Furniture Glossary

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Acorn clock. American shelf or mantel clock, generally about 2 feet [61 cm] high, with the upper portion shaped somewhat like an acorn. Popular in New England about 1825. Ambry [aumbry, almery; Fr. armoire]. Enclosed compartment or recess in a wall or in a piece of furniture, the original sense of the term having been usurped by cupboard, which originally had a different connotation. 'Cuppbordes with ambries' are mentioned in inventories of Henry VIII's furniture. Today ambry, etc., is principally used architecturally and eccllesiastically, as of the doored compartments or recesses for the Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, this usage perpetuating the original sense. The French form armoire is often applied to large presses or press cupboards.

Apple. A fruitwood much used in America for turnings, also often in case pieces, such as slant-front desks, etc., to show off the rich-coloured pink-brown wood.

Apron work. Prolongation downwards, beyond what is essential to construction, of the lower edge of a member, such as the shaped lower edge of the front of certain boarded chests, or the lower frontal framework, below the drawers, of certain dressers. In such cases an apron is purely ornamental; in others, e.g. the seating of close chairs, its purpose is that of concealment.

Ark. Term frequently encountered in medieval inventories, seemingly meaning: [a] a chest with a coped or gabled lid; [b] perhaps a structure resembling a reliquary [Fr. chasse], as exemplified by the sixteenth-century ambry in Coity Church, Glamorganshire. That ark was a distinct term is shown by such entries as the following from an inventory of the contents of St Mary's, Warwick, 1464:

'It: in the Vestrye i gret olde arke to put in vestyments etc.
'It: in the Sextry above the Vestrye, i olde arke at the auters ende, il olde coofre irebonde having a long lok of the olde facion, and i lasse new coofre having iii loks called the tresory cofre and certeyn almaries.' [Quoted by Philip Mainwaring Johnston, F.R.I. B.A.: Church Chests of the Twelfth and Thriteenth Centuries in England; 1908, p. 60.]

Armadio. The French armoire, a large cupboard, usually of a somewhat monumental character, which seems first to have been used to supplement the cassoni in the furnishing of Italian houses in the late fourteenth century. Early examples are usually about 4 feet [122 cm] in height, and some are decorated with flamboyant Gothic carving in low relief. An early fifteenth-century example [in the Museo Bardini at Florence] is in the form of a long, low cupboard with several very simply decorated doors and a panelled backboard of the same height as the cupboard. In the sixteenth century two-storey armadi became popular. They were often decorated with two orders of pilasters or pilasters above elongated consoles [there is a good Tuscan example of this type in the museum at Berlin]. Sometimes the two storeys were separated by a projecting drawer. This pattern was superseded in the seventeenth century by a still more massive type, with pilasters some 6 feet [p183 cm] tall at either end, and sometimes with a pair of drawers in the plinth. When a less ponderous effect was desired the cupboard was mounted on turned legs.

The tops of seventeenth-century armadi are often shaped in baroque curves. In the eighteenth century the armadio was usually made on a lighter and more elegant pattern and was often designed to stand in [p. 206] a corner. But with the introduction of the chest of drawers the armadio lost much of its former popularity in the house.

Many of the early surviving armadi were intended originally for the sacristies of churches, where they were used for the storage of vestments, and it is often difficult to distinguish these from domestic examples except when they have specifically religious motifs in their decoration. After the sixteenth century such armadi were usually built-in furnishings of the sacristy. Sometimes they were richly carved or decorated with intarsia panels.

Arming chest. Chest for the housing of armours and weapons. Arming chests might be fitted with compartments of varying size to accommodate breastplate, etc. [see Chest]. [In navigation an arming box contains tallow for the 'lead'.]

Armoires. See under Wardrobes.

Artisans libres. The name given to French craftsmen who chose to work outside the guild jurisdiction and who sought refuge in what were known as lieux privilégiés in Paris. Being exempt from guild charges and regulations, they were a continual source of irritation to the guilds, particularly as they included a large number of foreign ébénistes who came to Paris in the mid-eighteenth century. These included some of the finest craftsmen of the time, a number of whom later became maître-ébénistes.

