Glossary • Ancient & Modern Antiques • Old & New Collectables • Knebworth, Hertfordshire

Glossary of Terms

A Glossary

Abalone shell: Ear-shaped shell lined with mother-of-pearl.
Abstract Expressionism: Movement in painting and ceramics that emerged in the mid-1950s in the USA, characterized by gestural, random marks, and compositions.
Acid cutting: Method of decorating glass where objects were coated with an acid resistant substance such as wax.
Acid etching: Technique involving treatment of glass with hydrofluoric of different coloured clays
Adam style: Neo-classical style, first introduced in Britain by the architects Robert Adam and James Adam during the second half of the 18th century and characterized by motifs such as husks, palmettes, and festoons.
Adzing: An adze is a kind of axe with the blade and cutting edge set at right angles to the handle or haft. There are several sizes according to the work being done; Windsor chair seats are adzed out (a process called bottoming), and lengths of rough, riven timber can be smoothed off (see also riven).
Aesthetic Movement: Decorative arts movement with a strong Japanese influence, which flourished in Europe and the USA from c. 1860s to the late 1880s.
Air twist stem: On drinking glasses and other glassware, a stem decorated with spiral filaments of hollow glass.
Alabastron: Small bottle or flask, used in ancient Egypt.
Alkanet root: Alkanet is another name for the Anchusa plant (also called borage); when suitably processed and mixed, the root forms a dye to produce a red oil.
Alla certosina: Type of decoration using inlays of bone and ivory.
Alloy: Mixture of metals; in the context of silver, the base metals added to silver to strengthen it. Sterling silver is 92.5 per cent pure and is usually mixed with copper.
Ambrotype: A photograph made by exposing a glass plate treated with light sensitive wet collodion. The negative was made positive by backing with black paper or paint.
Amen glass: Rare type of Jacobite glass that incorporates into the decoration verses of a hymn ending with the word Amen, thought to date from after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
American Belleek: Late 19th –century American version of the thinly potted wares originally made at the Belleek factory in Ireland.
Amorini: An Italian word for winged cupids or cherubs. Boys and putti are similar but do not have wings.
Aniline dye: Synthetic, industrial dye used in textile and carpet manufacture from the 1850s. It produces strong, bright colours that are cruder than those of traditional vegetable dyes.
Annealing: The process of gradually cooling a completed glass object. The thick and thin parts cool at a uniform rate and the development of stresses within the vessel are thus eliminated.
Antique nail: A brass nail with a domed head.
Apostle spoon: Silver spoon with a finial moulded in the form of one of the 12 Apostles; particularly popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Appliqué: In textiles applying small patches of fabric to a base fabric to make a design.
Arbor: Round, steel spindle or shaft on which a wheel pinion, lever, or anchor is mounted in a clock.
Arcading: A series of arches, usually with semi-circular heads, used as decoration on panels in the late 16th and throughout the 17th centuries. A singe arch was also sometimes employed in the same manner.
Arcanist: One who knows the formula (Arcanum) for manufacturing hard-paste porcelain.
Architrave: Moulded framework; in Classical architecture, the lowest part of an entablature.
Arita: An important centre for Japanese porcelain production and a term used to describe one distinctive type of Japanese porcelain made in the area.
Armadio: Italian term for a linen-press or wardrobe.
Armorial: Crest of coat or arms.
Armorial wares: Ceramic, glass, or silver wares decorated with coats of arm or crests.
Arris: Term for the meeting of two plain surfaces-in other words, an edge.
Art Deco: Style characterised by geometric forms and bright bold colours popular from c 1918 to 1940. The name is taken from the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Moderns in Paris
Artificial porcelain: See soft-paste porcelain.
Art Nouveau: Movement and style of decoration characterised by sinuous curves and flowing lines asymmetry and flower and leaf motifs prevalent from the 1890s to 1910s.
Arts & Crafts: A late 19th C artistic movement led by William Morris, which advocated a return to medieval standards of crafts Man ship and simplicity of design.
Articulated: A doll or figure’s body with jointed limbs.
Asmalyk: Five-sided woven trappings, used to decorate the bride’s camel during a wedding procession.
Assay: The testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality.
Automaton clock: Clock with a strike performed by mechanically operated figures.
Autoperipatetikos: Clockwork figure, usually bisque-headed, that will glide along a smooth surface when rolled. Autoperipatetikos is the Greek word for ‘self-propelling’, applied to Enoch Rice Morrison’s walking doll (1862) and often used for other clockwork dolls.

B Glossary

Bacchic: Figures, jovial or drunken, relating to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and festivities.
Bachelor chest: Small, multi-purpose chest of drawers with a hinged top.
Backboard: The wood (often unpolished) used to in-fill the back of furniture made to stand against the wall.
Backplate: Rear of the two plates supporting a clock or watch movement, on which details of the maker are often engraved.
Back stamp: Mark applied to the base of commercially made ceramic ware giving details of manufacturer.
Bail handle: The shaped bar of a looped drop handle; it is fixed at each end.
Bakelite: An early form of plastic which was popular in the 1920s and 1930s.
Balance: A type of escape mechanism that is used in clocks without pendulums.
Ball-jointed: Limbs that are attached to a doll’s body with a ball and socket.
Barley twists: Spiralling columns popular on 17th-century furniture.
Barometer: Instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure.
Baroque pearl: Irregularly shaped pearl.
Basaites: Unglazed black stone ware developed by Wedgwood.
Base metal: Non-precious metal such as iron, brass, bronze, or steel.
Basket Beading: A type of decoration usually in a band or border and in the shape of small beads.
Basket work: Decorative relief pattern resembling woven willow or cane.
Batch: Used in the glass making industry to describe the measured raw materials which, when heated in the furnace, become glass.
Bauhaus: German school of architecture and applied arts founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius. The Bauhaus style is characterized by austere, geometric forms and modern materials such as tubular steel.
Bead and groove joint: Used between the flap and the bed of a flap or gate-leg table (see also rule and square joints).
Beading: A thin narrow moulding, usually with a rounded edge.
Beat scale: Graduated scale fixed to the case interior of many Vienna regulators, and used to measure the regularity of the pendulum swing.
Bebe: The French term for a doll that represents a baby rather than an adult.
Bellflower: A carved, painted or incised ornament consisting of a formalised flower shaped like a bell and with three petals.
Bent-limb: Term applied to a doll with five-piece body and curved arm and legs.
Bentwood: Solid or laminated steamed and bent into a curvilinear shape. The process was developed by Michael Thonet in the early 19th century.
Berlin ironwork: Black ironwork jewellery made during the Franco-Prussian war (1813-15) in exchange for gold jewellery surrendered far the war effort.
Berlin woolwork: Amateur embroidery using coloured wools on a canvas grid.
Berretino: Grey-blue tin-glazed ground used on 16th-century Italian maiolica; first introduced in Faenza c. 1520.
Bianco di Faenza: Type of maiolica, developed in mid-16th-century Italy, covered in a thick, milky-white glaze. It is usually cursorily decorated in a restricted palette of ochre, yellow and blue with figures, flowers, or coat of arms.
Bird-cage support: Mechanism, located at the top of the pedestal, that enables some tripod tables to swivel.
Blank: Undecorated ceramic ware.
Bleu lapis: A deep cobalt blue ground of almost purplish tone, introduced at the Vincennes porcelain factory in 1753.
Bleu persan: (Persian blue) Rich, purplish, ultramarine ground associated with late 17th century faience from Nevers in France.
Blowing: A method of shaping glass by blowing a blob of molten glass through a tube.
Blown-three-mould: American term for mould-blown glass.
Blowout: See mould blowing.
Blue dash charger: A delft dish decorated with a border of blue brush strokes.
Blueing: A decorative heat treatment applied to metal weapons which also protected from rust.
Blue and white: White ceramics with painted or printed cobalt blue decoration.
Boards: The hard covers of a book.
Bob: The metal weight at the end of a pendulum rod.
Bobbin: Type of turning in the shape of a bobbin or reel found on the legs of 17th-century furniture.
Bocage: French term for trees or foliage in the form of an arbour surrounding or supporting a pottery or porcelain figure.
Body: The material from which ceramics are made such as pottery porcelain earthenware or stoneware.
Bone-ash: Burnt, crushed animal bone that is added to soft-paste porcelain mixture to fuse the ingredients.
Bone china: A type of porcelain which has dried ox bone added to the body to produce a very white china. Produced extensively in Britain from 1820.
Bonnet head: Doll wearing a hat or bonnet moulded as an integral part of the head.
Booge: Sloping sides of a plate or dish.
Boot-button eyes: Black wooden eyes with metal loops on the back, used on early teddy bears.
Boss: An architectural term borrowed by cabinet makers to describe a raised and carved ornament used to cover the intersections of angles in moulding.
Bottle glass: Coloured glass used for utensils such as bottles, as distinct from quality or clear glass.
Boulle case: A type of marquetry that includes tortoiseshell and metal.
Bow front: An outwardly curving shape typically found on case furniture.
Boys: A term used during the Restoration period to describe cherubs or putti (also see amorini).
Bracket clock: A spring-driven clock originally designed to stand on a wall bracket and later on a shelf or table.
Brandy saucepan: Small, bulbous ort baluster-shaped saucepan, usually with a handle at right angles to the pouring spout.
Brassing: On plated items where the plating has worn off to reveal the underlying base metal.
Break/ Broken arch: The arch at the top of longcase and bracket clocks.
Bright-cut engraving: Type of engraving in which the metal surface is cut at an angle to create facets that reflect the light. Popular in the Neo-classical period.
Bristol glass: Coloured glass, mostly blue, made in Britain from the late 18th to the mid-19th centuries.
Britannia metal: Metal substitute for silver, actually a form of electroplated pewter.
Broderie perse: French term for cut-out floral and bird motifs in printed cottons and chintzes sewn onto plain quilts.
Broken pediment: Pediment, or triangular superstructure, in which the central apex is absent and often filled with a carved motif.
Brown ware: Salt glazed brown stone ware especially that made in Nottingham derby and elsewhere in England.
Brushing slide: A shelf that slides between the uppermont drawer and the underside of the top of a chest of drawers or tallboy; when the slide is pulled out clothes can be laid on it and brushed.
Brushpot: Small Chinese or Japanese pot used for holding brushes used for calligraphy and painting.
Buffet: Term used for a two-part sideboard.
Burnishing: Method of polishing metals or gilded surfaces by applying friction with a hard tool made of agate to create a lustre.
Burr: Abnormal growth (resembling a wart) of a tree, caused by buds or eyes that have been unable to develop fully because of lack of nourishment. Such burrs often yield exceptionally beautiful veneers, especially in the case of oak, walnut, and yew.

