History of Interior Design and Decoration Flashcards
It is a Renaissance Italian style of elaborate inlay of bone, ivory, light-colored wood, metal, or other material in stylized designs
Certosina
Known as “American Chippendale”
John Folwell
This postmodernist architect introduced his style to the world in the form of a be-swagged, multicolored building in Portland, Oregon, in 1982.
Michael Graves
A distinctive furniture front that is divided vertically through alternating convex (sides) and concave (centre) panels. This is a unique version of the Queen Anne style developed in the workshop of Goddard (and Townsend) in Newport, Rhode Island.
Blockfront
A rectangular building plan consisting of a nave terminating in an apse, with aisles on one or more sides separated from the nave by a screen of columns.
The building type has its origins in the large public meeting halls and law courts of Republican and Imperial Rome, and was later adopted for the earliest Christian churches. The central nave is often higher than the side aisles, allowing for the insertion of windows known as clerestory windows.
Basilica
Anihilistic and antiaesthetic movement in the arts based on deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic values that flourished primarily in Zürich, Switzerland in the early 20th century.
Dada
It is an Italian word which describes the soft low relief in gesso normally used as a ground for gilding, either within a painting (especially Italian panel paintings of the 14th and 15th centuries) or on frames; bas relief by adding successive layers of thing plaster over a surface covered with fine fabric
Pastiglia
A type of office-planning (literally “office-landscape”) evolved in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s by Eberhard & Wolfgang Schnelle.
Bürolandschaft
All structures surround the Danlu in the center.
Reflects Taoist philosophy that the human cosmos follows the natural cosmos to integrate energy.
Ba-gua
A decorative style of the 1920s and 1930s using elements intended to suggest modern technological developments.
Art Deco
A porch or vestibule at the front of the nave of an Early Christian church.
Narthex
An alcove in a traditional Japanese house where a picture is hung and a vase or some other ornamental object is placed.
Tokonama
A 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.
Surrealism
The design period in England and America corresponding to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901).
Victorian
Early medieval church in Finland using massive vertical structural members.
Stave Church
The architectural style of the later Middle Ages characterized by the use of pointed arches.
Gothic
Elaborate decorative inlay work often forming abstract or pictorial design, as used in the Italian Renaissance.
Intarsia
Traditionally large ceremonial benches carved for wealthy Ifugao families as a symbol of wealth, power and prestige.
Hagabi
Originally, an ancient Roman courthouse of a type that became a Christian church, having a high central nave with lower aisles on either side.
Basilica
20th-century modern architecture and design featuring elements typical of advanced technological design, such as that of aircraft and spacecraft.
High-tech
Spanish Baroque design of 1650 to 1780.
Churrigueresco
Ancient Roman simplified Doric order.
Tuscan
A Dutch movement (1917–31) of early modernism in art and design.
De Stijl
The architectural and design style developing from the latter phase of the Renaissance. Spaces of complex form with elaborate decorative detail are typical.
Baroque
A handmade French rug or carpet with a flat weave.
aubusson
A French form of elaborate bed in a form suggesting a boat, developed in the Empire period. Suggest a gondola or sleigh bed form
Lit en bateau
“Boat Bed”
A form of drop-fronted desk developed in the Spanish Renaissance.
Vargueno
The surrealist artist who painted “The Broken Column”.
Frida Kahlo
Art and design style striving for emotional expression.
Expressionism
A period of French Neoclassical design corresponding to the reign of Napoleon (1804–14).
Empire
French design of the post-revolutionary period (1795–1804) emphasizing ancient Roman decorative elements.
Directoire
Ceiling painting in perspective with upward-looking illusion.
Di sotto in su
An English Tudor folding chair with X-leg base
Glastonbury Chair
The second of the three orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Column capitals are characterized by the use of a pair of volutes of spiral form.
Ionic
A late 19th-century stylistic development using flowing curves and nature inspired elements to replace historic decorative elements.
Art Nouveau
The topmost block of a Greek Doric column capital.
abacus
A 19th-century style in which the forms of medieval Gothic architecture are used.
Gothic Revival
Italian Renaissance ornate chest with paneled back and arms so that it can also be used as a bench.
Cassapanca
An ornamental leaf element surrounding the capital of a Corinthian column.
Acanthus
The Romanesque style of France and Germany from 750 to 1000 c.e.
Carolingian
In his surrealist painting, “The Son of Man”, he evoked mystery but mystery for him does not mean anything because mystery means nothing.
Rene Magritte
He was known for his pasteural or genre scenes. Portrayed the Philippines’ identity using genre scenes and mostly painted dalagang Pilipina.
Fernando Amorsolo
Amorsolo’s mentor. He is the country’s 1st National Artist. His works capture the warmth of the sun and the tropical scenery; 1st dean of UP Fine Arts.
Fabian de La Rosa
Prehistoric arrangements of large stones in straight lines.
Alignment
French term for furniture using outward swelling curves.
Bombe
A low upholstered armchair with enclosed sides introduced in France during Louis XV period.
Bergere
(Barjier/Barjeer: Hepplewhite’s term for a closed armchair)
Use of decorative elements derived from Chinese traditional design in 18th-century France and England.
Chinoiserie
Chinese furniture maker Ah Tay popularized this motif in his designs
Kalabasa
A canopy supported by columns, usually above an altar or tomb.
Baldacchino
The style of the English and American periods corresponding to the reigns of the English kings George I to George IV (1714–1830).
Georgian
An ancient Greek form of chair with forward curving front legs and curved rear leg and back supports supporting a concave curved back.
Klismos
A 20th-century architectural style based on function, usually without ornament, devoid of regional character, and characterized by flat roofs and large glass areas.
International Style
Sent to US to be one the 1st pensionados in architecture; architect of the Manila Post Office
Juan Arellano
Designer of the Ball Chair
Eero Aarnio
Interest in romantic concepts such as medieval and Gothic periods as developed in the late 18th and early 19th century.
Romanticisim
A German school of art and design of 1919 to 1932. Under the direction of Walter Gropius, the school was strongly influential in the development of modernism in all aspects of design.
Bauhaus
Carved wooden surface ornament suggesting folded linen.
Linenfold
In ancient Roman architecture, a pool or cistern in the center of a courtyard open to the sky.
Impluvium
Victor Horta and Henry Van De Velde are influential proponents of what architectural style?
Art Nouveau
Triangular form created by the end of a gable. The pediments of classical Greek and Roman architecture are often used as ornamental detail in interiors and furniture.
Pediment
An arch of semicircular form as used in ancient Roman architecture.
Roman Arch
Invented the tubular steel furniture, evident in his Wassily chair.
Marcel Breuer
2nd-gen architect known for his works: Perez-Samanillo bldg., and Regina bldg.
