Antique Furniture Terms Explained
Find those specific definitions and illustrations here!
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
T
- Tallboy: A chest upon a chest.
- Tambour: The gluing of thin strips of wood to a cloth background to create sliding doors or tops on case pieces such as desks. Technique first used during the Federal period in America.
- Tea table: Form introduced to America c. 1700 as part of the then-novel ritual of the tea party. The earliest style of tea table consisted of a removable tray for the carrying of tea equipment which fit into a separate frame.
- Teardrop drawer pull: Modern term for the pendant drawer pull used as a component of the William and Mary style.
- Tenon: A joint form shaped to fit exactly into a cavity called a mortise. Used from the sixteenth century.
- Tester bed: Another term for a high-post bedstead with a frame for holding a canopy.
- Tête-à-tête: Form of a bench or sofa in which the two seats face in opposite directions. First made in America in the Rococo Revival style.
- Through-tenons: In some mortise-and-tenon construction the mortise is open-ended and thus reveals the end of the tenon. In America, such through-tenons are found, on Philadelphia and some Connecticut Queen Anne and Chippendale period chairs, as well as some Arts and Crafts period furniture. At times these are pinned for greater strength.
- Tilter: Metal swivel devices placed on the bottom of each back leg of a chair so that the sitter could lean back. Patented by the Shakers.
- Tracery: Interlaced lines which form the lacy openwork of a Gothic-style window.
- Trapezoidal seat: Roughly rectangular seat with flaring sides; corners are pointed, not rounded.
- Tray-top: A top of detachable type usually with a fretted opening in the vertical sides to act as a carrying handle. Also loosely used to describe the top of a night table.
- Trefoil: A Gothic decorative ornament, shaped like a rosette in three sections, with foil points.
- Trestle table: Early table form consisting of a board top and legs stabilized by stretchers or cross bracing.
- Trifid foot: A chair-leg terminal that is divided into three sections resembling toes. Popular on 18th-century Philadelphia chairs.
- Trumpet-turning: Modern term for flaring conical legs seen on some William and Mary style tables, dressing tables, and high chests of drawers. Also used on 19th-century Revival-style furniture.
- Trundle bedstead: Low bedstead on wheels which can be rolled under a regular bedstead for storage during the day.
- Turkeywork: Canvas-based upholstery of a knotted wool pile which survives on a few 17th-century chairs and couches.
- Turning: The process or art of shaping wooden objects on a lathe. See also Ball; Baluster; Baluster-and-cup; Block-and-vase; Reel; Rope; Sausage; Spool; Trumpet; Twist.
- Turret-top table: Table with scalloped outline of top and sides that mirror this curving outline. Tea table form.
- Twist turning: Length of wood all of which has been carved to resemble a twisted rope. Used on William and Mary style furniture. Name is actually a misnomer since it is not turned, but carved.