C Glossary

Cabinet wares: Cups, saucers, and plates made for display rather than use.
Caddy: Container for tea.
Caddy spoon: Spoon for measuring tea out of the caddy. Made in vast quantities from the late 18th century.
Cailloute: (pebbled) Irregular pattern of meshed ovals, usually gilded, resembling pebbles and used on Sevres porcelain in the late 1760s.
Calendar aperture: Window in a clock dial displaying the day of the month and sometimes the month of the year.
Cane ware: Pale straw coloured unglazed stoneware made by Wedgwood form 1770.
Canted corner: Refers to a corner post that has either been built in deliberately, or has had its front face chamfered, so that it is presented at an angle to the front of the piece.
Canvaswork: Embrodiery worked with counted stitches on an open-weave canvas.
Carat: Measurement of gold. One carat equals 200mg.
Cardcase: Case for holding visiting cards.
Carpet toy: Toy that can be play with only on the floor-for example, a train that does not fit any standard track or a toy aeroplane that cannot fly.
Carrige clock: A small spring driven clock designed for travelling.
Carton: Cardboard composition, used for some dolls’ bodies in the 1920s and 1930s.
Cartoon: Design for a carpet or tapestry, often copied onto squared paper to make it easier to follow.
Carved: 19th century term for an elbow dining-chair.
Cassapanca: Type of settle derived from the cassone, with a back and sometimes armrests.
Cassone: Renaissance Italian chest, often highly decorated with carving and inlay.
Cast metal: Metal ware formed by pouring molten metal into a cast or mould.
Caster: Vessel for sprinkling salt pepper or sugar.
Casting: Method of making objects by pouring molten metal or glass into a mould or cast made from sand, plaster or metal, confirming to the shape of the finished object.
Castle-top: Type of cardcase, snuff-box, or vinaigrette depicting a famous British building.
Caudle cup: Silver cup with a cover designed to keep its contents warm. Originally held caudle, a spiced gruel laced with wine.
Celluloid: An early plastic invented in 1869 and used for making doll’s head and bodies.
Centrepiece: Ornament designed to occupy the centre of a dining table.
Centre seconds hand: A second’s hand that is pivoted at the centre of the dial.
Chamberstick: Type of utilitarian candlestick with a short stern and saucer-like base.
Chamfer: Similar to a bevel ; in the case of a chamfer, however, it is stopped at a short distance from the end of the piece to which it is applied.
Channel, channelling: A continuous depression or wide groove cut in or routed out of a surface.
Chapter ring: The ring of hour and minute numbers applied on a clock dial.
Charger: A large plate or platter often for display but also for serving.
Chassis: The base of a toy vehicle including the wheels, fender and bumpers.
Cherubs: See amorini, boys, and putti.
Chest-on-stand: Tall chest of drawers on a stand, also known as a highboy.
Chevron: A decorative motif resembling an inverted V, similar to the stripes worn by non-commissioned officers.
China: Originally an alternative term for Chinese porcelain . Since the early 19th century the term has been used to refer to bone china.
China clay: See kaolin.
China stone: See putuntse.
Chinese export wares: Chinese porcelain was made specifically for export to Europe from the 16th century to suit European tastes. Silver in similar styles was made from the 17th century.
Chintz ware: Ware decorated with an all over usually dense floral pattern.
Chip carving: A simple form of carved ornament, the pattern being usually geometric. Its advantage was that the carving could be done with basic cuts of chisels or gouges and was well within the ability of a skilled joiner. Used during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.
Chocolate cup: Large cup with two handles, a cover, and a saucer.
Chromolithography: A later development of lithography where a number of printing stones are used in succession each with a different colour to build up a multicoloured enamels.
Chronograph: An instrument for recording time with immense accuracy.
Chronometer: Precision timekeeper designed for use at sea to calculate longitude.
Cire perdue: See lost-wax casting.
Clair-de-lune: Translucent blue glaze introduced in Chinese porcelain from the Qing period.
Claret jug: Ewer or jug, usually glass with silver or electroplate mounts, used for serving claret.
Claw legs: The name given to the curved legs used on tripod tables; the latter were often called claw tables.
Claw setting: Type of jewellery setting in which the gemstone is secured by projecting prongs.
Closed back: Jewellery setting where the back of the gem is covered with metal.
Cloth doll: Term for a doll made from fabric, sometimes known as a rug doll.
Coaster: Saucer or a small tray, on which a bottle slid or was passed round the table.
Cockbeading: A small beading or astragal usually applied around the edges of drawer fronts from the early 18th to the early 19th centuries.
Coffer: Travelling chest with handles and a domed lid but without feet, usually made of oak.
Coiling: Method of forming ceramics objects by coiling long clay strips into the desired shape. The resulting ridges are smoothed out.
Collar: Rim of a wine-cooler, often detachable.
Collet setting: Jewellery setting where the gem sits on a circular mounts.
Commedia dell’arte: Figures from Italian comedy theatre. The characters were modelled in porcelain at Meissen, Nymphenburg, and other Continental factories.
Composition A: A mixture including wood pulp plaster and glue and used as a cheaper alternative to bisque in the production of dolls heads and bodies.
Compote: A dish usually on a stem or foot to hold fruit for the dessert course.
Cong: Neolithic Chinese ritual vessel, originally of jade but later copied in ceramics.
Console: Table intended to stand against a wall, between windows, also known as a pier table.
Contre-partie: The lower sheet (usually tortoise shell) of Boulle work (see also premiere-partie).
Core forming: An early form of glass-making where trails of molten glass are wound around a mud or clay core.
Coved top: A top of curved shape.
Cow creamer: Silver or ceramic jug or boat for pouring cream, modelled as a cow.
Crabstock: Type of handle or spout moulded as a gnarled crab-apple branch.
Cream ware: Cream-coloured earthenware with a lead glaze. Produced by Wedgwood in the 1760s and then by other factories.
Credence table: Type of small table originally used for storing food before serving or tasting. Now refers to a semicircular table with a hinged top.
Crewelwork: An embroidery technique using wool thread on a linen ground.
Crinoline group: Pair of complementary porcelain figures making romantic or chivalric gestures.
Crisselling (or crizzelling): The state of progressive deterioration in the chemical make up of glass caused by a faulty balance in the ingredients. Droplets of alkaline moisture form on the surface and a fine network of cracks develops.
Crossgrain: Applied to any wooden part that has the grain of the wood running across its width instead of along its length.
C-scroll: A scroll in the form of a letter C.
Cubism: Early 20th century art movement characterized by distortion, angularity, geometric arrangements, and features of African sculpture.
Cullet: Scraps of broken glass, used to help fuse new glass.
Cultured pearl: A pearl formed when an irritant in artificially introduced to the mollusc.
Cup and cover: Bulbous turning common on furniture legs from the mid-16th century.
Curl veneer: Also called feather. A veneer resulting from wood taken from the junction of a branch with a larger one, or with the main trunk of a tree.
Cushion drawer: Convex drawer found below a cornice that runs the full width of a piece of furniture.
Cushion front: A term usually applied to a drawer front which is pulvenated, that is, bevelled around its edges to give a cushion like effect.
Cushion top: Rounded top found on many early English bracket clocks.
Cusps: An architectural term for the points formed by the intersection of the foils (that is, the circles) in Gothic tracery.
Cut-card decoration: Flat shapes of applied silver, used as decoration and reinforcement, especially around the rims of tea and coffee pots. Common on 17th –century pieces by Huguenot silversmiths.
Cut-down: Longcase clock that has been shortened.

D Glossary

Damascened: Metal ornamented with inlaid gold or silver often in wavy lines commonly found on weapons or armour.
Date aperture: See calendar aperture.
Date letter: Letter identifying the year of assay of a silver object.
Deca: Multicoloured image printed from a copper plate on to tissue paper and used to decorate ceramics the decal is soaked with water and slipped from the backing sheet on to the surface of the unglazed ware which is then glazed and fired.
Dentils: Small rectangular blocks that form a feature of the Roman Corinthian style cornice.
Dep: Abbreviation of the French depos or the German deponirt, indicating a registered patent used on French and German dolls and often appearing as an incised mark on the bisque heads.
Dessert service: Set of ceramic wares decorated en suite for serving dessert, including plates, compotiers, bowls, and tureens.
Devitrification: A state of deterioration which occurs when glass is cooled too slowly and becomes crystalline with a milky appearance. Not to be confused with crisselling.
Dial: The face of a clock which shows the time.
Dial clock: Type of simple English wall clock with a round dial, glass cover held with a brass bezel, and a wooden case.
Dial plate: Metal or wooden plate to which the chapter ring and spandrels are attached on the clock.
Diamante: Sparkling cut glass, often backed with foil, or a backing applied with powdered crystal, used to decorate costume and in costume jewellery.
Diamond-point engraving: Decorative design on glass made by scratching the surface with a diamond-pointed stylus.
Diecast: Objectives made by pouring molten metal in to a closed metal die or mould.
Die-stamping: Method of production introduced at the end of the 18th century, whereby sheet silver is pressed between solid dies with complementary patterns to create or decorate an object.
Ding: A very small dent in metal.
Disc joint: Joint made of discs of cardboard held in place by a metal pin; used to articulate soft toys and teddy bears.
Dish ring: Silver ring used to keep hot dishes away from the table.
Dished table top: Hollowed-out solid top, associated with tripod or tea tables with ‘pie-crust’ edges.
Distressed: A term used to describe an object that has been artificially aged.
Dog tooth ornament: Resembles four leaves united at one end to form lobes.
Dolls’ hospital: Repair shop specializing in the restoration of dolls of all kinds, some cater for teddy bears as well.
‘Dragon’s blood’: Red stain used on oak furniture.
Drawer-lining: Side of a drawer
Drop handle: Pear-shaped handle popular during the late 17th and early 18th centuries on furniture and clocks.
Drop-in seat / slip-in: A removable usually upholstered seat.
Dug-out chest: Also called a monoxylon. The most primitive form of chest, used up to and during medieval times. It was hollowed out of a tree-trunk with an adze, or by burning out a cavity. They were usually bound with iron bands to prevent the splits (which were inevitable) from opening to far.
Duration: Period for which a clock runs between winding up.
Dustboard: Refers to the thin board interposed between the drawers in some chests of drawers. A misnomer, because such a board was not needed to keep out dust-its main function was to prevent the contents of one drawer from rising to jam the one above; it also acted as a deterrent against theft.
Dutch: Term for German wooden dolls; probably a corruption of Deutsch meaning ‘German’ (a word often found on the heads of German wooden dolls), rather than ‘Dutch’.
Duty dodging: Practice of transposing marks on silver objects to avoid paying duty.
D Q: Standing for diamond quilted where a repeated pattern of diamond shapes cover the surface.

