A classical decorative motif based on the leaves of the acanthus plant.

A classical revival principally inspired by Robert Adam (1728 - 1792).

A leading American cabinetmaker. Born in Scotland, he emigrated in 1763 and settled in Philadelphia,
where he became an outstanding exponent of the American Chippendale style. He was more restrained
and less Rococo than his contemporary, Benjamin Randolph. He continued making Chippendale style
furniture into the Federal period. Cabinetmaker in Colonial America; active (1773-1795). Originally English.
 

An aneroid barometer is a container that holds a sealed chamber from which some air has been removed, creating a partial vacuum. An elastic disk covering the chamber is connected to a needle or pointer on the surface of the container by a chain, lever, and springs. As atmospheric pressure increases or decreases, the elastic disk contracts or expands, causing the pointer to move accordingly.

A formalized decorative motif based on honeysuckle, particularly popular from the late 18th century.

A repetitive, intricate pattern derived from Arab designs based originally on plant and flower motifs.

A cupboard of great size, with doors

A design movement from the late 1800's, inspired greatly by the work of Japanese Meiji period artists.

The testing of metal to establish a level of purity

A small chest of drawers with a fold-over top supported by slides

A style originating in Italy in the early 17th century. Extravagantly ornate, florid and convoluted in character or style.

An 18th century term describing a variety of washstands. Basically a tripod stand or small square stand with a molded ring to hold the basin, small drawers below the frieze and a shelf for an ewer beneath.

Variation on a worktable, usually a tripod stand with two tiers of open gallery-work for holding knick-knacks.

An upholstered armchair modeled on a French design, fashionable from 1725. Often with crane work sides, back and seat.

A style of furnishings common in German-specking areas in the early to middle 19th century, generally a simplification of the French Directoire and Empire styles

Fretted decoration applied to the surface of solid wooden furniture

Blue John Stone is a rare, semiprecious mineral found at only one location in the world - a hillside near Mam Tor, just outside Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District National Park, England. The name Blue John derives from the French Bleu Jaune meaning Blue Yellow. It is a form of fluorite and was discovered as miners were exploring the cave systems of Castleton for lead.

Nowadays, the caves of Castleton are magnificent show caves and are some of the most popular tourist attractions in Derbyshire. Of the four show caves only Treak Cliff and, to a lesser extent, Blue John have veins of Blue John Stone. Treak Cliff Cavern still mines about 500 kilograms of Blue John Stone each year. The veins of Blue John Stone are easy to see and many of the formations are well lit. Blue John Stone is a semiprecious stone and gives Castleton its nickname of 'Gem of the Peaks'.

Irish Bog Oak wood is a rare timber which is excavated from deep underground, usually as a by-product of turf cutting, or when bogland is drained for agricultural use. The wood varies in age, usually ranging between 2,000 and 6,000 years old, The wood has been preserved due to the unique conditions of the Turf bogs in Ireland which waterlog the wood and keep it free from oxygen and sunlight which would cause it to decay. The chemistry of the Bog also reacts with the wood and transforms it's colour. Bog Oak is usually jet black, but occasionally a very dark brown. Throughout the Nineteenth Century and later many decorative items such as small furniture, Writing Slopes, Book Slides, Boxes and Ladies Jewellery, always with distinctive hand carved Irish subjects.

A French term for carved wooden paneling to rooms, including doors, frames, cupboards and shelves which were part of the paneling

A technique developed by Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) of inlaying brass with tortoiseshell and, sometimes, pewter, fashionable and highly prized in France throughout the 18th century. Usually made in Paris, the second commode, table or cabinet was in " contre boulle"; the reverse version with tortoiseshell inlaid with brass. English boulle was first popular during the Regency Period. Rarely of as high a quality as the French, it was increasingly debased as machine techniques enabled a similar effect to be achieved during the Victorian Period.

A purity of silver containing 958 parts pure silver per 1000. Used  from 1697 to 1720

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. 

