwood, similar in appearance to maple. Beech wood is used for frames, veneers, and turned or bent parts.
Belleek – Balleek Works were established in Northern Ireland in 1857. Belleek is ultra thin porcelain often modeled in the shape of shells and other marine objects which were finished with mother of pearl. American Belleek refers to decorative eggshell type porcelain. The first period (l863-90) mark was usually black showing a seated wolfhound. The second period (1891-1926) was the same with a furled banner inscribed “Co Fermanagh” added below. The Third Period (1926-46) same as above with circular stamp inscribed “Deanta in Erinn” (made in Ireland) & registration trademark number 0857 added below. The First Green Period (1946-55) same mark as above but in green. The Second Green Period (1955-65) letter “R” within circle added above the banner to show that the Bellleek mark was registered in the USA. The Third Green Period (1965-81) Markd reduced in size & words Co Fermanagh deleted. First Gold Period (1981-) same markd as above in gold.
Bentwood – A wood steaming process of shaping curved chair and furniture parts.
Bergère – French armchair built for comfort with wide proportions, upholstered back and sides, covered arms, a loose squab seat cushion and exposed wooden frame. Either caned or upholstered from the arm to the seat.
Bevel - A surface or edge cut at an angle commonly seen on glass and mirrors. When at 45 degrees, it's known as a chamfer.
Biedermeier – German and Austrian 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. Generally a simplification of the French Directoire and Empire style. Usually made of lighter woods, such as ash.
Birch –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.
Blind Fret - Fretted decoration applied to the surface of solid wooden furniture.
Block Foot – Squared and vertical foot of an untapered leg. The design of 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. The panels frequently terminate in shell carvings or flat arches at the top.
Bobbin-turning Repeated bell turning, infor the form of bobbins, one on top of the other. It looka b bit like a stick made of balls and was much used on C17th furniture on legs and stretchers.
Bobechese - Glass ring, often with crystals or prisms, placed at bottom of candle to catch wax.
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Boiserie - A French term for carved wooden paneling to rooms, including doors, frames, cupboards and shelves which were part of the paneling.
Bois Dore’ – (Gilding) Coat of gold leaf over wood.
Bombe’ – “Blown Out” Chests 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. This style is often used for chests, commodes, bureaus, armoires.
Bone China - Porcelain made by the addion of large quantities of bone ash.
Bonnet Top – A hooded or enclosed arch top pediment (or broken pediment) covering entire top, usually on a china cabinet, secretary, highboy or tall chest. The central finial can be in the shape of a flame, urn, rosette, etc.
Boss – An oval or rounded surface ornament applied over joins or used decoratively at the top of legs, etc.
Boston Rocker – Large 19th Century American rocker of wood with wide top-rail and a spindle back, and curved seat. commonly stenciled or painted.
Boullework – Elaborate inlay of wood or other materials (often brass) used to embellish the surface.
Bow Back – Windsor chair style.
Bow Front – Rounded front curve on wooden furniture.
Boulle - Foliate and figural marquetry of tortoise-shell (which is actually almost always turtle-shell) and brass (and sometimes pewter, mother-of-pearl and ivory) made fashionable in France in late 1600’s. Boulle work is called premiere-partie when the ground is brass, and contra-partie when it is tortoise-shell; these pieces were often made in "pairs".
Bracket Foot – Foot on furniture resembling a bracket usually having a mitered corner. It can be plain or scrolled with a curved outside edge. With ogee bracket foot, the outside edge forms an s-shaped curve with the top bulging outward and the bottom turning inward.
Braganza - A fancy name for an inscolled foot, also known as a Knurled foot or a Spanish foot.
Britannia metal - An alloy of tin antimony and copper, used during the 19th century as a substitute for pewter.
Breakfront – China cabinet divided into three vertical segments, with the middle section projecting forward.
Brewster Chair – Colonial American style chair with heavy wood turned spindles and leg posts, and relief carving. Jacobean period or Pilgrim style from about the middle of the 17th century.
Brocades – Woven fabric resembling embroidery with a raised pattern.
Broken Pediment – Ornamental crown molding of a tall furnishing such as a highboy or tall chest. The pediment across the top is “broken” by an opening that highlights a carved finial detail such as a flame or an urn.
Bronze – Alloy of copper, tin (no more than 11%) and traces of other metals.
Bronze Dore (Gilding)– coating of gold leaf over bronze
Buffet - A 16th-century serving or side table, frequently with two or three tiers. In the late 17th and 18th-centuries there were cupboards beneath the serving surface and an elaborate superstructure above.
Butt Joint - A simple glue joint between two sufaces, joined with no overlap, tenons or shoulders.
Bureau a Cylindre - A late 18th-century desk with curved quarter-circle front in solid wood which, when lifted, swung up beneath the underside of the top.
Bureau Plat - A French writing table of substantial proportions with a flat surface.
Bun Foot – A flattened ball foot with slim ankle. Popular on chests or seating pieces in William and Mary period.
Burl – A large, rounded knot growth on a tree. Burl wood, has a distinctive and mottled grain making 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 when the sides are down.
Butterfly Table – A drop leaf table with winged brackets that support the leaves.
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C
Cabochon - Popular in the mid C18th, it is a motif or ornament generally carved on the knees of cabriole legs comprised of a ball or domed shape, usually with a foliate surround. The term is also applied to a jewel cut into a domed shape which was popular in the late C19th.
Cable – A twined rope molding design pattern.
Cabriole leg - An elongated S-shaped leg first made popular in the 18Th C. It is formed of a convex curve above a concave one and resembles an animal's leg: in fact, the name 'cabriole' is derived from the Italian 'Capro', or goat. This type of leg was made with many different types of foot including plain, club , pad, paw, ball ,ball-and-claw ,scroll etc. Popular with Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture with widespread use in the late seventeenth century.