E Glossary

Ecuelle: Covered shallow bowl usually with two flat handles at the rim, and a stand.
Egg and anchor: See egg and tongue.
Egg and tongue: A motif carved on to mouldings, usually ovolos, and based on the Greek echinus pattern. Also known as egg and anchor and egg and dart.
Egg head: Rary type of a miniature doll moulded as a porcelain head only, with no torso.
Eggshell porcelain: Type of slip cast razor thin porcelain made in 19th century Japan and Europe
Eight Immortals: Legendary or historical individuals associated with Daoism and depicted on Chinese ceramics.
Eight Precious Things: Symbols of the Chinese scholar, namely the musical stone, jewels, a coin, a pair of books, an open-tied lozenge and a closed-tied lozenge, and an Artemisia leaf, often represented on ceramics.
Electroplating: A method of covering wares made of base metal with a thin layer of silver by the process of electrolysis patented by G. R. Elkington in 1840 in England.
Electrotype: Creating a reproduction by taking a mould of an object and depositing onto it a thin layer of metal using an electric current.
End grain: The grain that shows on the end of a piece of wood which has been sawn across.
End standard: Refers to the upright panel that takes the place of a leg on some designs of table.
End support: Central support at the sides of a writing or sofa table.
Engine-turning: Decorative, textured patterns, created by turning metal on a machine-driven lathe.
Entablature: Horizontal beam that surmounts architectural columns. Divided into the cornice(top), frieze (middle), and architrave (bottom).
Entasis: A slight convex swelling about halfway up a pillar or column; without it a perfectly cylindrical pillar appears to be slightly concave.
Entree dish: Shallow silver dish with a flat bottom and domed cover.
Entrelac: Interlaced tendril decoration of Celtic origin used on jewellery and revived by Arts and Crafts designers.
E P N S: Found on metal objects and standing for electroplated nickel silver meaning the objects is made from nickel which is then electroplated with silver.
Erasure: Removal of an existing coat of arms on silver, which is sometimes replaced by new arms.
Escritoire: Cabinet with a fall front that lowers to form a writing surface.
Etruscan style: Style characterized by the use of red, black and white and motifs such as lions, griffins, and sphinxes; popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries following the rediscovery of ancient Etruscan sites and artifacts.
Etui: A small case for scissors and other small implements.
Everted: Outward-turned and flaring, usually describing a rim.
Ewer: Large jug with a lip that is often part of a set with a basin. Ewers originally held the water used by diners to wash their hands during meals, prior to the introduction of the fork.
Excelsior: The stuffing for the teddy bears made from wood shavings.

F Glossary

Faceted: A form of decoration where a number of flat surface of an object such as a gem or a glass vase.
Fairings: Small, brightly painted and captioned porcelain figure groups, mass produced in Germany and originally sold at fairs and seaside stalls at the end of the last century and into this one. Cheap at the time, they are now much sought after.
Fall front: Also called a drop front. The front of a bureau which is hinged so that when opened it forms a horizontal surface for writing.
Fan: A decorative motif very widely used from the late eighteenth century onwards.
Fashion doll: A mid to late 19th century French usually with a bisque head and elaborate fashionable clothing.
Faux: A French word for false the intension is not to imitate a more costly material.
‘Favrile’: Type of indescent glass developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany using metallic oxides.
Feather banding: Two narrow bands of veneer laid in opposite diagonals, also called herringbone banding.
Feather figure: See curl figure.
Feldspar: White china stone, a silicate of potassium and aluminium.
Fetes galantes: Open-air scenes of aristocratic amusement that were a favourite theme of French Rococo painters.
Fiddleback figure: This is caused by the layers of grain in a piece of wood undulating so that when sawn it exhibits the kind of figure seen on the backs of violins. Mainly found in mahogany, but can also occur in sycamore.
Figuring: Pattern made by the natural grain of wood.
Fire gilding: See mercury gilding.
Firing: Process of baking ceramics in a kiln. Temperatures range from 800℃ to 1100℃ (1500-2000F) for earthenware to 1400℃ (2550F) for the second firing of hard-paste porcelain.
Flagon: Jug with a lid, usually tall and cylindrical in shape.
Flame veneer: Veneer cut in an angle to enhance the figuring.
Flange: Collar or rim applied to an object to strengthen it or attaching it to another object.
Flashing: The covering of a glass vessel with a thin layer of differently coloured glass which then can be carved.
Flat back: Ceramic portrait figures with flat undecorated backs designed to stand against a wall or on a mantelpiece.
Flat chasing: Chasing on a flat metal surface, leaving an impression of the punched pattern on the reverse.
Flirty eyes: Dolls eye that move from left to right as well as open and close.
Flux: An alkaline material which promotes the fusion of ingredients in a glass batch.
Foliate: Leaf and flower motifs.
Foot rim: The projecting circular support at the base of a plate or vessel.
Four-headed doll: Set produced by the German firm of Kestner comprising a doll with a socket body and detachable head (usually with a girl-doll face); sold with three interchangeable character heads.
Free blowing: See blowing.
French joint: Type of joint used on French dolls where the limbs are all attached to a ball fixed to one of the limbs.
Frieze rail: A long ornamental piece of wood underneath table top or cornice.
Frigger: Decorative or novelty glass object, such as a bell, pipe, or walking stick.
Frit ware: Type of grainy, white-bodied Islamic ceramic ware, perhaps made to imitate imported Chinese porcelain.
Fuddling-cup: Vessel of three or more cups linked at the base and with intertwined handles.

G Glossary

Gainsborough chair: Deep armchair with an upholstered seat and back, padded open arms, and, usually carved decoration.
Galletto rosso: Decorative ceramic pattern of red-and-gold Chinese cockerels, devised at the Italian factory of Doccia.
Garniture: Set of three or more vases of contrasting forms, intended for display a mantelpiece.
Gateleg: Hinged leg taht pivots to support a drop leaf on a table.
Gather: See paraison.
Gauge: Term used in metal to describe the thickness of a piece of sheet metal.
Geneva enamelling: Painted enamels on a metal base, often used for decorative plaques in jewellery.
Gilt bronze: See ormolu.
Gimbals: The rotating rings attached to the chronometer to keep it level in its case.
Glazing bars: The slender wooden framing that contains the glass in the barred doors of bookcases, etc.
Gloss-gilding: Gilding to porcelain using gold in solution, introduced at Meissen in the 1820s.
Gobelins: Name given to the Manufacture royale des meubles de la couronne, which was established under Louis XIV in 1663 for the production of royal furnishings.
Going barrel: Cylindrical brass drum containing the mainspring and transmitting power directly to the wheels of the train in a spring-driven clock. It is used in clocks without a fuse.
Gold-ruby glass: Deep-pink glass made with gold chloride, invented in 17th-century Germany.
Googly eyes: Dolls eyes that are large and round and glance to one side.
Gothic: Decoration in the style of Gothic architecture, featuring such motifs as pinnacles, crockets, and trefoils. The style was revived from the 1820s in Europe and from the 1840s in North America.
18th-century Gothic Revival decoration, more fanciful than the 19th-century revival.: Gothick
Graining: Painting an inexpensive wood such as pine or beech to simulate a more expensive timber such as mahogany.
Grande sonnerie: System of striking that repeats the last hour after each quarter has been chimed.
Grand-feu: (‘high-temperature’) French term for a palette used on tin-glazed earthenware limited to green, blue, purple, yellow, and orange. Petit-feu (low fired) enamelling allows for a greater range of colours to be used.
Grand Tour: Term describing period of education and travel in Europe undertaken from the 18th-century by British aristocrats’ on coming of age. On their travels they often collected works of art.
Granulations: Method of creating relief designs on gold jewellery by soldering grains of gold onto a metal base.
Greek key: Design based on ancient Greek decoration.
Griffin: Mythical animal with the head, wings, and claws of an eagle but a lion’s body. It was a popular motif in the Regency and Empire period.
Grisaille: Painted decoration using a mainly black and grey palette and resembling a print.
Grosse point: A needle point stitch that crosses two wrap and two weft threads.
Grotesque: Type of classical ornament composed of linked motifs, such as human figures and masks, and fantastical animals, such as sphinxes; widely used in the Renaissance period.
Ground: The base or the background colours of ceramics on which decoration is applied.
Growler: A mechanism found in teddy bears from the early to 20th century that makes a growling noise.
Gutta-percha: Fibrous, rubbery material used to make dolls’ bodies and heads, and also golf balls, in the late 19th century.