Ash. The American ash, a cream-coloured hardwood with oak-like graining; much used for furniture parts, such as upholstery frames, where strong, but not heavy wood was desired. In England it was used in eighteenth-c. furniture, particularly for the hooped backs of Windsor chairs.

Athénienne. A form of candelabrum consisting of an urn supported on a classical tripod, invented in 1773 by J. H. Eberts, editor of the famous Monument de Costume. The name derives from a painting by J. B. Vien entitled La Vertueuse Athénienne, which shows a priestess burning incense at a tripod of this type. They were made of patinated bronze with ormolu mounts or in carved giltwood, but not many survive. They are, however, typical of the classicizing tendencies of the last quarter of the eighteenth century.

Bail. Half-loop metal pull, usually brass, hanging from metal bolts. First used in America about 1700; slowly grew into use for drawers of William and Mary pieces. The reigning fashion from 1720 to 1780 for drawers of Queen Anne and Chippendale pieces.

Ball-and-claw foot. See Claw-and-ball foot.

Balloon seat. See Bell seat.

Banister-back chair. Probably simplified from the cane chair [q.v.] but with vertical split banisters in the back. Generally maple, often ebonized. Widely used in rural America, 1700-25 until the end of the century.

Banjo. Modern name for the American wall clock with a longish pendulum, the whole housed in a case shaped somewhat like a banjo. Invented in the 1790s by Simon Willard, and patented by him about 1800. Decoratively attractive, its popularity spread from 1800 through the next half-century.

Bargueño [or Varqueño]. Spanish cabinet with fall front enclosing drawers and often mounted on a stand. Mixed materials are found.

Barley sugar. See Twist turning.

Baroque. The late Renaissance style of vigorously elaborate furniture with sweeping curves and resplendent ornament. It originated in sixteenth-c. Italy, spread through Europe, but was little practised in England, and known in America only in bombˇ case pieces and in greatly simplified forms of some William and Mary and Queen Anne furniture [see Rococo].

Basin stand. See Washing stand.

Bedstead. So far as practical collecting is concerned, main basic types are the box [or enclosed] bedstead, wainscot [including bedsteads paneled at head and foot], post [with two or four posts supporting the tester], stump [or low type], and the truckle or trundle [with wooden wheels at base of uprights]. These are not hard-and-fast definitions; one type may well overlap another [e.g. box and wainscot]. Parts of bedsteads have been re-used for other purposes of a decorative nature, such as overmantels. We know little of the shape of Italian beds before the sixteenth century, save from those which appear in such paintings as Carpaccio's St Ursula or Ghirlandaio's Birth of the Virgin. One of the earliest is that formerly in the Palazzo Davanzati at Florence, a handsome piece of furniture mounted on a wide plinth. Sixteenth-century examples often have rich carving on head and foot and are without the plinth. In Sicily iron bedsteads with four posts supporting a canopy were popular from the late sixteenth century. The use of four posts was, however, unusual on later Italian beds, which sometimes have stumps at the corners and are covered by canopies supported from the wall. Lucchese examples are often richly covered with fabric which is matched on the bedspread.

Beech A smooth, close-grained wood of light colour less frequently used in America than England. Found in the underframes of New York Chippendale pieces and occasionally in New England Chippendale as well as early turned pieces.

Beer wagon. See Coaster.

Bellflower. Conventionalized hanging ['belle'] flower-bud of three, occasionally five, petals carved or, more often, inlaid one below the other in strings dripping down the legs of a table or chair or, sometimes, a chair splat. Seen in American Hepplewhite and Sheraton, notably Maryland furniture. It is practically the same as the English 'husk' motif.

Bell seat. The rounded, somewhat bell-shaped, seat often found in late Philadelphia Queen Anne side chairs. Nowadays often called balloon seat. Mostly about 1740-55.

Bench. A long seat, backed or backless, fitted or movable [see Form, Settle, Table bench].

Bible box. Popular term for a variety of box, generally of small size. That some such boxes were used to hold the family Bible, or average meagre domestic library, is probable, though they doubtless served other purposes. Lace boxes enter this category.

Biblioth*que-basse. A low cupboard fitted with shelves for books, and doors often of glass but sometimes fitted with grilles.