Andres Luna de San Pedro
A triangular area of masonry used to connect the base of a dome to a square space below
Pendentive
Late Spanish Renaissance decorative style using minimal decorative detail.
Desornamentado
The triangular panel formed within a pediment.
Tympanum
A Japanese Transom
Ranma
Term given to large apartment dwellings as developed in the 20th century by Le Corbusier.
Unité d’habitation
An architectural style developed at the French school of art and design in Paris, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
Beaux-Arts
A stone of an arch, wedge-shaped to retain its place in the completed arch structure.
Voussoir
An abstract artist who is known for Phil. modern art.
His work Carroza is an almost abstract depiction of a carriage carrying the Virgin Mary.
Fernando Zobel
Modern architectural style using massive elements, usually of exposed concrete.
Brutalism
A type of medieval vaulting in which the vault surface was made up of six parts.
Sexpartite
A large ornamental screen or altarpiece behind the church altar usually sculptured or decorated
Reredo
Designer of Argyle Chair
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
An s-curve motif of decorative art and design that was particularly popular in Art Nouveau.
Whiplash
A great wooden roof of projecting, bracket- like elements which is the crowning achievement in English Gothic architecture and open-timber roof design;
A type of truss in which a horizontal tie at the base is
omitted
Hammerbeam roof
Is a stool made by nendo, Oki Sato, from the paper by-products used in the clothing production process of renowned designer Issey Miyake.
Cabbage Chair 2008
French Louis XVI revival style of 1850s and 1860s.
Second Empire Style
An elaborately sculptured backing for an altar in a Spanish cathedral, permitting observation of the sacrament from the chancel and from the ambulatory behind
Transparente
Sanctuary area of an early mosque with wood or stone perforated enclosure.
Maksura
Also maksoorah
The architectural style of the early Middle Ages in Europe, characterized by use of Roman arch forms. The term Norman is used in England.
Romanesque
English design style of the early 18th century, named for the English queen (reigned 1702–14). The style was revived in the second half of the 19th century, marking a return to Neoclassicism.
Queen Anne
French wood-carver and interior designer, a leader in the development of interior decorating in the light, asymmetric, lavishly decorated Rococo style.
Nicolas Pineau
A prayer hall, the most important type of religious building in Islamic countries.
Mosque
A massive masonry element as used on either side of the entrance front of ancient Egyptian temples
Pylon
Early to mid-16thcentury Spanish design style , characterized by fine detail suggesting the work of a silversmith.
Plateresco
Furniture unit with a three-part front, projecting on either side and recessed in the center; a popular type with 18th-century American (especially New England) cabinet makers.
Blockfront, also Tub front
Spanish decorative style developed under Islamic influence in the 13th to 17th centuries, characterized by a fusion of Romanesque and Gothic with Islamic elements
Mudejar
Realistic painting technique creating an illusion of reality (literally, “fools the eye”).
Trompe L’oiel
A panel carved in three vertical strips used in alternation with the metopes that ornamented the frieze of a Greek Doric entablature.
Triglyph
An aesthetic movement of the latter half of the 19th century in England, led by the teaching of William Morris.
Arts and Crafts
An unaristocratic but rendered bourgeois, German 19th-century style of furniture, combining Neoclassical and provincial elements.
Biedermeier
From comic Papa Biedermeier
French term for a couch or sofa.
Canape
In late 20th-century architecture, design making use of broken and separated elements.
Deconstructivism
Outward-projecting arm on either side of a cathedral or church forming a cross-shaped (cruciform) plan.
Transept
The last period of French Gothic architecture (14th to 16th centuries) characterized by elaborate flame-like decorative tracery.
Flamboyant
A prehistoric grouping of stones made up of two or three upright stones topped with a horizontal. Probably part of an ancient tomb.
Dolmen
The simplest of the Greek and Roman classical orders of architecture
Doric
A bed fitted into an enclosing alcove.
Dutch Bed
Carved parallel grooves as used on the shafts of classical columns
Fluting
A buttress of half-arch form, spanning over an open space to a point where pressure is applied to resist the thrust of an internal vault.
Flying Buttress
Italian art and design style of the 1920s featuring movement, mechanization, and speed
Futurism
Design using little or no decorative detail; chiefly American movement in the visual arts and music for simplicity of form and literally objective approach
Minimalism
The French style of architecture and design typical of the period of the reign of __. The term Baroque is used to describe the character of the style.
Louis XIV style
The French style of architecture and design of the period 1730–65, named for the king who reigned from 1723 to 1774. The character of the period is usually designated as Rococo.
Louis XV style
The design style of 1765 to 1790 in France, named for __ who reigned from 1774 to 1792. The period is characterized by Neoclassical restraint.
Louis XVI style
It is also called Horn Of Plenty, decorative motif, dating from ancient Greece, that symbolizes abundance. The motif originated as a curved goat’s horn filled to overflowing with fruit and grain.
Cornucopia
Informal term for elaborate Victorian surface ornament, open stickwork verandas.
Gingerbread
Large Dutch wardrobe cabinet with hinged door front.
Kas
A term applied to architecture and design in Italy toward the end of the Renaissance, in which there was an eff ort to escape the strict classicism of the High Renaissance. The term is also used to identify work in northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term has been applied to modern work which attempts to replace the domination of modernism.
Mannerism
20th-century architectural and design styles based on function and structure; Period of “Form Follows Function”
Modernism
French for Bull’s-eye window, means “eye of the steer,” a small circular or oval window, usually resembling a wheel, with glazing bars (bars framing the panes of glass) as spokes radiating outward from an empty hub, or circular centre.
Oeil-de-boeuf
In ancient Greek architecture, small modifications in seemingly straight lines and geometric relationships intended to correct for optical distortions and improve aesthetic qualities.
Refinements
Chest or other container for the relic of a revered saint or other personage.
Reliquiary
An elaborate iron grille in Renaissance Spanish church interiors.
Reja
A style of architecture and decoration of the 18th century following the Baroque period, which made use of simpler forms and more delicate decoration than the Baroque style.
Rococo
Reserved and simple style as developed by the American Shaker religious society.
Shaker style
French wood-carver and interior designer, a leader in the development of interior decorating in the light, asymmetric, lavishly decorated Rococo style.
Nicolas Pineau
Consulting architect during the post-colonial years known for his work on Quezon Memorial.
Federico Illustre
A Baroque technique that means darkened and obscuring. It is used to describe a certain type of painting in which significant details such as faces and hands are illuminated by highlights which are contrasted with a predominantly dark setting.
Tenebrism
The term was coined by Harold Rosenberg.
It is applied to artists working from the 1940s until the early 1960s whose approach to painting emphasized the physical act of painting as an essential part of the finished work. Their process, involved splashing, using gestural brushstrokes and dripping paint onto canvas rather than carefully applying it.