H Glossary

Hairy-paw foot: Paw foot carved to give a furred appearance, first seen in the 18th century.
Half hunter: Watch with a hinged front cover with a small glazed aperture, revealing part of the dial.
Hardstone: Generic term given to non-precious stone.
Hardware: Locks, hinges, escutcheons, and other metal attachments on furniture.
Harlequin: Term used to describe a set of chairs that are similar but do not match.
Hausmaler: (‘home painter’) German term for an independent painter or workshop specializing in the decoration of porcelain and glass.
Haute couture: Made-to-measure garments bearing to designer’s label.
Hayrake stretcher: A stretcher with bifurcated ends resembling a hayrake.
Heaped and piled: Accidental concentrations of cobalt blue in 14th- and 15th-century Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. Copied by Qing potters.
Herati: Diamond-shaped motif flanked by four serrated leaves, used in Persian carpets.
Highboy: American term for a chest-on-stand.
Highbrow: Early form of china doll.
Hispano-Moresque ware: Wares made in Spain (particularly in the South), which were decorated in the style of Islamic art.
Hochschnitt: See relief engraving.
Hollow ware: Any hollow items such as bowls teapots jugs distinct from flatware.
Honey gilding: Method of applying gold leaf to glass or ceramics using honey as a fixative. Honey gilding has a warmer hue than mercury gilding.
Hood: Part of a longcase clock that contains the dial and movement.
Huguenots: French Protestants, many of whom settled in England and The Netherlands after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes denied them religious freedom in 1685. Many were skilled silversmiths, Cabinet-makers, and weavers, who introduced French styles into the Dutch and English decorative arts.
Humpen: Large, cylindrical German drinking glasses, often lidded and decorated, made during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Hunter: Watch with an opening front cover that protects the glass cover of the dial.
Husks: Also called wheatears. A carved drop ornament comprising a series of buds or flowers; it was popular in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Hyalite: Opaque black or sealing wax red glass produced in bohemia from c. 1818.
Hybrid paste: Formula that combines the ingredients of hard-paste and soft-paste porcelain in an attempt to produce a more malleable body.
Hygrometer: Device for measuring humidity on barometers.

I Glossary

Inclusion: Naturally occurring flaws within gemstones.
Infinite repeat: Device on rugs and carpets in which incomplete medallions are ‘cut’ by the borders.
Intaglio engraving: Method of decorating glass by hollowing out a design below the surface. Also called Tiefschnitt.
Intaglio painted eyes: Painted eyes with concave pupils and irises, hollowed out of a doll’s head.
In the white: Term applied to any king of woodwork that has not been polished, stained, varnished, or painted.
Iridescent: A lustrous finish that subtly changes colour depending on how light hits it. Often used to describe the finish on ceramics and glass.
Istoriato: Narrative decoration on Renaissance Italian maiolica plates.
Iznik: Turkish pottery of red clay coated with white slip or tin-glazed and painted in bright colours, made from the fifteenth century at a group of factories in Iznik, around sixty miles southeast of Istanbul.

J Glossary

Jackfield ware: Black glazed pottery, made in England in the late 18th century (especially at Jackfield, Shropshire).
Jacobethan: 19th-century revival of motifs such as strapwork and grotesques found on 16th- and 17th-century decorative arts. The term is a combination of ‘Elizabethan’ and ‘Jacobean’.
Jacobite glass: Wine glasses engraved with symbols of the Jacobites (supporters of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s claim to the throne).
Jasperware: A hard and refined stone ware produced by Wedgwood c. 1775. Can be coloured blue green yellow or claret
Jersey: Fabric that has no distinct rib, originally made of wool on the island of Jersey but now of various fibres. Used for making teddy bears.
Jewelling: Technique of applying coloured drops of glass onto a glass object to imitate gemstones. Also refers to a similar technique using drops of enamel on porcelain.
Jufti: Knot in a rug or carpet that is tied over four as opposed to the usual two warp strands.
Jugendstill: German and Austrian term for the Art Nouveau style. Named after the Munich-based publication Jugend.
Juval: Type of woven Turkoman bag.

K Glossary

Kaolin: (china clay) Fine, white granite clay used to make hard-paste porcelain.
Kapok: Extremely lightweight fibre made from seed pods and used for stuffing teddy bears.
Karakusa: ‘Octopus’ scrollwork pattern common on late 17th-century Japanese porcelain.
Kashan: Rug making centre in southern Iran noted for high quality products.
Kazak: Rugs from central Caucasus usually decorated with distinctive geometric designs.
Kelim: A flat woven rug with no pile.
Kufic: Type of Arabic calligraphy, often used in stylized form on many Islamic artifacts, including carpets and pottery.

L Glossary

Ladder back: A country chair with a back made from a series of horizontal bars between the two vertical uprights.
Ladik: A Turkish prayer rug usually decorated with the niche and stylized tulip flowers.
Lambrequin: Baroque border pattern of lacework, scrolls, and scalloped drapery.
Lame: Silk or synthetic woven fabric shot through metal threads.
Lamination: Method of gluing together sheets of wood with the grain in different directions to produce a material that is thinner and lighter than solid wood. Synonymous with the furniture manufacturer John Henry Belter.
Lampwork: A method of producing decorative glassware by manipulating rods and tubes of glass over a flame. First used in 15th-century Venice.
Lancet: In the form of a pointed arch; a particularly Gothic decorative motif.
Lantern clock: A mostly brass weight driven wall clock shaped like a lantern.
Lap joint: In silver ware the technique used to join a spoon finial to the stem by cutting each piece in opposing shapes.
Lappet: A small flap or fold of a garment.
Latten: Old English word for brass.
Laub und Bandelwerk: (leaf and strapwork) Decorations of interwoven leaves and strapwork, often surrounding a cartouche. Most popular during the 18th century.
Lead crystal: Glass contain lead oxide which gives extra weight and brilliance.
Lead glass: A particularly clear type of glass with high lead oxide content.
Lead glaze: Clear glaze generally composed of silicaceous sand salt soda and potash mixed with a lead component.
Lenticle: Small, glazed section on the trunk door of a longcase clock, through which the pendulum can be seen.
Library table: A rectangular table with frieze drawers end supports and a central stretcher.
Linen chest: A hybrid coffer/chest of drawers which may have both drawers and a lift top up.
Linen press: Term for cupboard with shelves (presses) for storing linen and clothes.
Lion’s paw foot: Foot carved as a lion’s paw, popular in the 18th century and during the Empire and Regency periods.
Lists: Trade term for the long, thin rods used in some designs of Windsor chair backs.
Lithography: The process of obtaining prints from a stone or metal surface treated so that the desired image can be inked while the remaining areas reject the ink.
Lithophane: Thin, low relief porcelain plaque that reveals a picture when help up to the light. Also called ‘Berlin transparency’.
Lithyalin glass: Type of glass patented by Friedrich Egermann in Bohemia in 1829. Intended to imitate hardstones, it is opaque and usually marbled.
Lock: The firing mechanism of a gun.
Long arm: A fireman with a long barrel.
Long case clock: A weight driven free standing clock.
Loper: A narrow strip of wood that can be pulled out to support a flap, as in a bureau.
Loo table: Large Victorian card or games table, usually circular.
Lost-wax casting: Method of casting bronze or another metal in which a wax model is enclosed within a plaster mould, the wax is then heated and replaced with molten metal to form the object.
Loving cup: Two-handled cup, generally urn-shaped.
Lowbrow: Late-19th-century, china-headed doll with short, curly hair worn low on the forehead.
Lunette: A semicircular decorated motif often carved on Tudor furniture, although it was also used in the form of inlay on later furniture.
Luting: Method of joining together separate pieces of clay with liquid slip.

M Glossary

Maki-e: (‘sprinkled illustration’) Japanese decorative technique of sprinkling gold or coloured filings onto a design in wet lacquer.
Manierblumen: (‘mannered flowers’) Loose representation of scattered flowers, used on 18th-century European porcelain.
Mannerist style: Decorative style of the late 16th century, employing twisted, exaggerated, and bizarre form often entrapped by strapwork and grotesque.
Mantel clock: A small bracket or table clock designed to stand on a shelf or mental piece.
Marchand-mercier: Dealer in luxury products in 18th-century Paris.
Marotte: Doll’s head mounted on a stick or baton which often plays music when twirled. Produced from the late 19th century.
Marvering: Technique in which threads of softened glass are trailed over an object and rolled on flat surface to smooth them together.
Mason’s mitre: A form of mitre joint where the mitre is carved on the wood rather than being formed by the joint between the two pieces meeting.
Mason’s Patent Ironstone China: Fine, porcellaneous stoneware first made in 1813 in Staffordshire, England, by Charles James Mason.
Matchsafe: American team for vesta box.
Matrix: Hardstone, such as opal or turquoise, embedded in its parent rock. Much used in Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau jewellery.
Matting: Decorative surface on metal created either by applying acid or using small punches or hammers to create dense patterns of dots or indentations.
MDF: Nedium density fibreboard, made from compressed particles of wood and used in the construction of furniture.
Menuisier: French term for a joiner.
Mercury gilding: Highly dangerous method of gilding, in which an amalgam of mercury and gold in brushed onto a surface the heated until mercury burns off and vapour.
Metal: Term used to describe the fused materials from which glass is made.
Meuble en deux corps: Cupboard made in two sections, enclosing drawers in both the top and bottom.
Mina’i: Enamelled ceramics decorated with figures, made in 12th- and 13th-century Persia.
Ming porcelain: Ware produced during the ming dynasty which ruled china from 1368 to 1644.
Mitten hands or feet: Dolls’ hands or feet stitched in one block, with no separation between fingers and toes.
Mixed twist: Term for the stern of a glass that incorporates as opaque twist with an air twist.
Modernism: Style of the 1920s and 1930s inspired by a need to break with the past and to express the spirit of a new machine age. It rejected ornamentation in favour of geometric forms and smooth surfaces.
Mohair plush: Used to make teddy bear fur and produced from angora fleece.
Monochrome: Single colour decoration.
Monopodium: An ornamental support for a table or stand, usually consisting of three legs which were carved with lions’ heads at the top and lions’ paws at the bottom.
Moon dial/moonphase: Subsidiary dial usually fitted in the arch of a clock or in a watch to show the phases of the moon.
Moons: Ait bubbles in porcelain paste that expand during firing, leaving translucent spots.
Moreen: An inexpensive imitation in wool or cotton of moiré silk.
Mortise and tenon: Type of joints used in furniture the mortise is a cavity in to which the shaped tenon fits and is held in place by dowels.
Mote spoon: Small metal spoon with a pierced bowl used to skim tea leaves, with a tapering, pointed stem to unblock the spout of a teapot.
Motif: A decorative detail often repeated to form a pattern.
Mould blowing: A method of shaping glass objects by blowing molten glass in a mould.
Movement: The entire time keeping mechanism of a clock or watch.
Mudejar: Term for Islamic designs used on Spanish decorative arts.
Muffle kiln: Chamber inside a kiln that prevents ceramic wares with enamel decoration from being damaged by the flames during firing.
Mule chest: Chest with drawers in the base. Forerunner of the chest of drawers.
Muntins: Also spelt minting. The vertical members interposed between the corner posts of a cabinet, or the stiles of a door, to support and enclose panels.
Mystery action: Mechanism that causes a battery-operated toy to turn to the left or right at regular intervals and to pull away from an object after a collision.
Mystery clock: A clock of novel from in which the movement is ingeniously disguised.

