|
Definitions terms of antiques or collectables, some are quite common and some
not so common. Definitions are from various sources.
A-B
C-D
E-F
G-J
K-P
Q-Z
- Acanthus:
- A carved ornamentation patterned after acanthus leaves, used decoratively
on furniture, architecture, and Corinthian and Composite capitals
- Acorn:
- A finial (device used as an ornament) or pendant drop resembling an acorn,
often used on William and Mary furniture.
- Aesthetic Movement:
- Simplified household decoration in the late 19th century.
- Alabaster:
- A smooth, white, somewhat soft stone of gypsum that is often used in place
of costly marble.
- Ambrotype:
- A photographic image printed on glass
- Animalier Bronze:
- A bronze sculpture of an animal or group of animals
- Annealing:
- Process in silver making, the reheating of the metal to keep it malleable
while it is being shaped. In glass making it is the gradual cooling of hot glass
to render it less brittle.
- Antique:
- any object 100 years or older
- Appliqué:
- Any applied ornament to surface
- Apron:
- The horizontal piece of wood below a table top, chair seat, looking glass,
or under framing of a case piece. Frequently carved, pierced, or scalloped. May
also be referred to as a skirt.
- Arabesque:
- A painted, inlaid, or carved design in interlacing patterns of floral, geometric,
or figural forms.
- Art Nouveau:
- A late 19th century decorative are movement. Designs are curvy and usually
based on natural forms
- Assay:
- The test made to determine the quality of metals, such as silver or gold.
- Astragal:
- A small semicircular, convex bead molding resembling a string of beads.
- Back Stool:
- An early term for a chair without arms
- Bail:
- A curving drawer pull, usually brass, hanging from bolts and backed by a decorative
plate.
- Baize:
- A cotton or woolen felt like fabric usually dyed green.
- Ball Foot:
- A round, turned foot used chiefly on furniture of the 17th and early 18th
centuries.
- Baluster:
- An upright support, usually turned and vase shaped, topped by a rail. Also
called a banister.
- Banister Back Chair:
- A chair with a back made of vertically placed slats or split balusters
- Bargello work:
- A needlework pattern of zigzag stripes. Also called a flame stitch or Hungarian
stitch.
- Baroque:
- A style of art and architecture developed in the late 16th and 17th centuries
in Europe, featuring dynamic curved elements and extravagantly and dramatically
contorted classical forms.
- Bas-Relief:
- sculpture and architecture in which figures project only slightly from the
background.
- Bead and Reel:
- A round, convex molding or turning alternating oval beads with disks.
- Beaux-Arts:
- From the French École des Beaux-Arts; an eclectic,
academic style of the 19th and 20th century.
- Bébé:
- 19th century French doll modeled as an eight to about twelve year old child
- Bellarmine:
- A salt glazed stoneware jug from the Rhineland with a bearded mask molded
on the front. It is said to have been named in the late 16th century for its resemblance
to Cardinal Bellarmine.
- Belle Époque:
- From 1900 to 1910 is the American and French term specifying the Edwardian
period in England.
- Betty Lamp:
- An early device for illumination in iron or tin, consisting of shallow holder
for grease, a wick, and a handle for hanging
- Bible Box:
- An early, carved wooden box to hold books or writing materials, with a hinged
and often sloping lid.
- Bird Cage:
- A device with four short balusters and central pivot, fitted between the top
and the shaft of a tripod table, designed to allow the top to be rotated and tilted.
- Bisque:
- Unglazed Pottery
- Block Foot:
- An enlarged square block of wood terminating a plain, straight leg
- Block Front:
- A popular colonial form of the Chippendale period distinguished by block projections
across the front of a case piece, the center one concave, and the sides convex.
- Bloom:
- the frosted or matte surface on a many types of gold jewelry, especially
in Victorian jewelry designs.
- Blown Molded Glass:
- Glass blown into a small mold to impress a pattern or establish a shape, then
withdrawn and expanded, by further blowing and manipulating, into final form
- Blue on white:
- or blue and white. Popular porcelain and pottery decoration of cobalt blue
on a white back ground.
- Bobeche:
- A plain or ornamental disk, often of glass, set on the candle socket of a
candlestick, chandelier, or sconce, to catch the drippings.
- Bolection:
- A prominent molding with a bold projecting roll used to frame or divide panel
sections and the openings of fireplaces.
- Bombe:
- A term applied to furniture with rounded, convex or bulging front and side;
also called a kettle base. literally bomb shaped and often found on bureaus
and commodes.
- Bonnet Top:
- A broken-scroll pediment forming a hood from front to back atop tall case
furniture.
- Boss:
- A knoblike, projecting ornament used a decoration, usually on chests in Jacobean
furniture. Primarily in silver and metal work.
- Brazier:
- A pierced receptacle, usually with a wooden handle, to hold burning coal or
charcoal for warming a plate or vessel placed upon it. May also be called a chafing
dish.
- Break Front:
- A case piece with a projecting center section, usually surmounted by a pediment
- Brewster Chair:
- A Pilgrim chair with boldly turned posts and decorative spindles applied to
the back of the chair and below the seat and arms
- Bright-Cut:
- A metal engraving technique created by chiseling light reflecting facets.
This design stand out brilliantly on the metal's surface.
- Britannia Metal:
- A form of pewter, used as a base for silver plated wares in the 19th century.
- Broken Pediment:
- A triangular or curved pediment interrupted at the apex.
- Brown Wood:
- A informal term mediocre furniture.
- Bun Foot:
- A slightly flattened, round foot extending from a small turned shaft.
- Burl:
- A protruding, irregularly grained growth on a tree; used in sections as a thin
veneer, or hollowed into bowls.
- Burnisher:
- A small, hard smooth hand tool for polishing gold, silver, and other materials.
- Butterfly Table:
- A drop-leaf table with solid wing or rudder-shaped brackets supporting the
leaves.
A-B
C-D
E-F
G-J
K-P
Q-Z
|