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.
Cameo glass - Wares made by combining two or more layers of differently colored glass which was carved to make a design in relief.
Campaign Furniture – Portable collapsible furniture, often with handles, that folds flat or can be disassembled and re-assembled. It originated for military use.
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).
Capital –The top part of a column or pier.
Captain’s Chair – A rounded spindle back Windsor chair.
Carriage clock - A small portable clock with a carrying handle.
Carton Pierre - See Papier mache
Cartouche - Oval, occasionally rectangular decorative table often surrounded by scrollwork or foliate decoration. They often bear a heraldic coat of arms, maker’s name or some other inscription.
Caryatid – A sculptured female figure used as a column or leg support. The term is often incorrectly applied to the male equivalent, which, however, is correctly called an Atlantis . Used mainly in the 17th Century.
Case furniture - Furniture intended as a receptacle, such as a chest of drawers.
Caster / Cruet - a small flat-bottomed vessel with a narrow neck. Cruets often have an integral lip or spout and may also have a handle. Cruets are normally made from glass, ceramic or stainless steel and have a sopped, lid or phoedelia.
Caster Set /Cruet Set - A stand holding salt and pepper casters, were used in the seventeenth century. The sugar, mustard pot, spice dredger, bottles for vinegar and oil and other spice holders became popular the by the eighteenth century. These sets were usually made of sterling silver. The American Vicotrian caster set, the type mostly collected today, was made of silver plated Britannia. metal. Colored glass bottles wee introduced after the Civil War. The sets were out o fashion by World War I.
Cavetto molding - A quarter-round concave molding , often used on cornices . (See also ovolo).
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Cellaret - A wine cooler with a lockable lid, usually fitted with a bottle rack. usually on casters. Cellarets were fitted with locks to keep bibulous servants at bay and were typically kept under serving tables in the dining room.
Censored Bead - A small protruding half-round molding found on the edges of drawer fronts and doors.
Chaise Lounge – “Long chair”, armchair, sofa or daybed with the upholstered back and seat lengthened for reclining. 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 usually at 45°.
Champlevé -Technique of enameled decoration where the metal base is channeled or cut out to receive the enamel.
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 II or Restoration Period - The style period after the Cromwellian Protectorate (1660-1680). King Charles II brought French taste to England following his exile from England to the French court. Characterized by the use of walnut, although oak is still prominent.
Chasing - A method of decorating silver and other metals by creating a raised pattern using a hammer or punch. Also known as embossing.
Chenets – Ornamental pieces placed in front of fireplaces.
Chequered Inlay - Alternating light and dark inlaid wooden.
squares, as would be found on a chess board, but forming a single line or strip of inlay . See Parquetry.
Chest on Chest - Two-part case piece with both parts containing three or four layers of drawers and standing on low feet or base.
Chesterfield – Overstuffed sofa or couch with large rolled arms in one continuous curve with the back, deep button tufted upholstered ends with no exposed wood.
Cheval Glass – Freestanding tall mirror in a vertical frame.
Chiffonier – A tall, narrow chest-of-drawers. A “semanier” is a chest with materials of the colonies (esp. Africa, Americas, Caribbean and India).
Chinoiserie - The term applies to furniture and other items following the fashion, of the late C18th, for intricate Chinese style decoration and ornamentation. Painted or lacquered on furniture with themes on fabrics, wallpapers, porcelain, furniture, garden architecture, and decoration in general.
Chippendale – A period of furniture 1754-1790. Based on the designs of Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779). Chippendale dramatically influenced the English and American style and taste.
Cire Perdue - "lost wax" - a design would be carved by hand into wax and pressed into clay to create a mold and then melted out (or lost) so that molten glass could be poured in. This is a primitive process Rene' Lalique made good use of it throught the 1920's.
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Claw and Ball – See Ball and Claw.
Cleat - A strip of wood applied at the edge of a boarded flat surface as a to secure and stabilize the boards and to make it look neater.
Cloisonné - A method of decorating metal with enamel. Metal filaments are soldered to the surface of an object to outline a design which is then filled with enamel paste.
Club foot – (Pad foot) Resembling a turned club, this was popular in the early to mid 18thC. Found mostly on a cabriole or turned tapered leg, the foot swells to a depressed circular pad.
Cockbead – Small, half-round mold beading applied to edges of a drawer fronts.
Coffer - A chest made in the seventeenth century.
Collar - A thin banding or molding applied on round legs etc.
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.
Corinthian - the Corinthian capital has two rows of acanthus leaves, with stalks sprouting to form spirals (volutes) at the angles. Mounting the capital is a flat slab (abacus) with an acanthus flower in the center of each side.
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 –French term to describe a low chest-of-drawers on legs.
Confiturier – French jam cabinet.
Console – Form of table 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.
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 seen 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.
Crinoline stretcher - Arched stretcher found on some Windsor chairs.
Cross-Banding -A strip or band of veneer laid across the grain.
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).
Cruet / Caster - a small flat-bottomed vessel with a narrow neck. Cruets often have an integral lip or spout and may also have a handle. Cruets are normally made from glass, ceramic or stainless steel and have a sopped, lid or phoedelia.
Cruet Set /Caster Set - A stand holding salt and pepper casters, were used in the seventeenth century. The sugar, mustard pot, spice dredger, bottles for vinegar and oil and other spice holders became popular the by the eighteenth century. These sets were usually made of sterling silver. The American Vicotrian caster set, the type mostly collected today, was made of silver plated Britannia. metal. Colored glass bottles wee introduced after the Civil War. The sets were out o fashion by World War I.
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.
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