N Glossary

Nailsea: A factory near Bristol famous for novelty glass objects.
Nasrids: The last ruling Muslim dynasty in Spain (1232-1492).
Ne Plus Ultra body: Doll’s body jointed at the knees and elbows and with the thighs forming part of the torso.
Neo-classicism: Mid- to late-18th-century style of architecture and decoration based on the forms of ancient Greece and Rome. Characteristic elements include Classical motifs such as garlands of flowers, palmettes, husks, vases, urns, key patterns, and mythical creatures.
Nest of tables: Set of four occasional tables that slide one beneath the other when not in use. Also known as quartetto tables.
Nigoshide: Extremely fine milky-white ceramic body used to make Japanese Kakiemon porcelain.
Nozzle: Detachable top on a candlestick in which the candle is placed.
Nutmeg grater: Silver or wooden box containing nutmeg and a grater, usually for sprinkling nutmeg on ale.

O Glossary

Octant: Device made from one eighth of a circle used for measuring angular distances.
Oeil de perdrix: (‘partridge eye’) Pattern of dotted circles in enamel or gilding, introduced at the Sevres porcelain factory from the late 1760s.
OG (ogee) clock: Type of mass-produced American wall clock with an ogee-moulded wooden case.
On glaze: Any porcelain decoration painted in enamels or transfer printed on top of a fired glaze.
Onion pattern: Popular decorative pattern in blue underglaze employed at Meissen and other Continental factories from the 18th century.
Opaque twist: A white or coloured twist of glass contained in the stem of a drinking glass.
Open back: Jewellery setting where the back of the gemstone is exposed.
Open head: Open-crowned head covered with a pate (either cork or cardboard) with wig attached. Found on most bisque dolls.
Open mouth: Parted lips of a doll which are really open (as opposed to an open-closed mouth).
Open work: Pierced decoration.
Orders: The most important elements of Classical architecture. An order comprises a base, shaft, column, entablature, and capital in one of the following styles: Doris, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, or Composite. Used on all the decorative arts, particularly from the 18th century.
Ovolo: A quarter circle shaped moulding.

P Glossary

Paisley: A soft woollen fabric with a stylized design based on pniecones.
Palladian style: Classical style of architecture as interpreted by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-80) in his seminal work Quattro Libri. Palladianism was introduced into England in the 1730s by Lord Burlington and William Kent.
Palmette: Stylized palm-leaf motif.
Pancheon: Deep, usually earthenware, bowl traditionally used for the mixing and rising of yeast dough.
Paper mache: Paper pulp combined with glue used to make small objects such as boxes and trays also applied over a metal frame to make larger pieces of furniture.
Paper plush: Type of plush fabric used in the manufacture of soft toys, made from nettle plant derivatives due to a lack of mohair and other quality materials in the 1920s.
Paperweight eyes: Realistic glass dolls’ eyes with white threads running through the irises, giving an impression of depth.
Papier-mache: Combination of moulded paper pulp, whitening agent, and glue, used during the 19th century for the construction of dolls’ head and bodies, furniture and domestic objects.
Paraison: Bubble of molten glass on the end of a pontil rod and blowpipe that has been partially inflated.
Parcel gilt: Wood that has been partly gilded.
Parchemin panel: Also called parchment panel. A decorative feature used in the early 16th century consisting of two ogeeshaped ribs set back to back, with carved flowers or grapes filling in the background.
Pardah: A rug which is suspended in a tent doorway.
Parian: A semi matt type of porcelain produced with feldspar and that does not require a glaze.
Parisienne: See fashion doll.
Parure / demi parure: A jewellery set usually comprising a matching necklace earring a pair of bracelets and a brooch a demi parure is typically just two items such as a necklace and earrings.
Parquetry: Decorative veneers of wood laid in a geometric pattern.
Pashmina: A fine shawl made from the fine under belly hair of Himalayan mountain goat.
Paste: The mixture of ingredients that make up porcelain. Also a compound of glass used to make imitation gemstones.
Patchwork: Textile made by piercing together scraps of fabric, often used for making quilts.
Pate: Crown piece found under the wig that covers the hole in some dolls’ heads; made from cardboard, cork, or plaster.
Pate-de-verre: (‘glass paste’) Translucent glass created by melting and applying powdered glass in layers or by casting it in a mould.
Pate-de-crystal: Glass that is crushed into fine crystals and then bound together so that it can be moulded rather than having to be worked in its molten state.
Pate-sur-pate: 19th century Sevres porcelain technique, much copied, of applying coloured clay decoration to the body before firing.
Pave: Setting that has been paved with snugly fitting gemstones, so that little or no metal shows through.
Peachbloom: Ceramic glaze derived from copper, ranging in hue from pinkish red to cloudy green, first seen in Chinese wares in the Qing Dynasty.
Pearlware: Fine English earthen ware developed by Wedgewood. Identified by its blue tinted glaze.
Peg doll or peg wooden: Early wooden doll with simple, peg joints.
Pegged furniture: Early joined furniture constructed by a system of mortises (slots) and tenons (tongues), held together by dowels (pegs).
Pendant: A general term applied to any kind of drop ornament pointing downwards.
Pendulum: A wooden or metal rod with a weighted end that controls the timekeeping of clocks.
Penny toy: Small and simple toys made from a variety of materials and designed to be sold for a penny.
Penwork: Type of decoration applied to japanned furniture, principally in England in the late 18th,early 19th century. Patterns in white japan were applied to a piece which had already been japanned black, and then the details and shading were added using black Indian ink with a fine quill pen.
Petit-feu: Low-fired enamel decoration on ceramics. The palette in much broader than the earlier grand-feu colours.
Petit point: Finely worked embroidery with stitches that only cross one wrap or weft thread
Petit sonnerie: Clock that strikes the hours and the quarters only, but usually repeats grande sonnerie.
Petuntse: The Chinese name for a Chinese stone.
Piano Baby: Collectors term for all-bisque porcelain figures of crawling or seated children, made by the Heubach factory in Thuringia and intended for display on a piano.
Pile weavings: Rugs and carpets made with knots, clipped to create a pile.
Pinchback: Alloy of copper and zinc, invented c 1720 as a substitute for gold and widely used in jewellery.
Pinion: A small toothed wheel that acts a gear in the clock movement.
Pitch: The black or dark brown sticky substance made by distilling tar or turpentine, used to fill the base of thinly gauged silver candlesticks to give them weight and stability.
Phiale mesomphalos: An ancient Greek metal vessel used for pouring libations and also for making offerings at religious sanctuaries. The mesomphalos is the raised central boss.
Pietra dura: Italian term for hardstone, applied to a mosaic pattern of semi-precious stones and marble.
Pique: Technique in which a material such as tortoiseshell is inlaid with metal decoration.
Planishing: Technique of producing a smooth finish on metal work by gently hammering or rolling the surface.
Plank seat: Originally American, this type of seat was adopted by some makers of English Windsor chairs. The seat was made of a single piece of wood and, unlike the English Windsor seat, had no bottoming shape adzed out of it, although most designs had a rolled edge at the front.
Plastic: Synthetic material with a polymeric structure, which can be easily moulded when soft and then set.
Plate: A generic term for gold and silver vessels not to be confused with Sheffield plate or plated wares.
Platform base: Three- or four-cornered flat table bases supporting a central pedestal and standing on scrolled or paw feet.
Plique-a-jour: Enamelling technique in which a structure of metal strips is laid on a metal background to form enclosed areas which are then filled with transparent enamels. When the backing is removed, a transparent ‘stained glass’ effect is achieved.
Plumbago: Another word for graphite.
Plum pudding: Type of figuring in some veneers, produced by dark oval spots in the wood. Found particularly in mahogany.
Plush: A fabric with a long cut pile used to make teddy bear fur.
Plywood: Form of laminated wood with the grain of the alternate layers set at right angles.
Point-de-gaze: Type of lace developed in Belgium in the latter half of the 19th century, so-called because of its light, gauzy appearance.
Pole screen: Small adjustable screen mounted on a pole and designed to stand in front of an open fire to shield a lady’s face from the heat.
Polychrome: Decoration executed in more than two colours.
Pontil iron: Rod attached to the base of a glass object to support it while it is finally shaped.
Pontil mark: Mark left on the base of a glass object by the pontil iron.
Porringer: A two handled dish sometimes with a lid for holding porridge or broth.
Portrait doll: Doll intended to represent a particular person sometimes similar only in name. The term is used to describe early Jumeau dolls.
Post- modernism: Reaction against Modernism, which began during the 1950s and promoted and promoted the reintroduction of bright colours and decorative, often with architectural-style components.
Potash glass: Strong type of glass made from potash, lime and silica. Also called verre de fougere or Waldglas.
Pot board: Lowes shelf of a court cupboard or open dresser.
Pounce box/pot: Cylinder or bottle with sprinkler for ‘pounce’, a powder used to dry ink before blotting paper was invented.
Poured wax: Term for dolls with hollow or shoulder heads, made by repeated dipping into molten wax until a substantial shell is achieved, which is then painted.
Powder-blue: Mottled blue ground achieved by blowing dry pigment onto a ceramic body through gauze.
Powder flask: Device for measuring out a precise quantity of priming powder, suspended from a musketeer’s belt or bandolier and often ornately decorated. Sporting flasks are often made of antler and carved with hunting scenes.
Powder horn: Cow horn hollowed out, blocked at the wide end with a wooden plug and fitted with a measuring device at the narrow end, used by musketeers for dispensing a precise quantity of priming powder.
Prattware: A type of cream ware decorated with a high fired palette of blue green and yellow.
Prayer-rug: Usually small rug on which Muslims kneel to pray. Many incorporate a mihrab or arch.
Premiere-partie: The upper layer, normally of brass, of Boulle work; the pattern to be cut was attached to it.
Pressed wax (solid wax): Term for dolls with solid carved-wax heads, made prior to the introduction of poured wax.
Press-moulding: Technique that involves pouring molten glass into a metal mould and pressing it to the sides using a metal plunger. Also refers to the moulding of ceramic figures or applied ornament by pressing clay into an absorbent mould.
Pricket: Metal spike on a candlestick for securing the candle.
Prie-dieu: Chair with a low seat and a tall back designed for prayer. Usually dating from the 19th century.
Printie/printy: Circular or oval hollow cut into glass for decorative effect, sometimes called a lens.
Prochous: Ancient Greek pitcher.
Protome: Ancient Greek head and shoulders bust, often with a flat back.
Proto-porcelain: Early high-fired stoneware that preceded true porcelain, developed in China as kilns became more efficient and capable of reaching higher temperatures.
Provenance: The history of an object. This might include when, where and by whom it was made and its previous owners. Good provenance can add interest and value to a piece.
Prunt: Blob of glass applied to the stem of a drinking vessel both as decoration and to stop the glass from slipping in the hand. Sometimes impressed with a decorative stamp to form a ‘raspberry’.
Puce: Purple-red colour formed from manganese oxide, which was used on ceramics.
Pummel: Also spelt pommel. There are three meanings: (1) a type of finial often called a poppyhead found on a pew or a bench end; (2) the rounding off of a piece of turned part with the square; (3) a type of handle.
Pumpkin head: Type of wax-over-papier-mache doll with moulded hair, popular in Britain and Germany in the mid-19th century.
Punch bowl: Large bowl on a stepped or moulded foot.
Punch’ong: Type of greyish-green celadon stoneware, with stamped decoration filled with slip. Made in Korea from the 14th to the 20th century.
Puzzle jug: Jug with a globular body, openwork neck, and between three and seven spouts.