Bilbao or 'Bilboa'. U.S. wall mirror framed in coloured marbles or marble and wood with scrollwork headpiece and gilded mouldings. Adam or Hepplewhite followers might have designed them, yet they are believed to have originated in the Spanish seaport Bilbao. Stylish in New England seaport towns 1780-1800.

Bilsted. Word used in colonial New York for sweet-gum wood.

Birch. Hard, close-grained wood. Stained to substitute for mahogany in country furniture. Resembles [p. 207] satinwood in certain cuts. The American variety, betula lenta, was exported to England in the second h alf of the eighteenth ceentury.

Bird's eye. A marking of small spots, supposed to resemble birds' eyes, often found in the wood of the sugar maple. Used and much prized from the earliest to present times.

Blister. A marking, thought to resemble a blister, found in various woods--cedar, mahogany, poplar, pine, and especially, maple.

Block front. A whole range of forms--chests of drawers, chests-on-chests, knee-hole dressing tables, slant-front desks, secretaries, etc. - in which thick boards, usually mahogany, for the fronts of the drawers and cabinets are cut so that the centres recede in a flattened curve while the ends curve outwards in a flattened bulge. At the top of the three curves, one concave and two convex, a shell is often carved or glued on. Should the piece be in two sections, often only the lower section is block-fronted. The origin of block fronting is unknown; the development is believed to be American, evolved about 1760-80, by John Goddard of Newport, Rhode Island, perhaps with the aid of his associate, John Townsend. They may have arrived at it by straightening the curves of the Dutch cabinet. The late American authority Wallace Nutting called block fronts 'the aristocrats of furniture'. The English antique furniture authority, Cescinsky, described them, especially the secretaries, as 'the finest examples of American furniture'. They are much sought after.

Boat bed. American Empire-style bed shaped somewhat like a gondola. A variant of the sleigh bed.

Bombˇ. Lit. 'inflated, blown out', i.e. of convex form generally on more than one axis.

Bonheur-du-jour A small writing table usually on tall legs, and sometimes fitted to hold toilet accessories and bibelots. It first appeared in France c. 1760, but remained in fashion for a comparatively short time.

Bonnet top. When the broken-arch pediment of tall case furniture covers the entire top from front to back, this hood is called a bonnet top. It is usually cut in the same curves as the arch, but is sometimes left uncut, a solid block of wood behind the arched fronting. 1730-85. Same as 'Hood'.

Bookcase. In England bookcases, either fitted or, in some cases, contained in other furniture, were known medievally, but the domestic bookcase mainly derives from the period of Charles II [1650-85]. In Italy bookcases were less frequently made individually than as part of the built-in decorations of a library. In Venice there is an excellent example of a late seventeenth-century library with cases carved by German craftsmen in the monastery of S. Giorgio Maggiore [now Fondazione Cini] and an exquisite small, early eighteenth-century library, with painted cases, in the Ca' Sagredo. Both of these have two tiers of bookcases which fill the walls. In houses that could not afford to give up a whole room to the library the books were probably kept in an ordinary armadio. Eighteenth-century bookcases resemble either a section of a complete library or, more usually, an armadio with wire grilles in place of panels in the doors. Although a few enormous early bookcases exist, bookcases were seldom made in America as an article of furniture before 1785-90, the average family before then keeping their books in locked chests, cupboards, and the tops of secretaries. Bookcases are generally large and heavy until about 1880, when the smaller type came in [see China cabinet].

Book rest. A stand used in Georgian libraries to support large books, consisting of a square or rectangular framework with crossbars, the upper bar [p. 208] being supported by a strut which was adjusted on a grooved base. This kind of stand was sometimes fitted into the top of a table.

Bookshelf. See Shelves.

Boston rocker. In America the most popular of all rocking chairs. Apparently evolved from the Windsor rocker [q.v.]. Usually painted, it has curved arms, a tall spindle back, broad top[ rail generally showing stenciled designs--a kind of ornamented panel--and a 'rolling' seat, curved up at the back and down at the front. When standardized and mass-produced [after 1840] it is not a true antique.