A late 18th-century desk with curved quarter-circle front in solid wood which, when lifted, swung up beneath the underside of the top.

A French writing table of substantial proportions with a flat surface

The creation of a lustre on metal by rubbing the surface with a smooth hard agate (or similar) tool

A tavern table made in America in the late 17th and 18th centuries.
The name arises because of the wing-shaped extended fly-brackets that supported the flaps
instead of the more common gate leg. The legs were canted outwards to achieve a more elegant shape.

Oval convex decorative ornament frequently found on knees of cabriole legs

Oval, occasionally rectangular decorative tablet. The term is most frequently used for the decorative surround to an armorial bearing

Correct term for carved female figures or half-figures supporting an entablature instead of columns. See also Atlantes

A wine cooler with a lockable lid, usually fitted with a bottle rack

Technique of enameled decoration where the metal base is channeled or cut out to receive the enamel.

A furniture designer, cabinet-maker and interior decorator

A technique of enameling using fine strips of metal soldered to the base to divide one color of enamel from another.

An early Italian serving table or sideboard with canted corners, two or three cupboards in the base and drawers in the frieze

A strip or band of veneer laid across the grain.

Pertaining to the style of French furnishings and decorations of the mid-1790's, characterized by an increasing use of Greco-Roman forms along with an introduction, toward the end, of Egyptian motifs

In France, a general-term for a cabinet-maker as opposed to makers of seat furniture. The ancient guild of menuisiers-ebénistes protected their members from cheaper work by foreign craftsmen and from 1741 ordered them to sign their work, which was then passed by the Jure des menuisiers-ébénistes, who approved and stamped each piece "JME".

Close-grained wood, such as beech or birch, stained and polished to resemble ebony, much used in the 18^th century, particularly for chairs.

Pertaining to the rein of Edward VII

Characteristic of or developed during the first French Empire, 1804 - 1815.

See Cloisonné, Champlevé.

A French name for a standing corner cupboard, usually made en suite with a commode, with a marble top and ormolu or gilt metal mounts.

A style of decoration derived from ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan ornament.

A French name for an elegant, comfortable chair with open arms and upholstered back and seat, dating from the mid-18th century and originally covered in silk, satin, velvet or damask, usually replaced in 19th century with tapestry.

Pertaining to the decorative arts and architecture in the United States circa 1780 - 1830.

A generic term for the natural patterns revealed by skilful cutting of veneer e.g. flame grain, Cuban curl, fiddle back, oyster, etc.

A torch or flame, sometimes springing from an urn, used as a decorative finial from the end of the 17th century and throughout the 18th

Punch applied decoration which leaves an impression on the reverse side

Parallel and vertical line pattern usually created by cutting grooves

A carved decoration to the edges of tables, desks, shelves, etc., widely used from the 16th century onwards. Properly the term applies to silver, and originated in the shape of clenched knuckles.

Pertaining to the styles of architecture and furniture current in England from 1714 - 1811.

Paste composed of whiting or finely powdered marble dust mixed with glue and water which sets hard and is easy to carve. Used extensively in the 18th century as a base for decorative gilding and embellishment of carved woodwork such as mirror and painting  frames.

Methods of gilding wood have remained unchanged. The two main techniques are still in current use: Water Gilding  is the application of gold leaf using water as the agent to cause the gold to 'stick' to the gesso, some of which is then burnished. Oil Gilding is the application of fine sheets of gold leaf on to a surface with an oil size, a more lasting process but less lustrous. Gilt-metal and gilded metal are achieved by fire-gilding (also known as mercury gilding), when an amalgam of mercury is applied to the metal to be gilded, which fuses on being heated.

A wall-mounted candelabrum of French inspiration, with one or more candle branches set in a gilt wood or gilt-metal frame surrounding a small asymmetric or convex mirror to reflect the light of the flame.