Action painting
Niche in a mosque oriented toward Mecca; because of its importance, it is usually the most ornate part of a mosque, highly decorated and often embellished with inscriptions from the Qur’an.
Mihrab
It is paint that is applied in quantities that make it stand out from the surface. It was used frequently to mimic the broken-textured quality of highlights, such in the works of van Gogh, building up and defining the forms in his paintings with thick, nervous dabs of paint.
Impasto
60s American style whose popular imagery was derived from commercial sources.
Considered as the real American art.
Pop Art
Leading figure in the pop art movement.
Explores the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement.
Subjects he painted were commodities.
Andy Warhol
Architect of the Sydney opera House.
John Utzon
In Post Modernism, it is the design that is deliberately tasteless to reflect the human appetite for mischief, or the general public’s lack of design sophistication..
Kitsch
An ancient Roman symbol of imperial power, in the form of a bunch of sticks tied together. The form was revived in decorative design of the Empire period in France to symbolize the power and ambitions of Napoleon.
Fasces
Spanish term for a lantern or elevated structure above a main roof to permit window openings.
Cimborio
An architectural style that comes from a French term that translates to “rough concrete”. It emphasizes the aesthetic use of basic building processes especially of cast-in-place concrete; based on the shaped and molded forms of concrete.
Brutalism
He became the best -known practitioner working in the deconstructivist idiom with the unconventional design of his Santa Monica home and Guggenheim Museum.
Frank Gehry
Stylized design of a bird holding a fish in its beak; Lake Lanao’s fertile waters.
Sarimanok
A chair with a simple saddle seat using many thin wood turnings to support a bent-back rim.
Windsor chair
A Buddhist religious monument, usually of domelike form, often containing a relic. It may be a complete building or part of a building, either external or internal.
Stupa
Father of Post Modernism
Robert Venturi
Dish storage in the kitchen.
Paminggalan
Open shelf of bamboo slats used for drying plates.
Banggerahan
Vestibule for storage.
Zaguan
Vernacular: Grand staircase
Escalera
A tie dye process by the Tboli of Cotabato; Gmayaw bird.
Tnalak
Vernacular: Latrina
Toilet
Vernacular: China cabinet; Glass cabinet for storing silverware and China.
Vajilera
Vernacular: Wooden balusters
Barandillas
Vernacular: Pierced transom between the wall and ceiling.
Calado
Vernacular: Little windows; small windows under the wooden casement protected by either wooden balusters or iron grills.
Ventanilla
Vernacular: Protective shade over windows.
Media Agua
Meaning “ Twill” in Ilocano. It is a variation of the abel recognized by its uniform, interlocked geometric patterns that result in psychedelic optical art designs, among the people of the Cordilleras as protection against malevolent spirits.
Binacol
What are Japanese vertical, hanging scroll paintings called?
Kakemono
An ancient Roman symbol of imperial power, in the form of a bunch of sticks tied together. The form was revived in decorative design of the Empire period in France to symbolize the power and ambitions of Napoleon.
Fasces
A form of decorative vaulting in Islamic architecture. The surface of a vault or dome is subdivided into niche-like cells that have no load-bearing function. Also know as stalactite vaulting or honeycomb vaulting.
Muqarnas
A decorative motif representing an ox killed in religious sacrifice. The motif has been found on painted pottery in Iraq dating from 5000 BC. It was later imported into Bronze Age Crete as part of the bull and double-ax cult, where the bull’s head was decorated with a garland of bay leaves.
Bucranium
Yakan people are recognized for their remarkable technicolor, geometric weaves. The Malong is an example of this one.
Inaul
A keystone used in medieval architecture in vaulting to provide a projecting junction for intersecting ribs and to cover the actual complex of mitered joints; also in 17/18thC English and American furniture designs
Boss
Ornament using projecting form based on foliage.
Crocket
Vernacular: Baby crib
Kuna
Vernacular: Lazy chair; Lounging chair derived from Chinese reclining chairs. Caned seats, crested backs and carved or splayed legs.
Sillion Perezosa
Vernacular: Friar’s chair
Silla Frailuna, or
Sillon Fraille
Vernacular: A reclining chair with a curved backrest; also a plantation chair with extended flat and longer wide armrests that also acted as foot stools.
Butaka
Vernacular: Settee or bench patterned after the church pew.
Kapiya
Vernacular: Settee with wooden skirting where chickens could be temporarily stored.
Gallinera
Vernacular: Philippine counterpart of bentwood chair.
Batibot Chair
Vernacular: Window or procession highchair placed near doors or windows to get a good view of passers-by.
Pamintuan Chair Or Pamimintana Chair
Vernacular: Sofa with caned seats and back that is butterfly-shaped.
Mariposa
Vernacular: Built to serve as lounge chair and day bed.
Diban
Vernacular: Desk or writing table with a roll top.
Escritoryo
Vernacular: A cross between a table and commoda.
Has 2 or 3 large drawers supported on four legs reinforced by a stretcher.
Mesa Altar
Vernacular: Vanity with a provision for a basin for washing one’s face.
Lavador Contocador
Vernacular: Ladies’ dresser with drawers and a mounted mirror.
Painadora
Vernacular: A more elaborate painadora.
Features 3-full length mirrors and the side mirrors could be adjusted so that the woman could see herself in three angles.
Tremor
Vernacular: Upright chest of drawers where table linens and small articles were kept.
Comoda
Vernacular: Generic name for cabinet.
Used for wardrobe storage.
Aparador
Vernacular: Furniture for stacking pillows.
Almario
Vernacular: 3 moons. Clothes cabinet with a mirror on each of its three doors
Tres de luna
A grouping of chapels around the choir and ambulatory of a Gothic cathedral.
Chevet
A buttress of half-arch form, spanning over an open space to a point where pressure is applied to resist the thrust of an internal vault
Flying butress
Church having one large interior nave space without aisles
Hall church
A hollow space beneath the floors of some ancient Roman buildings providing heat from flue gases passing through the space from a remote furnace.
hypocaust
In ancient Roman architecture, a pool or cistern in the center of a courtyard open to the sky.
Impluvium
Term associated with the style of symbolic representation adopted by Paul Gauguin and his followers in the 1880s characterised by flat areas of colour and bold outlines.
Synthetism
A British term for Art Nouveau style.
Liberty Style
The large central hall space of early Greek palaces.
Megaron
A narrow alley used for service behind rows of houses
Mews
The pulpit for preaching in a mosque.
Minbar
Vernacular: Cupboard for storing plates in the dining room.
Platera
Vernacular: Maguindanao tube skirts usually in ikat.
Malong
Vernacular: Hat and cane rack.
