Antique Furniture Terms Explained
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More furniture terms: 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
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- Cabochon: A design motif found often on the knees of chairs of the early mahogany period - c.1740, consisting of a ball shape usually surrounded by leaf ornament.; also, the carved furniture ornament that resembles this particular jewel shape.
- Cabriole leg: The cabriole leg curves outward at the knee and tapers inward at the ankle in a reverse-S line, originally terminating in a hoof foot. The cabriole leg was subject to many design variations and was produced with pad, hoof, claw and ball, paw and scroll foot according to taste. Introduced in French furniture late in the Louis XIV style, and in England around 1700. The design seems to have declined after 1750 until early Victorian times, when it was revived.
- Cabriolet: A cabriole chair (fauteuil) with concave-shaped back in the Louis XV style. The shaped arms were set back and rested on shaped arm supports which curved outwards and were connected to the side seat rails or front legs. This was done so that the woman with their fashionable panniers could sit comfortably in the chairs.
- Candle-flame finial: Modern furniture term for an elongated finial found on the top of the uprights of some Shaker chairs. Particularly associated with the Enfield, New Hampshire, community. Flame finials are also seen on Philadelphia high chests of drawers.
- Candlestand: A small stand with a proportionately small top designed to hold a candlestick or lamp.
- Caning: Furniture term for woven strips of rattan used for chair, sofa, and couch backs and seats. First used in chairs in the mid-seventeenth century.
- Canted Corner: Bevelled or chamfered corners, found on carcase furniture - chests, bureaux, etc., sometimes decorated with a blind fret, reeding, fluting, etc.
- Canterbury: Movable stand on casters with racks and drawers used to store sheet music, magazines, and books. Form introduced in the late eighteenth century.
- Canvaswork: Furniture term for needlepoint, that is, wool or silk thread worked on a linen background. It was sometimes used as upholstery on chairs.
- Capital: The uppermost section of a column, often carved, which is separated from the rest of the column by a molding.
- Carcase: A furniture term generally used to describe the frame of which a chest of drawers, or bureau was built.
- Card table: Table with a back leg which swings out to support a folding, hinged top. Particularly popular form during the Chippendale and Federal periods. Also called gaming table.
- Cartouche: A decoration, usually in the form of a flat surface with shield or scroll shape on which an inscription or monogram can be placed.
- Cavetto: A hollowed, concave moulding of quarter-circle section.
- Carving: Cuts generally deeper and more sculptural than incising. See also Finger-rolled carving.
- Caryatid pedestal: Support in the form of a female figure borrowed from ancient Greek architecture and used during the Empire; that is, the archeologically inspired phase of Neoclassicism.
- Case piece: A relatively large, boxlike object having drawers, shelves, or cabinet space which is used for storage.
- Castor: Early forms of castors were made (c.1700) of wood, both wheel and axle. In the mid-eighteenth century leather rollers appear to have come in use but in the last quarter of the century brass castors with stylised motifs made their appearance.
- Cellaret: Furniture form used for the storage and, at times, the chilling of wine bottles.
- Chamber table: Federal period term for dressing table.
- Chamfered: Referring to a cut-off, or beveled, edge or corner. Used to lighten the effect of a piece of Furniture. Used on the back edge of square Chippendale chairs
- Chest-on-chest: Case piece consisting of one chest of drawers placed on top of another and attached. Designed as whole object.
- Cheval glass: Full-length mirror which pivots vertically on a stand.
- Chiffonier: Is basically a side cabinet, developed with a shelf or shelves above from the late 18th century. The furniture term has come to be used rather loosely but is current in the antique trade to describe small cabinets with shelves for use as a small sideboard, incidental library or drawing room piece.
- Chinoiserie: Western imitation, generally inaccurate, of Oriental art and motifs. Particularly popular during the 18th century in America.
- Chip carving: International style of carving in the form of rather intricate geometric designs. Sometimes called "Friesland" carving. Popular during the 18th century in America.
- Claw-and-ball foot: Carved foot in the form of a claw grasping a round ball. Often found at the end of a cabriole leg. More expensive feature than a pad foot.
- Club foot: Furniture term for a thick, slightly pointed foot commonly found on cabriole legs. In America, seen on some New York Queen Anne-style chairs, but also used in Britain.
- Clustered Column: A design of medieval origin used in the mid-eighteenth century consisting of several pillars clustered together.
- Cockbead: A small bead moulding used on the edges of drawer fronts from 1725 onwards.
- Column Turning: Turning in the form of a column used from the mid-seventeenth century onwards.
- Colonette: Small column. Term used to describe columns which support tops of some Classical-style tables.
- Compass seat: Term describing flaring, U-shaped outline of seats used on some Queen Anne and Chippendale chairs.
- Continuous arm: Refers to chairs and settees where the arms are a continuation of the back, as on some bow-back Windsor chairs.
- Coquille: Decorative motif carved in the shape of a scallop shell; common Rococo-style ornament.
- Cornice: Furniture term for the horizontal molding which projects from the top of some case pieces.
- Cornucopia: The "horn of plenty"; a horn-shaped vessel filled to overflowing with flowers and fruit. Common motif on early 19th-century furniture.
- Cottage furniture: Refers to a type of relatively cheap painted furniture made mid- to late 19th century and popularized by A. J. Downing.
- Court cupboard: A two-tiered open cupboard used for the display of plates and as a service table. The tiers are supported by turned balusters. Status-oriented form of furniture used in 17th-century New England and Virginia.
- Crest rail: Exposed horizontal top rail of a chair or sofa Crest rails are often carved and can be scroll-shaped, arched, and/or pierced.
- Crocket: In Gothic-style architecture, a pointed device placed along the outer angles of pinnacles and gables. Seen on Gothic Revival-style furniture.
- Commode: A furniture term borrowed from France and used from the mid-eighteenth century to describe a piece of furniture for use in principal rooms. Very fine examples in Adam or prevailing styles with rounded or serpentine shaped fronts, and original French pieces, resembling finely decorated chests of drawers, with or without doors; represent the height of collecting, in both taste and purse.
- Cromwellian chair: Modern term for a chair resembling a stool with a back upholstered in leather. Form used on the Continent and in England and the colonies during the 17th century. Also called a Farthingale chair.
- Console Table: A wall side table supported by brackets.
- Cresting Rail: The top rail of a chair, joining the two back uprights at the top.
- Cross stretcher: Refers to stretchers which intersect at right angles and connect opposite, rather than adjoining, legs. Used on some Rhode Island Windsor chairs and on some Hudson River Valley tables.
- Cuffed foot: Tapered foot encircled by a carved band around it several inches above the floor. Associated with Baltimore during the Federal period.
- Cupid's bow: Furniture term for a motif, composed of a cyma and reverse cyma curve, resembling an archer's bow. Found at the base of the splat on many New York Queen Anne-style chairs. Modern terminology.
- Curule chair: Chair type used by the "curule", or magistrate, of Rome in classical times. The base of the chair is X-shaped with curved legs. Design popular during the archeologically inspired phase of Classicism.
- Cushion Drawer: A drawer set in the upper moulding or frieze of a secretaire or chest having a convex, or 'cushion', shape to the front.
- Cyma curve: A double curve which is concave and then convex. Also known as an ogee.