Pertaining to styles of architecture and decoration originating in France in the middle of the 12^th century and existing in the western half of Europe through the middle of the 16^th century.

Decorative monochrome painting in tones of gray, in oil, gouache or tempera, widely used for decorative panels for 18th-century interiors and occasionally for furniture.

A general term for a lamp stand in France. The "table en guéridon" was a small circular tea table.

A decoration consisting of two bands twisted in a continuous figure of eight.

(died 1786) A cabinet-maker and chair-maker, author of the Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1788, 1789 and 1794.

Quite distinct from the English Tallboy, an American term for a chest-on-stand or high chest derived from William and Mary and Queen Anne furniture, but with more elaborate bonnet top or decorative pediment. Highboys continued to be made until the end of the 19th century.

From the French huche, a chest.  In America the term is sometimes used for open dressers.

Cutting a figure or design so that it is hollowed out; the opposite of cameo

Inlaid pictorial decoration loosely described as mosaic in wood. The design is cut out of different colored woods and then inset in panels.

Pertaining to the style of architecture and furnishings prevailing in England in the first half of the 17^th century, continuing the Elizabethan style with a gradual introduction of Italian models in architecture and increased elaboration of forms and motifs in furnishings.

In imitation of lacquer work from Japan and the Far East, a technique used in England from the late 17th century, which was at its height in the late 18th century when the term was usually applied to metal coated with layers of varnish, dried and hardened by heat. Confusingly, "japanning" became interchangeable with Lacquer Work when applied to wood coated with a form of gesso and then with layers of varnish.

From the Dutch word kasse, a chest. A large two doored cupboard or press made in North America by Dutch settlers in the second half of the 17th century in the old state of the New Netherlands, between the Delaware and Connecticut rivers. Typically the kas has bun feet, two doors, a heavily decorated cornice and grisaille paintings of fruit, flowers, etc. in the panels.

Originating in the Far East, the method consisted of coating wood or paper-mâche with layers of pigmented resin, the surface of which could then be painted. The composition of early European lacquer was different from the Oriental models and the techniques of application and decoration were rarely as fine.

A late 18th-century American version of the dumb waiter - a revolving tray sometimes with compartments on a low stand, placed in the center of a dining table.

Made in a variety of forms in the 18th century, some resembling Bed Steps but with fitted compartments for books and papers, some as chairs which, with the seat hinged over, transformed into a set of three or four steps. The most ingenious opened like a fan from a single pole into a miniature ladder of three or four treads.

An American term for Stringing

Pertaining to the styles in France 1610-1643

Pertaining to the styles in France 1660-1710.

Pertaining to the styles in France 1715-1774

Pertaining to the styles in France 1774-1792

In America, a term for a dressing table, usually with one long drawer and three short ones, made en suite with a Highboy. The term is also used for English Queen Anne period dressing tables.

A form of decorative veneering in which exotic and contrasting woods were cut and fitted together like a jigsaw to form intricate patterns which were then applied as panels of veneer. There were basically two types: arabesque or seaweed marquetry using box or holly with walnut, and floral marquetry using fruitwoods, burr-walnut, ivory, ebony, etc.

A broad chair to accommodate two people, made in France towards the end of the 17th century.

Pertaining to the revival of classical styles characterized by the introduction and widespread use of Greek orders and decorative motifs in the late 17^th to the mid-19^th centuries.

An 18th-century bedside stool designed to conceal its function, with a tray top and mock drawer supported on two legs which pulled out, accommodating a seat and fitted pan.

A double curved molding, convex above, concave below

In France, a highly specialized craftsman made gilded metal or "bronze dorée" for which special alloys of bronze and brass were made, for furniture mounts, clocks, girandoles, etc. In England ormolu was never considered a great art, and was commonly plain brass, cast and gilded.

Chairs and seat furniture with the padding and covering taken over the wooden frame of the seat and seat rails, being more comfortable than padded drop-in seats with the seat frame exposed.