Bastonero
Tiboli tie dye fabric.
T’nalak
Vernacular: Multi-purpose main room.
Bulwagan
Vernacular: Post
Tukud
Vernacular: Cylindrical rat guard.
Halipan
Vernacular: Houses the tabernacle and the image of the town’s patron saint
Retablo Or Cabinet of Saints.
House with roof tiles.
Bahay na Tisa
One of the first international Filipino artists together with Luna.
Won silver in the Madrid Exposition.
Felix Resureccion Hidalgo
1st formal fine arts school in the country by Damian Domingo y Gabor.
Academia de Dibujo y Pintura
Her works are characterized by sharply outlined figures of bandanna wearing peasant women doing chores. Women are thin with long necks, slanted eyes and flat noses.
Anita Magsaysay-Ho
Country’s leading abstract expressionist.
Jose Joya
A Filipino cubist painter. Formed the triumvirate of neo-realists with Manansala and Legaspi. Nationalistic painter who reflected the harsh realities of the country after World War II.
Vicente Manansala
Filipino Neo-realist. Remembered for his depiction of the masses.
Cesar Legaspi
Filipino artist known for his distorted and disjointed figures.
Ang Kiu Kok
Father of Philippine Modern Sculpture.
Produced highly stylized, simplified and abstract works under the influence of Moore and Brancusi.
His work Kaganapan shows a woman in the height of her pregnancy.
Napoleon Abueva
Filipino National Artist for Visual Arts. Minimalist geometric abstracts alluring to the modernist virtues. Mirrors aspiration for a pinnacle of true Asian modernity.
Arturo Luz
Filipino sculptor and architect who uses glass as a medium.
Ramon Orlina
Filipino artist known for his bronze sheet monuments, like La Pieta.
Eduardo Castrillo
Organization of non-stock and non-profit association working together for the benefit and sustainable growth of Philippine Furniture Industry.
The Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines / CFIP
In Japanese art, it is a horizontal hand scroll, or scroll painting designed to be held in the hand.
Makimono
1st Asian woman included in the International Design Yearbook. Sewed clothes for her daughter and then sold bags and belts for women in New York. Fascinated with Ikebana and bonsai. Popularized the capsule concept with cocoon chair made from a sheath of wire.
Ann Pamintuan
Brother of Allan Murillo.
Designer and artist, makes accessories, sculptures.
Owns Noisession Studio.
Christopher Murillo
Roman Catholic Minor Basilica in the capital of the Philippines, Manila. Romanesque style.
Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
Or Manila Cathedral.
1st steel building in PH from Belgium by Gustave Eiffel
San Sebastian
Largest bell.
Best known earthquake Baroque church in the Philippines.
Enormous side buttresses with scroll-like bases.
Paoay Church
Pensionados in Architecture
-Carlos Barreto
to Drexel Institute.
-Antonio Toledo
to Ohio State
-Tomas Mapua
to Cornell.
What is the architectural style of the Manila Post Office Building?
Neoclassical
Architects of the Manila Post Office.
Juan M. Arellano & Tomás Mapúa
In Chinese architecture, it is the monumental archway or gateway with one, three or five openings. A memorial at the entrance to a place, tomb or processional way. Built of stone with faux wood finish.
Pai-lou Or Paifang
Curve on the roof of Chinese architecture.
Yoke
Standard size of a Tatami Mat
3 x 6 ft ; 2” THK
Shinto gate
Torii
A portable charcoal brazier. It is made of a square wood and metal lining with iron or bronze round handles.
Hibachi
2 upright posts in Japanese architeture supporting 2 or more beams. Pass under this for prayers to be effective.
Torii
A calculated decorative style of Japanese painting and is essentially an art of illustration, at its best unequaled in its vigorous, flowing compositions.
Yamato-e
The art of cultivating miniature trees.
Bonsai
Employed strong floral and brocade design painted in heavily saturated colors.
Imari Pattern
Roof finials that serve as the main decorative feature of a Thai house.
Panlom
French equivalent forwainscot
Boiserie
An inlay composed of a design in tortoise shell on a background of brass
Contre partie
An inlay of brass and pewter on a tortoiseshell background
Premier partie
In French interior design, it is a type of japanning or imitation lacquer named after the 18th century brothers: Guillaume, Etienne-Simon, Robert and Julien.
Vernis Martin
In the decorative arts, it is a process popular in 18th-century Europe for finishing and ornamenting in imitation of the celebrated lacquer work of the Japanese.
Japanning
The Greeks, who elevated the pebble mosaic to an art of great refinement, also invented this technique, which is Latin for “cubes” or “dice”. These are pieces that have been cut to a triangular, square, or other regular shape so that they will fit closely into the grid of cubes that make up the mosaic surface.
Tesserae
(French: “monkey trick”); type of humorous picture of monkeys fashionably attired and aping human behaviour, painted by a number of French artists in 18th C.
Singeries
French wood worker or carpenter
Menusier
French bronze chaser
Ciseleur
French lacquerer
Vernisseur
French marquetry maker
Marqueter
French craftsman who works with gold and silver
Masc. Doreur or fem. Doreuse
Cabinetmaker of Louis XVI
Georges Jacob
German, best-known cabinetmaker in France during the reign of Louis XVI.
Jean-Henri Riesener
Louis XV’s famous rolltop/cylinder desk; “king’s desk”
bureau du roi
(French: “Glomyized glass”), glass engraved on the back that has been covered by unfired painting or, usually, gold or silver leaf for a mirror finish. The method owes its name to Jean-Baptiste Glomy (d. 1786), a French picture framer who used the process in glass mounts.
Verre églomisé
Nanny chair
Chauffeuse
The tester bed’s full-size domed canopy is suspended from the ceiling rather than supported on posts.
Lit à la duchesse
It is a term for anything done in what was considered the Roman Style to the English in Design.
Romayne work
The essential feature of this English Regency chair is the continuous, curving line formed by the sides of the back, the seat rail and the chair legs. It incorporates the fashionable outward curving front leg, used on chairs since 1801 and known as ‘Grecian’. This feature was derived from an ancient Greek chair style.
Trafalgar Chair
Evolving from the Neo-classical style of the 18th century, this English style was helped defined by Thomas Hope in his travels to Europe, Greece, Turkey and Egypt, inspiring his interest in antiquities. It was characterised by forms and motifs from ancient Greece and Rome. To these were added elements taken from nature, from the arts of ancient Egypt and from French design of the mid-18th century
English Regency Classicism
A low relief, washable wall covering from the pioneers of linoleum then replacing painstaking artisan plasterwork usually on dados. It appealed to Victorian England’s tastes because of its sanitary properties as well as its beauty, practicality and durability.
Made from flax, from which linseed oil is made.