Q Glossary

Qianjian palette: Range of light brown colours used in the decoration of Chinese ceramics.
Qilin: Chinese mythical beast. Also spelt kilin.
Qingbai: White ware produced by potters in the Jingdezhen are of China throughout the Song dynasty.
Quadrant: A quarter circle marked with degrees of a circle and with a weighted line or pointer used as a navigational aid.
Quaich: Type of silver drinking bowl with flat handles, originating in Scotland.
Quatrefoil: Shape or design incorporating four foils or lobes.
Quartetto tables: A set of four graduating matching tables that can be stored inside each other.
Quarter-veneered: Four consecutively cut, and therefore identical, pieces of veneer laid at opposite ends to each other to give a mirrored effect.
Queens ware: Alternative name given by Wedgwood to its cream ware made in honour of Queen Charlotte who commissioned a cream ware tea service from the company in 1765.

R Glossary

Rack: The structure comprising several shelves at the top of some dressers.
Rail: A structural member that joins the vertical stiles of a framework or carcase; also the horizontal members enclosing a panel.
Raising: Process of making hollow-wares by hammering sheet metal over a stake or anvil. The metal in annealed to make it easier to work.
Random width: Boards are of random width when the widths are different from each other.
Rat-tail: Tapering rib strengthening the bowl and stem of a spoon.
Redware: Stone ware generally unglazed and often decorated with applied motifs in relief.
Re-entrant corner: A corner that curves back on itself.
Refectory table: Term used to describe the long rectangular table of the 17th century and later.
Reformation: Religious and political movement in 16th-century Europe that began as a attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches.
Regence: The forerunner of the Rococo style in France, characterized by symmetrical, heavy forms typical of the Baroque but with elaborate scrollwork. It takes its name from the regency of Philippe, duc d’Orleans (1715-23).
Register plates: Scale of a barometer against which the mercury level is read.
Regulator: Extremely accurate clock, used as a standard by which other clocks may be set.
Reign marks: Four- or six-character marks on Chinese porcelain or bronzes denoting the name of the emperor and, on six-character, the dynasty. They do not necessarily indicate the period of manufacture as they were often copied.
Religieuse: Early clocks of the Louis XIV period in France, influenced by the sober Protestantism of the Dutch taste.
Repeat work: Device that enables a clock to repeat the last hour or quarter-hour when a cord is pulled or a button depressed.
Repousse: (‘pushed out’) Term for embossing. More precisely the secondary process of chasing metal that has been embossed to refine the design.
Reproduction: A piece which is a copy of an earlier design.
Reserve: Space within a ground, left blank for decoration.
Restoration: Re-establishment of the monarchy in1660 in Britain; also the reign of Charles II (1660-85). Also the reestablishment of the monarchy in France under Louis XVIII (1814-24) and Charles X (1824-30).
Reticulation: Intricate pierced decoration on thin walled porcelain.
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes: The Edict of Nantes, promulgated by Henry IV in 1598, granted freedom of religion to French Protestants. Its revocation by Louis XIV in 1685 led to many French Protestants (Huguenots) fleeing religious persecution and settling in England and The Netherlands.
Ribbon plates: Plates with pierced borders through which to thread ribbons for hanging on a wall.
Right: Dealers term for something which is genuine and authentic as opposed to wrong which means it is faked altered or restored.
Rinceaux: Type of scrolling foliage ornament.
Ring method: Wooden animals for arks and farmyards, made in Germany in the 19th and early 20th centuries using the ring method. A large circle of wood was turned to produce the animal in cross-section. The animals were then cut from the ring in slices. The legs were separated and details, such as the ears and horns, were added.
Riven: Refers to timber that has been split along its grain by inserting a riving iron or froe at one end and hitting it with a hammer. As the only alternative was laborious pitsawing this method was employed whenever possible, especially as the timber so produced was as strong as it could be.
Robin’s-egg glaze: Speckle dark blue and turquoise glaze developed in China during the 18th century.
Rocaille: Shell and rock motifs found in Rococo work.
Rod bear: Early type of Steiff teddy bear with metal rod jointing.
Romayne: A decorative feature consisting of small heads in profile enclosed in a medallion; popular in the early 16th century.
Rose Pompadour: French term for the rich, deep-pink glaze introduced at the Sevres porcelain factory as a group colour. Named after Louis XV’s famous mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour.
Rosso antico: Red-bodied ware developed by Wedgewood in the late 18th century.
Rouleau vase: Type of Chinese vase of cylindrical shape with a rolled over rim.
Roundel: A term generally applied to any circular decorative feature or motif; thus it includes medallions, paterae, and plaques.
Rule joint: A joint used along the meeting edges of the flap and the bed of a flap and the bed of a flap or gate-leg table.
Rummer: 19th-century English low drinking goblet.
Runner: Name given to long, narrow rugs, generally c.2.6m long by 1-1.2m wide.
Runners: Strips of wood on which drawers slide.
Ruyi: Chinese presentation sceptre.
Ruyi clouds: Cloud-like decorative feature often used as a design in Chinese art.