Of Dutch origin, introduced into England in the late 17th century, a form of veneering which used the cross-sections of small branches of walnut, olive, laburnum and other woods cut at 45 degrees.

A classical motif similar to a fan or stylized palm leaf, often used in conjunction with a lotus.

Literally partially gilded.

A decorative geometrical inlay using contrasting grain of different woods. Most prevalent in late 17th century and early 18th century walnut veneered furniture.

Plain, sturdy furniture in cherry wood, pine and local woods, often painted with tulips, hearts and birds, made by German and Swiss immigrants to America.

An inlay of semi-precious stones such as agate, chalcedony, lapis lazuli, porphyry, sardonyx; the technique was at its height in Italy around 1600, but the result was so expensive that the cheaper Scagliola process came to dominate.

A technique of color printing whereby colored ink is applied directly to a plate's surface and worked into the appropriate areas of the design using cotton daubs called dollies, or in French, poupées.

A term used in America to describe a late 16th-century cupboard similar to a Court Cupboard and known in England as a hall cupboard. Also known as a linen cupboard

Veneer cut and laid in four pieces, usually with grain at right angles, most frequently found on early English pieces from the end of the 17th century.

A common design element consisting of four symmetric lobes around a center

By 1720, certain stylistic changes in American furniture were taking place. Transitional forms between the William and Mary and Queen Anne styles appeared at that time, and the new style was firmly established by about 1725. The introduction of the fluid, curving line represented the fundamental stylistic change during this period. These curves were based on a scroll-like element first seen in French decorative art in about 1700 and was now expressed in the rounded cabriole leg, curved cresting piece, vase-shaped splat, and shell carving. Some of these innovations carried over into the Chippendale period.

Quianlong Period (1736-1795)  During this period very large quantities of Chinese porcelain were being exported to Western Europe. The Chinese Port of Nanking gives its name to many of the later blue & white pieces. This pair of plates shows a very popular theme of hand paintings as well as of course the very familiar Willow Pattern which shows lakeside landscapes with pagodas, houses and trees. These designs were widely copied and used on English pottery and porcelain throughout the first half of the Nineteenth Century.   

A chair with a saddle-shaped seat and curved back fitted with adjustable book rest on which the occupant sat astride. Made from the early 18th century and sometimes called Library Chairs there were sometimes small candle-trays hinged below the arms or attached to the book rest. A 19th-century version of the reading chair has an adjustable book rest along with a writing surface on one arm.

Directoire chaise longue or daybed in the Grecian manner with upward curving ends.

Pertaining to the style of French furnishings and decorations of 1700-1720, in which a transition occurs from the Baroque Style of Louis XIV to the Rococo Style of Louis XV.

The Regency style was the second phase of the Classic Revival in England. The style was in vogue in the decorative arts from about 1795 to 1820, although historically Regency covers the years from 1811 to 1820.

The Regency style was marked by an eclectic character, based on the cult of antiquity and was essentially an archaeological revival with the principles drawn from Roman, Greek and Egyptian civilizations. Furniture designs also showed certain features of the French Directoire, a coarse version of the French Empire, Chinese and Gothic art.

A French word meaning "pushed out" used to describe a process for embossing silver. It is done by placing a silver sheet on a soft material, such as wax or a soft wood, and punching the inside of the metal to create designs on the outside.

A term first used to describe the artificial grottoes of Versailles and believed to be the origin of the word "rococo", it is accurately used to describe the shell and rock motifs in rococo ornament.

Pertaining to the style of architecture, furnishings and decoration originating in France about 1720. It evolved from Baroque types and is distinguished by its elegant refinement in using different materials for a delicate overall effect and by its ornament of shell work, foliage, etc. From the French word 'rocaille'.

A French term for the metal foot to which casters were affixed.

