Knowledge Center

Cartouches: Ornamental feature in the form of an unrolled scroll or oval table with the edges curled or rolled over; often emblazoned with arms, initials, etc. etc., as a central decoration in architecture and furniture.
 

Caryatid: Greek architectural ornament in the form of female figures used as supporting columns.

Cassapanca: Italian settee formed by adding arms and back to a chest.

Cassone:Italian chest or box with painted, carved or inlaid decoration.

Certosina: Style of inlay employing bone or ivory on a dark wood ground. Usually small geometric patterns, suggesting Mohammedan origin. Appears in Venetian work in the 14th century.

Chip: A arving technique that was accomplished by a succession of small, unconnected gouges using conventional motifs and geometric patterns.

Cosmatesque: Credenza: Credence, Italian form. An important production of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Credenza: A cupboard

Dura Gadroon: Ornament carved on edges either of flat areas or of turnings resembling short convex or concave flutes or ruffles.

Gesso: Composed of gypsum plaster, glue, and whiting; used for pastiglia.

Guilloche:  Continues running or band ornament of interlacing circles.Imbrications: Decoration resembling fish scales, adapted from the antique Roman in the Italian Renaissance.

Incised: A carving technique that resulted in a design that was flush with the surrounding wood.

Intarsia:  Form of wood inlay, especially of other materials, such as ivory and metal, derived from Oriental ivory inlays. It first appeared in European work in Siena, in the 13th century.

Letto: Medieval bed, often raised on a dais with paneled headboards and footboards.

Ormolu: Gilded brass or copper mounts for furniture principally used by the French ebenistes of the 18th century, and the followers of their styles.

Panchetto: An armless back chair  with three splayed legs instead of two trestle supports.

Pastiglia: A means of attaining relief ornament by covering the furniture with  coarse linen or fine canvas, then paining on a thick, creamy gesso in successive layers until the desired relief depth was attained.

Paterae: Small round or oval carved ornaments.

Pietra Dura: Hard composition of fragments of marble and other fine stones, usually arranged in designs and highly polished for use as tabletops, etc.

Predella: Platform used for beds.

Rinceaux: Continuous ornament of spiral or wavy form, sometimes called the branching scroll when intertwined with stems and leaves.

Sedia: Armchair

Scabello: An armless back stool that rested on solid trestle supports, one in the front and one in the back.

Scagliola: Hard plaster composition containing bits of marble, granite, alabaster, porphyry, or other stones. Capable of being highly polished and used as tops of tables, chests, etc.