Boulle marquetry. The name given to the type of inlay evolved for use on furniture in the late seventeenth century by Andrˇ Charles Boulle [1642-1732] [see under French furniture].

The process involves the gluing of one or more thin layers of tortoiseshell to a similar number of brass layers.

The design of the marquetry is set out on paper, and this is pasted on to the surface. The pattern is then cut out by means of a saw. After this, the layers of brass and tortoiseshell are separated and can be made to form two distinct marquetries by combining the materials in opposite ways: either with the design formed by the brass on a ground of shell, known as premiére partie or first part, or the exact opposite, known as contre-partie or counterpart, with the design in shell on a ground of brass. These two types of inlay can then be glued on to a carcase in the form of a veneer. Often the two types are found side by side as part of the same design, in order to give contrast. Again, when pieces are made in pairs one is often veneered with premiére partie and the other with contre-partie marquetry.

The brass in the premiére partie marquetry was often engraved naturalistically, frequently very finely, and was sometimes combined with other substances, such as pewter, copper, mother-of-pearl, sand stained horn, again usually to give contrasts and naturalistic effects to the design. Additional colour was also given occasionally by veneering the shell over coloured foil, usually red or green.

The carcases onto which Boulle marquetry is veneered are usually found to be of oak or deal, and the parts which are not covered by the inlay are veneered with ebony, Coromandel wood, or purplewood, in order to tone with the shell of the inlay.

Finally, Boulle furniture is usually lavishly mounted with ormolu, so as to protect the corners and the more vulnerable parts of the inlay, but the mounts are frequently also adapted in a decorative manner to form hinges, lockplates, and handles. It will be noticed that the ormolu is sometimes fully gilt, which provides a strong decorative contrast with the inlaid brass; equally, the bronze is sometimes left ungilt, and therefore harmonizes with the metal inlay to a greater extent.

Boulle furniture, so much in demand in the reign of Louis XIV, went out of fashion during most of that of his successor, but it did not cease to be made, and the Boulle atelier continued to turn out pieces from time to time. They were therefore ready when, under Louis XVI and the classical revival, the taste for this type of furniture returned, and at this period a very large number of pieces were made, often using the original designs, mounts, and processes as in the former period. It is thus often extremely difficult to tell whether a piece was made in one period or another, and it is better not to be too dogmatic about this, as there are very few distinguishing characteristics. Two may perhaps be mentioned: the engraving of the brass inlay is less common in the Louis XVI period and, when it does appear, of inferior quality; secondly, the use of other metals than brass and freer designs are slightly more common.

In the earlier period a large number of designs for Boullee marquetry are derived from the engravings of Jean Bérain, who was, like Boullee, also employed by the crown.

Boulle marquetry is sometimes erroneously referred to as Buhl. This is a Teutonic adaptation of Boullée's name for which there is no justification.

Bow back. See Windsor chair.

Bow front. A curving front used on case pieces in New England during the Chippendale period.

Box and casket. Boxes were among the most attractive of the smaller pieces of furniture, and were used from medieval times for a multitude of purposes--personal effects, toilet and writing materials, valuables, documents, etc. Tudor and early Stuart boxes were usually square in shape and made of oak, carved, inlaid, or painted, and occasionally stood upon stands, few of which have survived. In the later seventeenth century walnut was commonly used [sometimes decorated with marquetry or parquetry], but other materials included parchment, tortoiseshell, and stumpwork, the latter particularly on the boxes kept by ladies for their cosmetics, etc. The interiors were often ingeniously fitted with compartments and drawers. In the eighteenth century some beautiful mahogany and satinwood boxes were made, until they were gradually replaced by small worktables, though boxes on stands, conforming to the prevailing decorative fashions, were to be found. Among other examples were Turnbridge-ware [q.v.] boxes, and traveling boxes fitted with spaces for writing, working, and toilet requisites. About 1800 work and toilet boxes covered with tooled leather were in vogue.

Boxwood [buis]. A very closely grained wood of a yellow colour found frequently in Europe and elsewhere. Extensively used in France for fillets to frame panels of marquetry.