Lincrusta
A light, low relief paper wall covering, close to wallpaper weight, during the Victorian period.
Anaglypta
Sofa of friendship or love; it is a courtship sofa.
Canapé de l’amitié
French for:
Sofa
Chair
Table
Bed
Ceiling
Floor
Rug/carpet
Living room
Low/coffee table
Sofa- canape
Chair- chaise
Table- tableau
Bed- lit
Ceiling- plafond
Floor- Sol
Rug/carpet- tapis
Living room- salon
Low/coffee table- table basse
This is a cotton or linen printed with designs of landscapes and figures for which an 18th-century factory near Versailles was famous for. (The factory was started in 1760 by a Franco-German, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf. His designs were printed originally from woodblocks alone but from 1770 from copperplates as well, this innovation having been anticipated in England in 1757)
Toile de Jouy
French for “fabric of Jouy”, also called Jouy Print; (from factory of Jouy-en-Josas)
He was appointed court painter by King Philip IV of Spain.
Diego Velasquez
It is the church that holds the tomb of Saint James the apostle. Its altar is adorned with golden mollusk shells by Fernando de Casas y Novoa.
Santiago de Compostela cathedral
It is the Spanish term given to any type of chest used to hold documents, papers, and writing materials. In particular, the term was applied to an oblong Renaissance chest, similar to the vargueño (wooden cabinet of mixed Spanish and Oriental origin) but without the drop front.
Papelera
It is a pulpit in the form of a staircase on which the prayer leader (imam) stands when delivering a sermon after Friday prayer. The pulpit is usually situated to the right of the mihrab and is often made of elaborately carved wood or stone
Minbar
Vernacular: lazy chair
Silla Peresoza
See: butaka, silla frailluna
A group of US architects active during the 1880s to 1910s known for major innovations in high-rise construction and for the development of modern commercial building design
Chicago school
An American spool chair with a rush seat and turned (shaped on a lathe) legs that rise above the seat level to frame the back and to support the armrests. The back normally contained three vertical spindles and was topped with decorative finials. It was named after the founder and first governor of the Plymouth colony in America.
Carver chair
An American spool chair with a rush seat and turned (shaped on a lathe) legs that rise above the seat level to frame the back and to support the armrests. The back normally contained three vertical spindles and was topped with decorative finials. It was named after the founder and first governor of the Plymouth colony in America.
Carver chair
A term originated in the 19th century to criticize art seen as being in poor taste, or which hopelessly copied “high art” but remained mediocre.
Kitsch
A large or principal courtyard of an Italian Palazzo
Cortile
A defense military work constructed for the purpose of strengthening a position
Fortification
A defensive wall or elevation of earth or stone, protecting soldiers from enemy fire
Parapet
A fortified group of buildings usually dominating the surrounding country and held by a prince or noble in feudal times
Castle
A parapet having a regular alternation of merlons and crenels, originally for defense but later used as a decorative motif.
Battlement, also called embattlement
One of the solid parts between the crenels of a battlement
Merlon
Any of the open spaces, alternating with the merlons of a battlement
Crenel
It means having battlements
Crenellated
An opening, such as a loophole or crenel, through which missiles may be discharged;
Also a splayed enlargement of a door or window opening toward the inner face of a wall
Embrasure
A gallery projecting on brackets and built on the outside of castle towers and walls,with openings in the floor through which to drop molten lead, boiling oil, and missiles.
Machicolation
The innermost and strongest structure or tower of a medieval castle, used as a place of residence, especially in times of siege
Keep also called donjon
A small tower forming part of a larger structure, frequently beginning some distance above the ground
Turret, also called tourelle
A lady’s private chamber in a medieval castle
Bower
A dark often, underground prison or cell as in a medieval castle
Dungeon
A large hall, serving as the main or central gathering place of a castle
Great hall
A secret dungeon, having an opening only in the ceiling, through which prisoners were dropped
Oubliette
A strong grating of iron or timber hung over the gateway of a fortified place in such a way that it could be lowered quickly to prevent passage
portcullis
A room or apartment on an upper floor of a medieval English house
Solar, also sollar, soller
An upper story of a building projecting beyond the one below
Jetty, also jutty
(Similar description to an arcade in nbcp)
Earliest known of human culture preceding the bronze age and the iron age, and characterized by the use of stone implement and weapons.
Stone Age
Of or relating to the last phase of the Stone Age, characterized by the cultivation of grain crops, domestication of animals, settlement of villages, manufacture of pottery and textiles and use of polished stone implements
Neolithic
A period of human history that begun 4000 to 3000 BCE following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron age, characterized by the use of bronze implements
Bronze age
A cave in Lascaux France containing wall paintings and engraving thought to date from 13,000 to 8500 BCE
Lascaux cave
An ancient region in western Asia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, comprising the land of Sumer and Akkad and occupied successively by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians, now part of Iraq
Mesopotamia
A particular or distinctive form of artistic expression, characteristic of a person people, or period
Style
The manner in which meaning spirit or character is symbolized or communicated in the execution of an artistic work
Expression
A standard unit of space in Chinese architecture marked by adjacent frame supports
Jian
A grand columnar audience hall in a Persian palace
Apadana
Of or pertaining to ancient Greek history, culture, and art, especially before the time of Alexander the great
Hellenic
Of or pertaining to Greek history, culture and art before the time of Alexander the Great death in 323 BCE through the 1st century BCE, during which Greek dynasties were established in Egypt, Syria, and Persia and Greek culture was modified by foreign elements
Hellenistic
A fortified wall commenced during the Zhou dynasty to protect China against nomads from the north, and serve as a means of communication
Great wall of china
An underground cemetery consisting of linked galleries and chambers with recesses for coffins and tombs.
Catacombs
A system of flues in the floor or walls of ancient Roman buildings, especially baths that provided central heating by receiving and distributing the heat from a furnace
Hypocaust
The room in ancient Rome thermae containing hot water for bathing
Caldarium
Room containing a bath of moderately warm water in an ancient Roman thermae located between the frigidarium and caldarium.
