Category: Furniture

Antique furniture parts and pieces

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Furniture, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

There are many different parts and pieces of furniture, and it can get confusing (especially when you first start to buy and sell it).  Here are some parts and pieces of what I have run across over the years:

Cabriole—This is a double-curved form used in legs (and even feet). The upper portion of the leg curves outward while the lower part curves inward.  This makes an S shape on the legs and is very distinctive.

Bombé—This is a French term for the outwardly curving shape of a piece of furniture.  The most thought of form is that of a chest.

Armoire—This is a clothes cupboard, and this can be a pretty sizable piece of furniture.  In most cases, an Armoire is a type of wardrobe.

Marquetry—This is a decorative technique in which different woods are inlaid into the body of a piece to create an image.  Flowers are a common motif; other images are used though.  Most of the time the inlay work is done with various woods—other materials like mother-of-pearl, ivory, and even tortoiseshell, have been used.

What types of parts and pieces terms have you run across?

What are some different parts of furniture?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Furniture, My Background, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

When I first started selling vintage items, I quickly found out that there’s a name for just about every piece out there-even for furniture.  I quickly started to learn the names of these pieces when I started to do some basic repairs to the furniture that I bought.

Here’s a few of the terms that I have learned over the years:

Bracket foot–a bracket foot is used on a chest, a chest on chest or even a cabinet. This is a foot that has a straight corner edge and curved inner edges.  Sometimes I hear these curved inner edges “scalloped edges”.

Caning—caning is a wood piece that consists of rattan (or even sugar cane) that is made into wicker.  There are a wide variety of ways this is used including seats of chairs, patio furniture, etc.

Partner’s desk—a partner’s desk literally looks like two desks that were put together to make one.  It’s a desk large enough to seat two people that are facing each other.  Each side has their own drawers or cupboards.

What are some of the terms that you have either run across or heard?

Vocabulary words for the furniture collector

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Furniture, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary Words, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

There’s always some terms that you pick up along the way when you either collect a certain area or are a dealer.  Furniture is the same way, and here’s some great vocabulary words that I heard along the way:

Attached Back Pillow: This is a pillow treatment that can’t be taken off the upholstered piece.

Butler’s Table: This is an oval wooden tray on legs whose four sides are hinged to fold out flat when it is set down.

Case Piece: A piece of furniture like this provides interior space for storage.  It could be something like clothing or bedding.

Commode: Today, this means something completely different.  It used to be a low chest that had either  drawers or doors (some sort of cabinet on legs) which usually stands against a wall.

Nest-of-Tables: These are small tables that are used every once in a while and are graduated in size so that they slide beneath one another.

These are only a handful of the words that you will run across.  What words have you heard?

Some vocabulary words that a collector would run across

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Furniture, My Background, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

When you dive into the world of collecting, it doesn’t take you long before you run across a word or two that you never heard before. Before you know it, you’ll have a broad vocabulary at your disposal.

I dove head first into collecting at the age of eight, and after almost 30 years in the business—I’ve heard some interesting ones. Here’s a few of them:

Abattant—this is a French term for a “drop lid” or a “fall front” piece of furniture. More often than not, you’ll see this on a secretary desk.

Burl—this is a curly-grained wood surface (or even a veneer) that is cut from an irregular growth of a tree. This could come from a portion of the roots of the tree, and it is very common in walnut wood.

Partner’s desk—this is a desk that’s large enough to seat two people facing each other. A lawyer’s office could have used one of these, and this desk has working drawers on both sides.

There are plenty of words like these, which ones have you run across?