Glossary

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Acanthus: A classical decorative motif based on the leaves of the acanthus plant.
Abattant: The French term for a drop lid or fall front desk.
Adam Style: England, c. 1760-92Robert Adam (1728-92) was a Scottish architect and furniture designer. His designs promoted the Neoclassical style in England, Scotland and Russia and influenced development of the Federal Style in America. Common motifs include Roman influences such as framed medallions, vases, urns, sphinxes and griffins as well as flat grotesque panels, swags and ribbons.
Aesthetic Movement: England, United States, c. 1870-1900A design philosophy in literature, fine art, furniture and decorative based on arts for arts sake. An emphasis on Japanese design motifs developed from an increase in trade with the East during the 19th century. Patterns were often assymetrical and restrained, in stark contrast to the Classical revivals of the early 19th century. Furniture is characterized by intarsia, ebonized wood, contrasting materials and Japanese elements.
Almirah: An Indian term for a mobile wardrobe or cupboard made in wood or metal and used to store clothing or valuables. They are often highly decorated.
Ambrotype: This early photographic process used an underexposed glass negative backed with a dark painted surface in order to appear positive. They were produced in sizes and cases similar to daguerreotypes. It was invented by Frederick Scott Archer (British, 1813-57) in the 1848.
Antique: By American law, it refers to an object over 100 years of age.
Arcade: An architectural term to describe a row of arches, freestanding and supported on pillars or piers.
Armoire: A French term for a large freestanding closet for hanging clothes.
Art Deco: International, c. 1925-40This style originated at the historic Paris exposition of 1925 and featured the marriage of art and industry and the rejection of Art Nouveau. It introduced simple, streamlined forms that were interpreted in exotic woods and materials. By the 1930s, the sleek lines and geometric shapes of Art Deco were expressed in furniture, architecture and a wide variety of household objects.
Arts and Crafts: Britain, Canada, United States, Australia, c. 1880-1910A furniture, architecture and decorative arts movement that emerged in reaction to the style revivals prevalent during the Victorian era and the machine made goods of the Industrial revolution. It features simple forms, sparse ornamentation and exposed joinery. Famous proponents were William Morris and John Ruskin.
Art Nouveau: International, c. 1880-1914A French term meaning new art; this was a style of furniture, architecture, art and design. It features highly stylized, curvilinear designs often employing floral and fauna motifs. It is viewed as a bridge between Neoclassicism and modernism.
Aubusson: Refers to tapestries or carpets from Aubusson in central France. It also refers to textiles in the style of genuine Aubussons. Their origins date back to the 14th century and are distinguished by elaborate patterns and a pileless weave.
Azulejos: Spanish or Portuguese tin glazed wall, floor or ceiling tiles found on the exteriors and interiors of churches, palaces, public buildings and residences. They served as ornamentation as well as for temperature control. Their origins date back the 15th century Moors in Spain.