S Glossary

Sabot: French term for the gilt-bronze ‘shoe’ at the bottom of furniture legs.
Sabre leg: Outward-curving leg, shaped like the curved blade of a sabre, that became fashionable on late-18th- century Empire and Regency chairs.
Sacque: 18th-century woman’s dress with drapes failing in long pleats at the back.
Safavids: Dynasty that ruled Persia (now Iran) from 1501 to 1732.
Salt: Collectors’ term for a salt-cellar.
Salt glaze: Thin, glassy glaze applied to some stoneware and produced by throwing salt into the kiln at the height of firing. The glaze may show a pitted surface, known as ‘orange peel’.
Salver: Flat, round dish, sometimes with feet, similar to a tray but smaller and without handles.
Sampler: Needlework picture incorporating different stitches and designs.
Sancai: Three-colour decorative feature often used as a design in Chinese art.
Sangam: Korean celadon wares inlaid with black-and-white clays.
Sang-de-bouef: Bright red glaze used extensively on Chinese ceramics during the Qing Dynasty.
Sautoir: A long chain with gems or pearls set at intervals along the length.
Savonnerie: French rug or carpet with a dense pile, named after the French carpet manufactory established in Paris during the early 17th century. The term is sometimes also applied to similar carpets made elsewhere in Europe.
Scagliola: Decorative material imitating marble or hardstone and made from hardened and polished plaster and chips of marble.
Scale pattern: Ornament of overlapping scales. Also called imbrications.
Scent bottle: A small portable flask often of flattened pear shape.
Schnelle: German term for a tall stoneware tankard with tapered sides made in the Rhineland, especially in Sieburg during the second half of the 16th century.
Schwarzlot: German term for black lead enamel painting on porcelain and glass used from the second half of the 17th century.
Scratch: More properly, a scratchstock. A sharpened metal blade which was gripped in a wooden handle and shaped to the profile of the required moulding. It was then drawn along the part requiring to be moulded.
Scratchweight: Note made of the weight, in ounces and pennyweight troy, of a silver article at essay, usually handengraved lightly on the base or reverse.
Seams: Visible joins in metalwork that has been cast in several pieces.
Seat rail: Framework that supports the seat of a chair and holds the legs together.
Secessionist: Movement formed in opposition to established artistic taste, which emerged in Munich, Berlin, and Vienna toward the end of the 19th century. It advocated a purer, more abstract style of design.
Secretaire: Writing cabinet with a fall front that lets down to provide a writing surface.
Secretaire a abattant: Type of writing cabinet with a fall front and resting on a chest of drawers or small cupboard.
Sennin: Japanese immortal.
Settle: A long wooden seat with a back and arm and possibly a box seat.
Sextant: Navigational instrument formed from one sixth of a circle.
S. F. B. J: Societe de Fabrication de Bebes et Jouets; association of doll makers founded 1899 by the merger of Jumeau.
Sgraffito: Form of ceramic decoration incised through a coloured slip, revealing the ground beneath.
Shagreen: Untanned leather, originally the skin of the shagri, a Turkish wild ass, but now used to include sharkskin.
Shaker furniture: Made by an American religious sect, more properly known as The United Society of Believers. Their leader, Mother Ann Lee, said ‘Do all your work as though you had 1,000 years to live, and as you would if you knew you must die tomorrow’, and this philosophy produced some of the most functional yet beautiful furniture ever made.
Shakers: Religious communities in North America, noted for their simple, pareddown furniture and artifacts.
Shako: A 19th century military cap of conical or cylindrical shape with a peak.
Shakudo: Japanese term of on alloy of copper and gold.
Shamshir: Indian sword.
Sheffield plate: Silver substitute used from c. 1740, made by binding and fusing together sterling silver and copper.
Shelf clock: American term for a bracket or mantel clock.
Shellac: Resinous varnish obtained from the lac insect and used in japanning.
Shibayama: Japanese term for lacquer applied with semi-precious stones and ivory.
Shibuichi: Japanese term of an alloy of copper and gold.
Shiraz: Centre of distribution in central iran for nomadic rugs decorated with simple geometric designs
Shishi: Budhist mythical beast, a lion-dog, used on Oriental porcelain.
Shoe: Projecting piece rising from the back rail of a chair seat into which the base of the splat is fixed.
Shoulder: Outward projection of a vase under the neck or mouth.
Shoulder plate: Area of a doll’s shoulder-hear below the neck.
Shou symbol: Chinese decorative motif, symbolizing longevity.
Shoulder-head: Term for a doll’s head and shoulder below the neck.
Shoulderplate: Area of a doll’s shoulder-head below the neck.
Show-wood: A term usually applied to upholstered furniture to define wood that is exposed to view, as opposed to those parts covered by upholstery.
Shu fu: Opaque white Chinese porcelain with a greyish-white glaze and incised with the characters shu and fu, meaning ‘Privy Council’.
Side chair: Chair without arms, designed to stand against the wall.
Signer: A guitar never used by a famous musician but signed by and associated with him or her due to its make.
Silvered brass: Brass that is coloured silver by the application of a silvering compound.
Silver gilt: Silver with a thin layer of gold.
Silver resist: Decorative technique normally found on pearlware ceramics c 1800-20, whereby a design is painted in wax onto an object and then silver lustre is applied to the surface. When the wax is burnt off in the kiln, the painted design appears on a silver lustre ground.
Singerie: French term for ornament featuring monkeys (singes), popular during the 18th century combined with chinoiserie decoration.
Siphon tube: U-shaped tube fitted into wheel barometers where the level of mercury in the short arm is used to record.
Skeleton clock: Clock with pierced or fretted frame revealing the mechanism.
Skiver: The sheepskin leather inset found in the top of writing tables and desks.
Slab-building: Early method of forming ceramics objects by assembling slabs of clay and luting them together.
Slat-back chair: Type of 17th-century chair with slats across the back.
Sleeping eyes: Eyes that can move from open to closed, mainly found on French bisque dolls.
Sleeve vase: Tall vase of long thin tubular shape.
Slip: A smooth mixture of clay and water used to decorate pottery and in the production of slip cast wares.
Slip casting: Method of manufacturing thin bodied vessels by pouring slip into a mould.
Slip trailing: Application of slips to a ceramics form to decorate the surface.
Slip-in seat: See drop in seat.
Slip ware: Type of red-bodied earthenware decorated largely with slip in contrasting colours.
Slit head: Type of wax-over-papier-mache doll made in Britain in the early 19th century.
Slop-bowl: Bowl for tea rinsings.
Slot dovetail: A form of dovetail joint used to join claw legs to the central pillar or support of a tripod table.
Snuff-box: Hinged box, often highly decorated, used from the early 18th century for storing snuff.
Snuffer: Cone shaped metal implement used to extinguish candles
Socket head: Type of doll’s head in which the base of the neck is rounded so that it fits into a cup shape at the top of the body.
Socle: Block or slab that forms the lowest part of the pedestal of a sculpture or decorative vase.
Soda glass: Formed by the addition of soda to the batch to produce a light glass with a yellow or brown tint.
Sofa table: Rectangular table with two hinged flaps at the ends designed to stand in front of a sofa.
Soft paste porcelain: Porcelain made from kaolin made from kaolin powdered glass soapstone and clay.
Solder: Lead applied to repair cracks and holes in silver.
Solid wax: See pressed wax.
Soumakh: A type of flatwoven textile made by the weft-wrapping technique, used especially in the Caucasus and north-western Persia.
Spade foot: Tapering foot of square section.
Spade hands: Crude hands with little detail, found on early German wooden dolls.
Spandrel: The triangular bracket found at the top of legs.
Spadroon: Cut and thrust sword.
Sparrow-beak jug: Jug with a simple triangular spout.
Spelter: Zinc alloy, an inexpensive alternative to bronze. Used in the production of figures.
Spindle: Term used to denote object in the shape of a spinner’s spindle. Specifically the upright of a spindle-back chair.
Split turning: The wood block to be turned is split centrally lengthwise and the halves are glued together with a piece of paper interposed. The glued-up block is turned when the glue has set, and the two halves afterwards separated to give split turnings.
Sponging: Application with a sponge of colour or a glaze to a ceramic piece after firing to produce a mottled appearance.
Sprigged ware: Pottery decorated with ornaments applied with slip.
Spring: Applied or relief ceramic ornament, not necessarily consisting of springs of foliage, made by pressmoulding.
Squab cushion: Loose flat cushion on the seat of a chair.
Square joint: Early form of joint used on the flaps of flap and gate-leg tables.
Staining (glass): A method of colouring glass with metal oxides which are painted on and then fired
Stampino: Italian term for blue-and-white stencil decorations, used on porcelain made at the Italian factory of Doccia factory.
Standard: Required amount of pure silver in an alloy.
Stereograph: Photograph made of two images taken from slightly different viewpoints to give the impression of depth.
Stile: The principal vertical members of a framework in panelled construction.
Stiles: Back uprights on a chair and other pieces of furniture.
Stipple engraving: Method of decorating glass by tapping a hard steel or diamond point against the surface to build up a pattern of small dots.
Stippling: Technique of creating intricate painted designs on ceramics by applying dots of colour with the point of a brush.
Stirrup cup: Silver or silver-gilt cup used for drinking prior to making a journey or going hunting. Usually shaped as the head of an animal.
Stock: The wooden part of a firearm to which the metal barrel and firing mechanism are attached.
Strap hinge: A hinge with a long arm or band; used during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Strapwork: Decorative ornament resembling a series of thongs, rings, and buckles, used mainly in the 16th and 17th centuries and revived in the 19th century.
Streamlining: Style with flowing curved lines and aerodynamic form, prevalent in American design of the Art Deco period.
Strike/silent: Lever or hand on the dial of a clock that enables the striking mechanism to be shut off.
Strip quilt (‘strippy’): Quilt composed of alternating strips of different fabrics, either solid colours or prints. Very often used as the back of a patchwork or floral quilt.
Studio pottery: Pottery or glass that has been individually designed and crafted.
Stumpwork: Raised needlework on a ground of cotton or cotton wool, formed as three-dimensional panels and often mounted as pictures. Popular during the 17th century.
Stuff-over: Descriptive of upholstered furniture where the covering extends over the frame of the seat.
Stumpwork: Embroidery which incorporates distinctive areas of raised decoration, formed by padding certain areas of the design.
Subsidiary dial: A secondary dial set in the main that indicates seconds or the date.
Sugan: Twisted lengths of straw referring to a type of Irish country chair that has a seat of this type.
Sulphide: Small, opaque-white medallion made of china clay or glass paste enclosed in transparent glass.
Sumptaury laws: Laws forbidding the import, ownership, or manufacture of luxury goods.
Susani: Central Asian hand-embroidered bridal bed-cover.
Sussex chair: Chair with an ash frame and rush seat, based on a traditional country design and popularized by William Morris in the 19th century.
Swags: Decorative ornaments similar to a festoon made up of fruit flowers husks or nuts or a loop of cloth.
Swan-neck cresting: Type of broken pediment with two S-shaped curved, one of which is reversed.
Swan-neck handle: Curved handle, popular in the 18th century.
Swivel head: Type of doll’s head made separately from the shoulders and fitted later, allowing the head to swivel.