Imitation marble composed of plaster-of-Paris, isinglass, chips of marble and coloring, most popular in 17^th and 18^th centuries for console tables, commode tops and small pieces of furniture. See also Pietra Dura.

A wall fitting with candle branches made in a wide variety of materials, shapes and designs, in use from medieval times, frequently with polished metal back plates to reflect the light, and later with panels of mirrored glass. See also Girandole

A French fall-front writing desk

Sevres Porcelain traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738. French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumored relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sevres. Sevres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles. From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sevres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colors and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sevres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sevres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed.

Inexpensive yet decorative stones used by jewelers to simulate more valuable gems such as sapphires, rubies, or diamonds.

Interlaced geometric and arabesque decoration in low relief, often applied in fretted strips to Elizabethan and Jacobean furniture and made up from patterns in Dutch pattern books.

English style from 1600-1650

English relief work embroidery

A low upholstered stool, originally used at court during the 17th and 18th centuries.

An English chest-on-chest with two small drawers at the top and six wide ones below. Sometimes incorporated a secrétaire drawer in the top of the base section. In America its equivalent is the Highboy but the terms are not interchangeable.

Sliding doors or curving pull-down fronts for desks made from thin reeded convex strips of wood glued to a linen or canvas backing and running in grooves. Used on small night tables, pot cupboards, commodes and later developed into the roll-top for desks.

An American term for a plain country-made rectangular table with carved support at either end and a stretcher in between, mainly 17th and 18th centuries

Generally describes an S-shaped seat for two people to sit decorously side by side without touching, made in England and America in the 19th century.

A decorative applied painted metal panels.

An American term for tinplate and tinware

Pertaining to or characteristics of the periods of the reins of the Tudor Sovereigns, 1500-1550.

A brilliant translucent lacquer technique perfected by the French Martin brothers who were granted a monopoly in 1730 and by mid-century ran three lacquering factories. The family, originally coach painters, produced many variations of lacquer work, the most highly prized being a green flecked with gold, used on furniture and small decorative objects.

A technique of painting glass on the underside and backing it with silver or gold-colored metallic foil. Jean-Baptiste Glomy, collector and art dealer, revived the technique for framing prints in the second half of the 18th century and gave it his name.

Concerning the architecture, furnishings and decorations of English speaking countries between 1840 and 1900. Characterized by rapid changes of style as a consequence of aesthetic and philosophical controversy, technological innovations and changes of fashion, by the frequent presence of ostentatious ornament.

Bands of undulating scrolls like waves, also called a wave scroll

The helix-like ornamental scroll terminating Ionic capitals

A recent term for a kitchen dresser that has a rack of shelves over a dresser base that may be variously composed of drawers, cupboards and a potboard. They are by no means all of Welsh origin and many regional versions exist

When the Dutch stadholder William III of Orange and his wife, Mary II, became joint monarchs of England in 1689, that country became linked directly to the Continent and ceased to be a provincial island. William reigned until his death in 1702 (Mary died in 1694). His rule was marked not only by the adoption of many Dutch traditions, but by the importations of Dutch craftsmen to England. This Anglo-Dutch taste had its roots in the French court style of Louis XIV, which in turn had been influenced by Italian Baroque design. Elaborate turnings, carvings in high relief, severe curves, large unified shapes, and contrasts of color were typical elements of this style. Also, trade with China prompted the vogue for Oriental objects at this time, and furniture incorporated japanning (a simulation of Oriental lacquer) and woven cane panels. An original English contribution was a form of case furniture with simple, flat surfaces and architectural trim that would be the chief influence on American furniture for more than a century.

Pertaining to the style of furnishings during King William IV reign over Britain and Ireland 1830-1837.

A wine cooler, of the open type, to be distinguished from the lockable Cellaret. Also known as a wine cooler.

A sword with a double curved blade and large curled grips on the hilt. Popular in the the balkans in the 19thC

(ceramics - manufacturer - hungarian)