Boys and crowns. Old term for a type of carved ornament on the cresting of late seventeenth- and quite early eighteenth-c. chairs, day beds, etc. [see under Restoration]. The motif, a crown, usually, though not necessarily, arched, supported by two flying or sprawling naked boys, derives ultimately from the flying putti frequently found in Renaissance design. In England, the idea was familiar long before it achieved [temp. Charles II] a vogue on chair backs. [p. 209] >

Bracket. The detachable wall bracket, as distinct from the fixed architectural feature, appeared towards the end of the seventeenth century, and seems to have been used at first for displaying china. Its prominent position in the room singled it out for special decorative treatment in carving or gilding. In the early Georgian period the bracket was often used to support a bust or vase, and as a result it tended to become larger in size and more heavily ornamented; but with the return of the fashion for displaying china about 1750 and the growing use of the bracket for supporting lights, it became altogether more delicate in appearance, and was adapted to the various styles of the Chippendale and Adam periods. The wall bracket supporting a clock was a popular form of decoration in the later eighteenth century.

Bracket foot. A foot supporting a case piece and attached directly to the underframing. It consists of two pieces of wood, joined at the corner. The open side is generally cut out in a simple pattern. The corner end is sometimes straight, at other times curved in an ogee pattern.

Bras de lumière. See under Wall lights.

Brazier. A portable metal container used from Tudor times for burning coal or charcoal; with handle and feet or sometimes mounted on a stand.

Breakfast table. A small table with hinged side leaves that can be used by one or two people. After the Chippendale period the name Pembroke [q.v.] is often applied to the type.

Brewster chair. A seventeenth-c. American armchair of turned spindles and posts with rush seat. The back has two tiers of spindles. There is a tier under the arms and one under the seat. The chair is usually of ash or maple. Named after William Brewster, elder of Plymouth Plantation, whose chair is preserved at Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Massachusetts. Similar to the Carver chair [q.v.].

Broken arch. See Scroll top.

Bronzes d'ameublement. A term with no exact English equivalent covering all furniture, practical or decorative, made of bronze, patinated or gilt. It embraces such items as candelabra, candlesticks, wall lights, chandeliers, firedogs, clock cases, mounts for furniture and porcelain, etc. Their manufacture was the particular province of the fondeurs, ciseleurs, and doreurs.

Buffet. Term variously applied to open, doorless structures, of more than one tier [see also Court cupboard, Livery cupboard [under Cupboard]].

Bull's eye. A popular term for the small round mirror with convex or concave glass and an ornate gilt frame. The type was fashionable 1800-20, and often of English or French manufacture. An alternative meaning is the reference to clear glass with a large centre drop or gather employed as window glass and in cabinets.

Bureau. In America, ever since the eighteenth century, the word bureau means a chest of drawers, with or without a mirror, and regularly used in the bedroom. Originally, and still in England, a desk. Examples were made in the William and Mary style, dating 1700-10, but the form dropped completely out of use until revived about 1750. They are found in the Chippendale and every style thereafter, the revival probably springing not from the earlier form but from Chippendale's designs. Many authorities describe bureaux according to the shape of the front--serpentine, reverse serpentine, bow or swell, and straight front--but that is mere grouping, not classification proper. In England the word denotes a writing desk with a fall, a cylinder, or a tambour front.

Bureau-plat. A writing table supported on tall legs with a flat top with drawers beneath. Began to appear in France toward the end of the seventeenth century.

Bureau table. A dressing table with drawers on short legs and a knee-hole recess.

Bureau-toilette. A piece of furniture for female use combining the functions of a toilet and writing table.

Burl. A tree knot or protruding growth which shows beautifully patterned grainings when sliced. Used for inlay or veneer. Found in some late seventeenth --and much eighteenth-century American furniture, and chiefly in walnut and maple burls.

Butler's tray. A tray mounted on legs or on a folding stand, in use throughout the eighteenth century. The X-shaped folding stand was in general use from about 1750, the tray normally being rectangular and fitted with a gallery. Oval trays were sometimes made in the later part of the century.

Butterfly table. A William and Mary style drop-leaf table with solid swinging supports shaped a little like butterfly wings. The supports are pivoted on the stretchers joining the legs. Assumption that the type is of American origin is probably incorrect.