Tepidarium
The room in an ancient Roman thermae, containing a bath of heated water
Frigidarium
A style of Spanish architecture produced from the 9th to 15th centuries by Christians under Moorish influence, characterized by the horse shoe arch, and other Moorish features
Mozarabic style
A castle or fortress of the Spanish moors specifically the palace of the Moorish kings in Seville Spain, which was later used by Spanish kings
Alcazar
The final phase of French Gothic architecture from the late 14th through the middle of the 16th centuries characterized by flamelike tracery, intricacies of detail, and frequent complication of interior space
Flamboyant style
The final phase of English Gothic architecture prevailing from the late 14th through the early 16th centuries, characterized by perpendicular tracery, find intricate stonework, and elaborate fan vaults
Perpendicular style, also rectilinear style
The middle phase of French Gothic architecture from the end of the 13th through the late 14th centuries, characterized by circular windows with radiating lines of tracery
Rayonnant stlye
The second of the three phases of English Gothic architecture from the late 13th through the late 14th centuries, characterized by rich tracery, elaborate, ornamental vaulting, and refinement of stone cutting techniques
Decorated style
The Italian renaissance architecture of the 15th century
Quattrocento architecture
The Italian renaissance architecture in the 16th century
Cinquecento architecture
A traditional style of English architecture that developed during the reign of the royal house of Tudor in the second half of the 16 century characterized by the Tudor arch and the application of renaissance details to buildings otherwise late perpendicular in style
Tudor architecture
It means speaking architecture, a term used in 18th century France, to describe buildings whose plans or elevations create an image that suggests their functions
Architecture parlante
A style of architecture originating in Italy in the early 17th century and variously prevalent in Europe in the New World for a century and a half, characterized by free and sculptural use of the classical orders and ornament, dynamic opposition and interpenetration of spaces, and the dramatic combined effects of architecture, sculpture, painting, and the decorative arts
Baroque architecture
Furnishings and decoration, preceding the empire style characterized by an increasing use of Greco Roman forms along with an introduction, toward the end, of Egyptian motives.
Directoire style
-It is named after the Directory, the body of five directors forming the executive power of France from 1795 to 1799
The neoclassic style of architecture, furnishings and decoration prevailing in France and imitated in various other countries during the first French Empire, characterized by the use of delicate but elaborate ornamentation imitated from Greek and Roman examples and occasional use of military and Egyptian motifs
Empire style
Design movement of the mid-19th century that emphasized the decorative use of materials and textures and the development of ornament, as an integral part of a structure rather than as applied adornment
Rationalism
An ancient Roman apartment building of flats for all but the wealthiest citizens, often having a ground floor, occupied by shops and businesses
Insula
One of a series of sliding transluscent panels used in Japanese architecture between the exterior and the interior or between two interior spaces, consisting of a light wooden framework, covered on one side with rice paper. The lower section is occasionally filled by a thin, wood panel.
Shoji
In Japanese residential architecture, it is a recess with built-in shelving, usually adjoining a tokonama
Tana
An elevated bay or projected window with a raised sill serving as a desk for writing or reading, usually placed at a right angle to the Tokonama and the reception room of a Japanese residential architecture.
Shoin
Reception room, or the main room in a traditional Japanese house, used for receiving and entertaining guests. Its importance is evident in the presence of a tokonama, tana, and shoin
Zashiki
The uppermost member of a classical entablature, consisting typically of a cymatium, corona, and bed molding
Cornice
The horizontal part of a classical entablature between the cornice and architrave, often decorated with sculpture in low relief
Frieze
The lower most division of a classical entablature, resting directly on the column capitals and supporting the frieze
Architrave
The distinctively treated upper end of a column, pillar, or pier, crowning the shaft, and taking the weight of the entablature or architrave
Capital
The central part of a column or pier between the capital and the base
Shaft
The usually square slab beneath the base of a column, pier, or pedestal
Plinth
The cylindrical support in classical architecture, consisting of a capital, shaft, and usually a base either monolithic or built up of drums the full diameter off the shaft
Column
The horizontal section of the classical order that rests on the columns, usually composed of a cornice, frieze and architrave
 Entablature
A slight convexity given to a column to correct an optical illusion of concavity, if the sides were straight
Entasis
An encircling band, molding or fillet on a capital or shaft of a column
Annulet
The flat slab forming the top of a column capital which is plain in the Doric style, but molded or otherwise enriched in other styles
Abacus
A prominent circular molding, supporting the abacus of a Doric or Tuscan capital
Echinus
One of the series of small drop like ornaments attached to the undersides of the mutules and regulae of the Doric entablature
Gutta, also called drop
A fillet beneath the taenia in a Doric entablature, corresponding to a triglyph above, and from which guttae are suspended
Regula, also guttae band
Any of the panels, either plane or decorated between triglyphs in the Doric frieze
Metope, also intertriglyph
A frieze bearing carved figures of people or animals
Zophorus
Any of several cylindrical stones, lead one above the other to form a column or pier
Drum
One of the five classical orders, popular esp. since the beginning of the Renaissance but invented by the ancient Romans, in which the an order is modified by superimposing four diagonally set lonic volutes on a bell of acanthus leaves.
Composite order
An ornament, such as on the Corinthian capital, patterned after the large, toothed leaves of a Mediterranean plant of the same name.
Acanthus
One of the three horizontal bands making up the architrave in the lonic order.
Fascia
Any of a series of closely spaced, small. rectangular blocks forming a molding or projecting beneath the coronas of lonic.
Corinthian, and Composite cornices.
Dentils
An ornamental bracket, usually in the form of a scroll with acanthus, used in series beneath the corona of a Corinthian, Composite, or Roman lonic cornice
Modillion
The most ornate of the five classical orders, developed by the Greeks in the 4th century BE but used more extensively in Roman architecture, similar in most respects to the lonic but usually of slenderer proportions and characterized esp. by a deep bell-shaped capital decorated with acanthus leaves and an abacus with concave sides.
Corinthian order
A narrow part of the surface of a column shaft left between adjoining flutes.
Fillet
An ornamental motif for enriching an ovolo or echinus, consisting of a closely set, alternating series of oval and pointed forms.
Egg-and-dart, or
Egg and tongue
Part of a monastery; a quadrangle surrounded by covered passages. It connects the domestic parts of the monastery with the church. These are usually located on the south side of the church.
cloister
Italian name for a bell tower, usually one that is detached from the main building.
campanile
A canopy resting on columns over the altar.
ciborium
An upper story of a building with windows above adjacent roofs.
clerestory
A dome placed over a polygonal base. It is not a semi-sphere but is formed of curved sections which correspond to the parts of the polygon on which it rests.
segmented dome or cloister vault
A type of pier that is composed not of a single member but has shafts, half-columns, or pilaster strips attached to it. In Romanesque and Gothic architecture, feature of a nave arcade designed for the support of arches and to bring arch and pier into harmony
composite/compound pier
A flattened arch, slightly pointed on top. It appears in Late Gothic of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
depressed arch
an ornamental motif consisting of a square, four-leafed figure, the center of which projects in a point. It was a very popular in Early English (Early Gothic) architecture.
dog tooth
Shallow, concave grooves running vertically on a column, pilaster, or other surface.
Greek cross
A narrow passage in the thickness of the wall with arches opening onto the nave. It may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be located as a separate level below the clerestory. It may itself have an outer wall of glass rather than stone.
triforium
An upper story over the aisle which opens onto the nave or choir. It corresponds in length and width to the dimensions of the aisle below it.
