Know Your Antique Furniture

Condition of old and antique furniture,antique furniture,checking the condition

Numerous terms come into play where antiques are concerned. Though you need not memorize everything, it would not hurt to familiarize yourself with certain terminology.

Let us look at everything to do with “chairs” first.

(1) An APRON is usually worn in the kitchen, but there is a similar term for wood too. If you look below the tabletop or the seat of a chair or a case piece, you will notice a horizontal piece of wood. This is the skirt or apron.

(2) Two vertical pieces of wood are joined by a horizontal piece known as RAIL.

(3) Have you observed a horizontal rail at the top on chairs and sofas? Well, that is a CREST RAIL.

(4) Okay, try to visualize the back of this chair—it consists of split banisters. This means, gluing two pieces of wood together with paper or cloth between them. The piece is then turned in the same manner as a whole banister. So actually they are halves of the usual banister. These carved and shaped upright banisters have a crest rail above them. For further support, there is a lower cross rail above the seat. What you see is a BANISTER BACK CHAIR.

(5) Some chairs have their backs shaped in the form of a shield—Sheraton or Hepplewaite chairs. They have a SHIELD BACK.

(6) Everyone knows that an EASY CHAIR is meant for relaxation; it is also known as wing chair.

(7) You can lounge on the LOLLING CHAIR when you feel tired! Fondly known as the Martha Washington chair, it is actually an arm chair with open arms. The back and seat are high upholstered.

(8) Even the corners of rooms can be furnished. So you have the CORNER CHAIR (roundabout) with its offset legs that can easily stand in the corner.

(9) You want a still more comfortable seat? Then you need the SETTEE, a small sofa with arms and a back.

Shall we move on to the cousins of chairs, “tables”?

(1) When we say BIRD-CAGE in the context of antique tables, we are referring to the supporting section of a tilt-top table. This section consists of two blocks that are supported by columns between the base and the top. So the top can tilt as well as pivot.

(2) Have you seen a table with the legs connected by stretchers? Resembling swinging gates, these legs are extended to provide support to the top of the drop-leaf table. This furniture has a special name—GATE-LEG TABLE.

(3) A similar construction as the above-mentioned, but with the stretchers missing, is the SWING-LEG TABLE.

(4) Another kind of drop-leaf table is the BUTTERFLY TABLE. The leaves are supported by winged brackets.

(5) Resembling a piecrust, the PIECRUST TABLE comes with circular top and scalloped edges.

(6) If your table has a columnar base, it is a PEDESTAL TABLE.

(7) This table can lean against the wall and has a mirror at the bottom. It is the PIER TABLE.