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Baluster: A vase-shaped turned upright support as in a balustrade or table leg.
Banding: Strips of contrasting wood veneer used around the edges of drawer fronts and furniture surfaces to complement the main veneer.
Baroque: Europe, c.1600-1750 In furniture, this style favored flamboyant carving, painting, and gilding. Typical motifs included acanthus, shells, and elaborate scrolls.
Barred Door: A glass cabinet, secretary, and bookcase door with wood fretwork. Due to the high cost of glass, they were set into an intricate, cutout, lacy wooden framework.
Bed Warmer: An indispensable household item of colder climates, bed warmers were used to warm or dry out a bed before retiring. It consists of a round, metal container resembling a frying pan, to hold coals, fireplace embers or hot water. The hinged lid may be ornately decorated and pierced and the long handle was used to reposition the pan in the bed to avoid scorching the sheets. They were supplanted by hot water bottles.
Berainesque: Refers to the style of Jean Berain the Elder (French, 1640-1711) who was a designer, painter and engraver whose designs were highly influential in royal circles. His designs of light arabesques and playful grotesques figured predominately in the Regènce style and greatly influenced the development of the Rococo style.
Bergère: A French armchair in which the sides, seat and back are completely enclosed with caning or upholstery with an exposed wood frame. It was first designed during the Louis XV era in the early 18th century.
Betel or Paan: In Southeast Asia, the betel nut is cut into pieces with an instrument called a sarota and chewed as a digestive stimulant and mild narcotic. It turns the users gums blood red and rots the teeth. In Hinduism, it is also used as an offering.
Bevel: A slanted edge on any flat surface used for example on the border of a mirror.
Bidri: A metalwork technique unique to India and originated in the city of Bidar in the Deccan. Cast brass objects are engraved and inlaid with silver or copper wire. The item is then oxidized with a mixture of ammonium chloride, potassium nitrate, sodium chloride, and copper sulfate. This changes the brass into a beautiful black color while leaving the contrasting silver unaffected.
Biedermeier: Germany, Austria, c. 1815-48This furniture style, popular in Central Europe, was characterized by refined neoclassical designs with simple, clean lines. Ornamentation was kept to a minimum. Furniture makers used local woods including cherry, ash and oak in place of more expensive and heavily taxed mahogany imports. It corresponded with the Regency style in England, the Empire style in France and the Federal style in the United States.
Billet Bar: The horizontal iron rod that extends from the front of the andiron into the fireplace firebox, used to support the wood.
Birdcage Support: A space saving device for tables made of turned colonnettes and double blocked construction which allowed the table top to rotate and tilt.
Bird's Eye: A phenomenon creating a desirable wood feature found mostly in maple but also in Cuban mahogany, American beech, black walnut and yellow birch and white ash. It creates a distinctive pattern of swirling grain surrounding circular eye-like markings.
Block Front: A furniture form from 18th century America often seen in chests where the piece is segmented into three sections, comprising a concave panel in the center flanked by convex panels.
Blue Willow: Developed in England by Josiah Spode at the end of the 18th century. The pattern is identified by a bridge with three figures, a willow tree, boat, teahouse and two birds in the sky. Many companies have used this pattern in their tablewares.
Bocage: Originating from the Norman word boscage, the word bocage is found in both the French and English languages. It refers to a small woodland or decorative grouping of leaves. Early Staffordshire pottery figures are often supported by a bocage and they came to be referred to as bocage figures orgroups.
Boiserie: A French term used to define ornately carved wood room panelling used on walls, doors, shelves, and mural or mirror frames. Boiseries were fashionable in 17th and 18th century France. Examples may be painted, unpainted or partially gilded.
Bolection Molding: An architectural term describing molding that projects from a panel.
Bombé: A French term meaning blown out which refers to the outward curving of a piece of furniture as found in some 18th century Dutch and French furniture.
Bonbonnière: A small box used to store sweets to perfume the breath. Popular in 18th century England and France, these these boxes were often of very high quality in expensive materials of the time, including gold and porcelain. Sugar was also an expensive commodity so owning a bonbonnière was a status symbol.
Bonheur du Jour: A popular 18th century furniture form in France, this small lady's writing desk features a fitted superstructure along the back of the desk surface. The slender legs may be joined by a decorative stretcher that acts as a shelf.
Bonnetière: A tall, narrow, single door cupboard, originally used to store the tall bonnets favored by ladies of Normandy and Brittany during the 17th-18th centuries.
Boulle: First developed in 10th century Italy, this technique was revived by André Boulle (1642-1732) in France. This form of marquetry inlay employs tortoiseshell, copper, brass or tin in elaborate patterns.
Broken Arch: In furniture and architecture, it is an arch with a gap at the apex. This gap is often centered with some decorative finial.
Brass: A metal alloy comprised of approximately 50% copper and 50% zinc.
Bronze: A metal alloy comprised of approximately 83% copper, 13% tin, 3% zinc and 1% lead.
Buffet: A French term for a small dining room sideboard used for dish storage, with drawers and cupboards and a flat surface for serving. The term is often used interchangeably with sideboard.
Buffet à Deux Corps: A French term for a two tiered buffet with the top cabinet being shallower in depth than the bottom.
Bun Foot: A type of furniture foot resembling a slighting flattened ball. A popular form used in the William and Mary period.
Burl: An abnormal growth on a tree such as found in the roots and crotches that produces a beautiful strongly grained wood prized in veneers.
Butter Lamp: Burned daily, this form of lamp is a common ritual object found in Buddhist temples and monasteries. It derives its name from the clarified yak butter traditionally used as fuel.

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Cabinet Card: These cards were made by the same process as cartes de visites but were larger (W 4.5" H 6.5") allowing for logos and advertising of the photographer's services on the front and back. They were produced from 1866 to the 1920s.
Cabriole Leg: An elongated S-shaped furniture leg first made popular in late 18th century Europe.
Cachepot: A French term for an ornamental container for potted plants. From the wordcacher meaning to hide or conceal.
Cameo Glass: A glass technique using two or more layers of glass in the which the exterior layers are cut away in a low relief design to reveal the underlying contrasting colors. Émile Gallé (French, 1846-1904) was a famous producer of cameo glass.
Capital: In architecture, the capital surmounts the column.
Carte de Visite: This process was patented by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri (French, 1819-89) in Paris in 1854. It was typically a thin albumen print (W 2.125" H 3.5") mounted on cardboard (W 2.5" H 4"). Its popularity reached Europe by 1859 and the United States by 1860. By the early 1870s it was replaced by the larger cabinet cards.
Cartouche: An architectural or design term to refer to an ornate scrolled frame typically oval in shape, that may contain a coat-of-arms, design or inscription.
Caryatid: A supporting column sculpted in the form of a draped female figure.
Cassapanca: Derived from the Italian cassone (chest) and banca (bench). A mid-Renaissance Italian, long, wooden, hinged-top chest with wooden arms and a back. It functioned as a bench as well as a chest. A prototype of the box settle.
Campagnola: Taken from Italian meaning country. In antique furniture it refers to a more rustic, informal type of furniture found in more rural areas of Italy.
Gustavian: Sweden, c. 1771-92Refers to a design period under the reign of the Gustavus III (1746-1792). It was influenced by the design ideas of Louis XVI period in France. However, the Gustavian Neoclassical style features cleaner lines and less ornateness that its French counterpart. The Gustavian style was more in keeping with Scandinavian tradition included painted furniture crafted from local soft woods and pale upholstery.