Gallery or tribune
A cross with three short arms and one long arm
Latin cross
It is in its most basic form a linear pattern. The design is made up of a long, continuous line that repeatedly folds back on itself, mimicking the ancient Maeander River of Asia Minor with its many twists and turns.
Greek key or meander
A vault produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel (tunnel) vaults. Sometimes its arches may be pointed instead of round.
Groin vault
A method of construction in which the wooden frame and principal beams of a building are exposed, and the spaces between them are covered with plaster or masonry. Usually used in domestic architecture.
half timbering
The group of columns, arranged in a semicircular formation, that divide the east end of a choir from the ambulatory.
hemicycle
Arches which cross over each other in an arcade
intersecting arches
A stone coffin, often bearing sculpture, inscriptions, etc.
Sarcophagus
Used here to refer to a facade which is so highly decorated with sculpture or other decorative elements that it acts as a screen placed in front of the facade. It may seem to hide the face of the building from view.
Screen facade
A rectangular area which cuts across the main axis of a basilica-type building and projects beyond it. The transept gives a basilica the shape of a Latin cross and usually serves to separate the main area of the building from an apse at the end.
Transept
Supporting arch which runs across the vault from side to side, dividing the bays. it usually projects down from the surface of the vault.
Transverse arch
A monumental western front to a church, treated as a tower or towers containing an entrance and vestibule below and a chapel above.
Westwork
A circular building having a single row of columns surrounding a central structure or a courtyard.
Monopteron
Also, monopteros
Having two columns in front between antae.
Distyle in antis
A rectangular pier or pilaster formed by thickening the end of a projecting wall.
Anta
Having a portico on the front only.
Prostyle
Without a colonnade along the sides.
Apteral
Prostyle on both fronts
Amphiprostyle
- Of or pertaining to a classical temple that is roofed over.
- Of or pertaining to a classical temple that is wholly or partly open to the sky.
- Clithral
- Hypethral. Also, hypaethral.
An openwork screen or partition enclosing an area for prayer or a tomb in a mosque.
Maksura
Also maksoorah
A raised platform in an ancient Roman basilica for the seats of magistrates.
Tribunal
Also, tribune
The wall in a mosque in which the mihrab is set, oriented to Mecca.
Qibla
Also, giblah, kibla, kiblah.
The central courtyard of a mosque.
Sahn
A masonry mass having a rectangular base and four stepped and sloping faces culminating in a single apex, used in ancient Egypt and pre Columbian Central America as a tomb or a platform for a temple.
Pyramid
A bulbous ribbed dome, found esp. in Islamic architecture.
Melon dome
An arcaded hall of a mosque
Riwaq
A system of decoration in Islamic architecture, formed by the intricate corbeling of brackets, squinches, and inverted pyramids; sometimes wrought in stone but more often in plaster.
Stalactite work
Also muqarnas, or honeycomb work
Corbeling having the general form of a pendentive, commonly found in Moorish architecture.
Pendentive bracketing
A lofty, slender tower attached to a mosque, having stairs leading up to one or more projecting balconies from which, the Muslim people are called to prayer
Minaret
A large vaulted portal opening onto the central courtyard of a mosque
Iwan
Also ivan, Liwan.
stupa
A Buddhist memorial mound erected to enshrine a relic of Buddha and to commemorate some event or mark a sacred spot. Modeled on a funerary tumulus, it consists of an artificial dome-shaped mound raised on a platform, surrounded by an outer ambulatory with a stone vedika and four toranas, and crowned by a chattri.
Stupa
The name for this in Ceylon is dagoba, and
in Tibet and Nepal, chorten.
Also called tope
An umbrella-shaped finial symbolizing dignity, composed of a stone disk on a vertical pole topping a Stupa
Chattri
An elaborately carved, ceremonial gateway in Indian Buddhist and Hindu architecture, having two or three lintels between two posts.
Torana
A freestanding memorial pillar in Indian architecture, bearing carved inscriptions, religious emblems, or a statue
Stamba
A bracket system used in traditional Chinese construction to support roof beams, project the eaves outward, and support the interior ceiling
Dougong
Buddhist temple in the form of a square or polygonal tower with the roofs projecting from each of its many stories, erected as a memorial or to hold relics
Pagoda
A cantilevered bracket in traditional Chinese construction
Gong
A bearing block in traditional Chinese construction
Dou
A monumental gateway in Chinese architecture
Pailou
The placing of one order of columns above another, usually with the more elaborate orders at the top
Supercolumniation
An open air stadium with an oval track for horse, and chariot races in ancient Greece and Rome
Hippodrome
A raised platform encircling the arena of an ancient Roman amphitheater, having on it the seats of privileged spectators
Podium
A canvas awning drawn over an ancient Roman amphitheater to protect the audience from rain or sun
Velarium
A structure facing the audience in an ancient Greek theater, forming the background before which performances were given
Skene
One of the two passageways to an ancient Greek theater between the stage, and the seating area, through which the chorus entered the orchestra
Parodos
An American architect and critic known both for his promotion of the International Style and, later, for his role in defining postmodernist architecture. Designed the Seagram building in NY with Mies Van Der Rohe, also his own Glass House that enlarged his reputation.
Philip Johnson
A French painter of still lifes and domestic scenes remarkable for their intimate realism and tranquil atmosphere and the luminous quality of their paint.
He broke away from the ideals of the Rococo period and he favored simple still lives and unsentimental domestic interiors, depicting kitchen maids, children, and domestic activities.
Work: The Ray
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
A projecting part of a rampart or other fortification typically forming an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work
Bastion
A fortress in a commanding position in or near a city, used in the control of the inhibitants and in defense during attack and seige
Citadel
A subordinate vertical structure terminating in a pyramid or spire used, especially in Gothic architecture to add weight to a buttress pier
Pinnacle
The part of a pier that rises to take the thrust of the flying buttress
Buttress pier
A sloping top on a buttress or projecting pier to shed rainwater
Amortizement
An inclined bar of masonry carried on a segmental arch, and transmitting an outward and downward thrust from a roof or vault to a solid buttress, that through its mass, transforms the thrust into a vertical one
Flying buttress
Also, arc-boutant
An ornamental, knoblike projection, such as a carved keystone at the intersection of ogives; also an applied ornament in 17th to 18th century English and American furniture designs
Boss
A sculptured ornament suspended from a roof truss, vault, or ceiling.
Pendant
Also called drop
A barrel vault having a circular plan in the shape of a ring.
Annular vault
A compound vault for covering a triangular space, formed by the intersection of three barrel vaults.
Tripartite vault
A compound vault formed by four coves meeting along diagonal vertical planes. Also called coved vault.