T Glossary

Table ambulante: French term for a small portable occasional table.
Tablet back: Also called tablet top. Any chair in which the top back rail is in the form of a rectangular panel.
Taffeta: The name given to a variety of fine silk fabrics, usually plain but sometimes patterned. A gum-like substance was applied to some teffetas to give a shiny finish.
Takamakie: Technique used in Japanese lacquerware in which the design is built up and modelled in a mixture up and modelled in a mixture of lacquer and charcoal or clay dust, and then often gilded
Tallcase clock: See long case clock.
Taotie: Chinese mythical animal that devours wrong-doers.
Taperstick: Small candlestick for holding a taper (thin candle) for lighting piper and melting sealing wax.
Tassie: Cameo portraits made from a glass paste cast in a mould, produced in Scotland in 1766.
Tavern clock: Weight-driven wall clock, with a large dial and long trunk.
Tazza: Wide but shallow bowl on a sterm with a foot; ceramic and metal tazzas were made in antiquity and the form was revived by Venetian glassmakers in the 15th century. Also made in silver form the 16th century.
Teapoy: Piece of furniture in the form of a tea caddy on legs, with a hinged lid opening to reveal caddies, mixing bowl and other tea drinking accessories
Tear: Tear-drop-shaped air bubble in the stem of an early 18th century wine glass, from which the air-twist evolved.
Tenmoku: Japanese term for a molasses-coloured glaze, made from iron oxide.
Tenons: See pegged furniture.
Terracotta: A red earth ware which fired and usually unglazed.
Tester: Wooden canopy or ceiling over a bed, supported by two or four posts hence full tester or half tester.
Tete-a-tete: Tea or coffee set for two people.
Theodolite: Sophisticated form of surveying instrument used to measure angles of elevation and horizontal angles.
Thrown ware: Hollow vessels made by hand on a wheel.
Throwing: The technique of shaping ceramics vessels by hand on a rotating wheels.
Thrown chair: Chair constructed from turned pieces of wood, made in Britain from the 16th century.
Thumbpiece: Flange attached to a hinged lid, which, when pressed by the thumb, raises the lid.
Thuyawood: Reddish-brown wood with distinctive small bird’s eye markings, imported from Africa and used as a veneer.
Tiki: Symbol of the procreative power of the Maori god tane.
Timepiece: Clock that does not strike or chime.
Tin glaze: Glassy opaque white glaze of tin oxide re-introduced to Europe in the 14th C by Moorish potters; the characteristic glaze of delftware faience and maiolica.
Tin plate: Toys made from thin steel covered with a coating of tin to guard against rust which could then be painted or decorated with lithography.
Toadback moulding: The section of this moulding appears as two shallow ogee mouldings joined by a beading; it was sometimes used for chair legs in the late 18th century.
Togidashi: Japanese lacquer technique in which further layers of lacquer are added to hiramake ( QV ) then polished flush with the original surface.
Toleware: Items made from tinplated sheet iron which is varnished and then decorated with brightly coloured paints.
Tooled: Gilding that has been worked with a tool into a decorative pattern.
Tombak: Alloy of copper and zinc.
Topsy-turvy dolls: Rag doll that has two torsos, each with a different head, one hidden beneath the reversible skirt.
Torchere: Candlestand.
Tortoiseshell ware: Creamware decorated with mingled glazes to produce a variegated effect.
Tosei Gusoku: Japanese term meaning modern equipment used to describe a new style of armour introduced in the late 16th century.
Touch: Maker’s mark stamped on much, but not all, early English pewter. Their use was strictly controlled by the pewtere’s. Their use was strictly controlled by the pewterer’s company of London: early examples consist of initials, later ones are more elaborate and pictorial, sometimes including the maker’s address.
Toys: Small, inexpensive items, such as buckles and buttons mass produced in silver and brass in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Also small porcelain novelties.
Trafalgar chair: Type of dinning chair with sabre legs and a ropetwist bar, made during the regency period to commemorate the battle of Trafalgar.
Trailing: Method of decorating glass by laying molten glass onto the body in a line, spiral, or lattice pattern. The trails are sometimes combed to create festoons.
Train: A set of cog wheels and pinions in a clock.
Transfer printing: A method of decorating ceramic objects.
Transitional: In French furniture-making, style created from the fusion of Neo-classical decoration with Rococo forms.
Trefoil: A motif incorporating three lobes to the vessel.
Treen: Small wooden domestic objects sometimes in the shape of fruit.
Trefid: Spoon with a broad, flat stem ending in a trefoil shape.
Trefoil: Decorative motif shaped like clover, with three pronounced lobes.
Trelliswork: Geometric decoration in the form of trellis.
Trembleuse: French term for a cup and saucer with a raised rim that holds the cup steady too avoid spillages.
Tripod table: Small table with a round top supported by a three-legged pillar, originally made for serving tea.
Trompe l’oeil: Pictorial decoration intended to deceive the eye.
Trophy: An arrangement of either weapons or armour, or both; or in some instances groups of musical instruments. They were carved, inlaid or painted as ornamental compositions.
A la troubadour: French version of the Gothic Revival style.
Trumeau: Section of wall between two openings a pier mirror.
Trunk: Middle section of a longcase clock, either solid or glazed and usually with a door at the front.
Tsuba: Guard of a Japanese sword, usually consisting of an ornamented plate.
Tube lining: Type of ceramic decoration in which thin trails of slips are applied as outlines to areas of coloured glaze.
Tudric: Range of Celtic-inspired art Nouveau pewter of high quality designed for mass-production by Archibald knox and others, and retailed through liberty & Co.
Tumbler cup: Round-bottomed drinking vessel weighted at the base so that it will always return to an upright position if upturned.
Tunbridge ware: Objects decorated with pictures or designs made from bundles of differently coloured wood cut in sections.
Tureen: A large bowl on a foot used for serving soup.
Turned furniture: Pieces made by turning on a lathe.
Two-faced doll: Doll with a revolving head, showing different expressions or colours at the front and back. Three-faced dolls were also made.
Tyg: Three-handled mug.

U Glossary

Up/down dial: Subsidiary dial commonly found on marine chronometers, which indicates how much time remains before the clock must be wound.
Upholstery spring: Properly known as a double cone spring and in use from the late eighteenth century.
Ushabti: Literally answerer. Ancient Egyptian ceramic figure placed in a tomb to work in the afterworld in the place of the dead person it represented.

V Glossary

Vaseline glass: Type of opalescent glass developed in Britain in the late 1870’s and designed to resemble 15th and 16th centuries Venetian glass.
Vase parlant: Glass vase of art Nouveau design engraved or decorated in cameo with verses from French poetry.
Verge escapement: Oldest form of escapement, found on clocks as early as 1300 and still in use in 1990. Consisting of a bar(the verge) with two flag-shaped pallets that rock in and out of the teeth of the crown or escape wheel to regulate the movement.
Vernier scale: Short scale added to the traditional 3 in (7.5cm) scale on stick barometers to give more precise readings than had previously been possible.
Vernis Martin: Type of Japanning or imitation lacquerwork invented by the Martin family in Paris in the 18th century.
Verre eglomise: Painting on glass. Often the reverse side of the glass is covered in gold or silver leaf through which a pattern is engraved and then painted black.
Vesta case: Ornate flat case of silver or other metal for carrying vestas, an early form of match. Used from the mid 19th century.
Vide poche: French term for a small table or dish in which the contents of pockets may be emptied.
Vienna regulator: Extremely precise and finely made weight-driven clocks, either wall-hanging or floor-standing, produced in Austria during the first half of the 19th century.
Vinaigrette: A small portable container containing a sponge scented with vinegar or perfume to combat offensive odours.
Vinyl: Non-flammable, flexible yet tough form of plastic used in 1940s.
Vitrine: French display cabinet which is often of bombe or serpentine outline and ornately decorated with marquetry and ormolu.
Vitrifiable colours: Coloured enamels that become fixed and glassy when fired.
Vitruvian scroll: Pattern repeating spiral scrolls (volutes) derived from Classical architecture.

W Glossary

Wainscot chair: Early jointed chair with a panelled back, open arms and wood seat.
Waiter: German term for a cylindrical tankard.
Warp: Threads used to make the foundations of a carpet running from one end of the carpet to the other and form the fringes.
Watch stand: Victorian flatback piece with a hole in which to place a watch, used as a mantelpiece ornament.
Wax over: Doll made of war-over-composition, produced mostly in France and Germany in the 1870s.
Wakizashi: Short Japanese sword.
Weft: Horizontal threads in the foundation of a rug that are interwoven with the warps. In most flatweaves. the visible surface of the rug is composed of weft threads.
Wellington chest: Tall, narrow, relatively plain type of chest named after the Duke of Wellington.
Wet plate camera: Earliest form of camera often made from brass bound mahogany.
Whatnot: Tall stand of four or five display shelves and sometimes a drawer in the base.
Wheatears: An alternative name for the husk ornament.
Wheel engraving: Method of decorating glass by cutting it using a small rotating wheel fed with an abrasive.
White ware: White porcelain which has been glazed but not decorated or white glazed domestic earthen ware.
Whitework: Embroidery in white thread on a white ground.
Willow pattern: Mock-Chinese decorative pattern, used on blue-end-white transfer-printed wares. The pattern shows two figures crossing a bridge, with a third in pursuit.
Windsor chair: Country chair usually with a saddle seat hoop back and simple turned legs.
Wine cooler: Container sometimes lined with lead for holding iced water to cool wine bottles, made in marble, wood or silver.
Wine funnel: Cone with a spout and often a matching dish for filtering and decanting wine.
Wine taster: Shallow, circular silver vessel with a raised centre used for assessing the colour, clarity, and taste of wine.
Wing chair: Upholstered chair with a high back and wing like side projections.Short for wuttembergische Metallwarenfabrik, a German foundry that was one of the principal producers Of Art Nouveau metalware
Wirework: Decorative use of interwoven wires.
Wreathing: Spiralling indented rings inside thrown pottery. Left by the potter’s fingers, or caused by distortions during the firing process.
Wrigglework: Decorative patterns on pewter made with punches. Popular on 17th-century pewter wares.
Wucai: (‘five colours’) Type of ceramic decoration developed in 16th-century China using the same palette as doucai but within overglaze black or red, instead of underglaze-blue outlines.
Wufu: Chinese term meaning five happiness (long life, riches, tranquillity, love, of virtue and a good end to one’s life).

X Glossary

X frame: The x shaped construction of some chairs and stools.

Y Glossary

Yaki: Japanese term for ware.
Yen Yen: Chinese term for a long-necked vase with a trumpet mouth.
Yingqing: Type of porcelain from Jingdezhen in China, first produced during the Song dynasty in China, Also known as Qingbai.

Z Glossary

Zwischengoldglas: (‘sandwich gold glass’) Decorative gold leaf design between two layers of glass, developed by Bohemian glassmakers in the early 18th century.

Victorian Burr Walnut Oval Table

A mid Victorian burr walnut oval quarter venered tilt top Lou table on baluster stem and four Rococo legs. Circa 1860 £1400 Paid in 19/5/91 and receipt to show.

Ancient & Modern Antiques • Old & new collectables • Knebworth, Hertfordshire

Glossary of Terms

A Glossary

B Glossary

C Glossary

D Glossary

E Glossary

F Glossary

G Glossary

H Glossary

I Glossary

J Glossary

K Glossary

L Glossary

M Glossary

N Glossary

O Glossary

P Glossary

Q Glossary

R Glossary

S Glossary

T Glossary

U Glossary

V Glossary

W Glossary

X Glossary

Y Glossary

Z Glossary