Cloister vault
A vault composed of a number of concave conoidal sections, usually four, springing from the corners of the vaulting compartment, often decorated with ribs that radiate from the springing like the framework of a fan.
Fan vault
French term for a drop-lid or fall front.
Abattant
French work for arm stump
Accotoir
French for elbow rest
Accoudoir
These four scottish architect designers greatly influenced English interiors and furniture design during the middle and latter half of the eighteenth century. They were very much influenced by the discoveries at pompeii and herculaneum. These motifs appear frequently in their work: honeysuckle, swags, husks, oval, paterae, flutings, wreaths of flowers festooned with rams’ heads.
Adam brothers: Robert, James (also John and William)
One of Philadelphia school of cabinet makers of the mid-18th century in America. He was known for his highboys and lowboys, and chairs which were executed in the Georgian and early Chippendale styles.
Thomas Affleck
One of Philadelphia school of cabinet makers of the mid-18th century in America. He was known for his highboys and lowboys, and chairs which were executed in the Georgian and early Chippendale styles.
Thomas Affleck
The period of interior and furniture design in England, lasting approximately 1710 to 1765. It was favored by designers and clients as well as much of Georgian and Chippendale type of furniture which was produced in this wood.
Age of mahogany
The period of the English renaissance about 1500s to 1660s when this prominent use of wood for furniture and interior paneling wainscoting, etc. flourished. It encompasses the Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Cromwellian periods.
Age of Oak
The Restoration, Stewart, William and Mary, and Queen Anne periods in England, which ran from about 1660 to 1714, prominently used a wood for furniture and interior show of this time
Age of Walnut
15th-16th C German goldsmiths who influenced the work of Plateresco architectural ornament
Arfe or Arphe
15th-16th C German goldsmiths who influenced the work of Plateresco architectural ornament
Arfe or Arphe
The elegant period in England from about 1765 to 1800 when the cabinetmakers and designers favorite a light, delicate-toned wood for furniture. The Adams brothers used it extensively in their work as did Hepplewhite, Shearer, and Sheraton.
Age of Satinwood
Folding ricepaper, Japanese lanterns of infinite variety, shape, and size.
Akari Lamps
A noted Florentine architect, sculptor, painter, musician, and poet of the Italian Renaissance. He wrote books on architecture, perspective, and painting which greatly influenced later craftsmen. His De Re Aedificatoria was the first book on architecture ever published. Besides being one of the earliest planners of St.
Peter’s in Rome, he also designed the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence;.S. Francesco in Rimini; the upper portion of the façade of S. Maria Novella in Florence, and S. Andrea in Mantua.
Leon Battista Alberti
The style of furnishing and design popular in the United States from about 1820 to 1840. Duncan Phyfe was the leading designer of the period, and acanthus leaves, pineapples, cornucopias and stencil gilding were important, decorative motifs and techniques of the period
American Empire Period
An 18th-century French bed with a canopy that usually extends only partially over the bed. There are no front pillars and the canopy is supported by back pillars or posts. The side draperies continue down to the floor and are pulled back at either side of the bed.
Angel Bed
French: Lit D’Ange
A Spanish term for a storage chest of the early Renaissance period
Arca
A French word for a large, movable clothes wardrobe or closet, which was originally used to store armor.
Armoire
An article of great antiquity made by man, such as prehistoric carvings or clay objects
Artifact
A small tripod table of Louis the XVI and Empire period. It was sometimes used as a basin stand.
Athenienne
A full or half male figures used in place of columns to support an entablature or in place of furniture, legs to support chest table tops, etc.
Atlantes
The 17th century turning used for furniture, legs, and decorations. The turning consists of a series of ball-like turning, separated by flattened discs or rings
Ball and rings
A wood turning popular in 18th century American furniture. The lowest element of the finial was a sphere surmounted by series of rings of graduated sizes which created a tapered steeple-like element
Ball and steeple finial
A turned wood furniture foot of a spherical or nearly spherical shape with a narrow disc like pad at its base. It was extensively used in the 17th century, Flemish and English furniture.
Ball foot
The arced or hook shaped chair back of the Hepplewhite period. The curved line starts in a concave form at the seats rail, then sweeps up in a bold convex arc, creating a smooth loop
Ballon back
The Christ child portrayed as an infant in swaddling clothes in sculpture and painting during the early Renaissance period.
Bambino
Plural: bambocci
A colonial American term for bowlegged, or cabriole leg furniture of England in America in the 18th century
Bandy-legged
A Dutch and English lacquering technique of the late 17th century. The design was usually etched into a black ground. This technique originated in Dutch Java.
Bantam work
The French term for an upholsterered bench
Banquette
And 18th century, English corner or writing chair. A headrest was sometimes perched over the semicircular top rail. Sometimes the headrest was a continuous broad splat which extended up the seat frame, and was supported by the arms on either side.
Barber’s chair
A mid 19th century group of landscape painters who portrayed romanticized scenes of peasant life in the countryside. Included in this school of artists were Jean Millet, Theodore Rousseau, and Narcisse Diaz de la Peña.
Barbizon School
Personal emblem of Napoleon I, along with Laurel wreath, the letter N, stars and Eagles. It was a popular motif of the French empire period, resembled the Bourbon fleur de lis
Bee
A round or oval type of French sofa with a separating pillar or rail in the center, which serves as a back; popular in public areas during the Victorian Period.
Borne
A rocking chair or a chair on curved supports. The wooden seat, usually curves upward in the rear and dips down in the front. The chair is often spindle back and ornamented with the painted designs on the wide top rail. It is an early 19th century American design.
Boston rocker
French women’s private apartment or room where one goes to be alone
Boudoir, “bouder” / “to pout”
Footwarmer in the 18th C
Bouillotte
A late 18th century candlestick like lamp often a three or four armed candlestick set into a brass gallery base, and a shallow shade
Bouillotte lamp
An 18th-century French, small circular gaming table with a brass or bronze gallery edge
Bouillotte table
A bed enclosed on three sides, sometimes folds up against the wall. In the French Gothic, the open side was usually draped or shuttered to provide privacy and keep out the drafts.
Box bed
French: Lit Clos
A case piece of furniture whose front is formed on two or more planes. The central portion is either advance or recessed from the two ends. It is particularly descriptive of bookcases, cabinets, and secretaries of the 18th century in England in America.
Breakfront
French for folding, slant lid desk
Bureau a pent
Louis XIV large writing table w drawers
Bureau commode
Louis XV drop leaf “donkey desk”; its name from its contour
Bureau den dos dane
French flat writing table or desk
Bureau plat
A colonial American drop leaf table with a broad wing-like bracket to support the raised leaf
Butterfly table
Furniture and finished interior woodwork
Cabinetwork
Furniture and finished interior woodwork
Cabinetwork
