Cabaret Set - (Porcelain) A Cabaret Set is a tea set, that includes a teapot, cream pitcher, sugar bowl, cup and saucer and usually a tray, for one or two persons.

Cabaret Set

Cabasset - (Armor) A Cabasset is a type of helmet worn by foot soldiers. It is a open helmet with a narrow brim and a point at the top. It was used from the last half of the 16^th Century through the 17^th Century.

Cabinet - (Furniture) A case for the storage of papers and valuables which probably originated in Italy and had found its way to France by the early sixteenth century; made in a variety of forms and sometimes mounted upon a stand.

Cabinet-Piece - (Coins) A Cabinet-piece is a coin that is in mint condition.

Cabochon - (Jewelry) A precious stone which is polished but not cut or shaped into a regular figure.

Cabochon Ornament - (Furniture) A Cabochon Ornament is an ornament usually on the legs of furniture that is either round or oval in form with a hand carved leaf motif. Popular in the mid-18^th century.

Cabriole - (Furniture) a form of chair or table leg which appeared in England in the early eighteenth century. Popular on Queen Anne style furniture. A "cabriole" is a French word meaning 'leap like that of a goat'.

Cabriole Fan - (Fashion Accessories) A Cabriole Fan is named for a two-wheeled carriage. The fan has two or three arched bands of silk and is painted with a picture of a woman sitting in a carriage.

Cachet - (Stamps)

Caddy Spoon - (Silver) A Caddy Spoon is a small spoon used to measure tea from a tea caddy. It is usually left in the caddy. They started using caddy spoons in the 1780s and they can be made in a variety of forms; plain, decorative shapes, hands, leaves and flowers.

Cadogan Teapot - (Pottery, Porcelain, England, Chinese) A Cadogan Teapot is a peach-shaped teapot of Chinese inspiration which is filled through a hole in the base. Made first at Rockingham, Yorkshire, England in the 1780's.

Cadogan Teapot

Caen Lace - (Textiles) Caen Lace is pillow lace that is similar to blonde Chantilly Lace.

Cafaggiolo - (Ceramics, Pottery, Italy, Manufacturer) Leading manufacturer of maiolica from about 1506. It was produced at or near the Castle of Cafaggiolo, near Florence, under the patronage of a branch of the Medici family.

Café au lait Glaze - (Ceramics) Café au lait Glaze is a glaze used on Chinese Porcelain from the Ch’ing dynasty with a soft warm brown hue.

Cage Work - (Gold, Silver)

Cairngorm - (Mineral, Jewelry, Scotland)

Cake Basket - (Silver)

Cake Mold - (Kitchen)

Cake Stand - (Table Accessory, Silver, Ceramic, Glass)

Cake Walk Dancer - (Toy, Black Memorabilia)

Calamander - (Wood) Hard, fine-grained wood, light brown with black mottling and stripes, from the East Indies, used for veneer and bandings in Regency furniture particularly.

Calash - (Fashion Accessory)

Calcedonio - (Glass, Italian) Calcedonio Glass was first made in Venice in the late 15th Century. It made as an imitation of the banded semiprecious stone Chalcedony that is marbled with brown, blue, green, and yellow swirls.

Caldron - (Kitchen)

Calendar Clock - (Clock) Clock that gives the date as well as the time.

Calendar Plate - (Collectibles, Souvenir, Advertising)

Caliber Cut - (Jewelry)

California Perfume Company - (Collectibles)

Caliver - (Weapon, Gun)

Calligraphic Drawing - (Folk Art)

Calligraphy - (Art, Writing)

Calling Card Case - (Fashion Accessory)

Callot Figures - (Ceramics, Porcelain, Silver, Gold, France, Italy, Germany) Dwarf figures, frequently grotesque, as made at several porcelain factories during the eighteenth century, particularly at Meissen and Vienna. The name derives from Jacgues Callot (1593,1635), French artist and engraver.

Calot - (Armor)

Calumet - (Native American)

Camak - (Textile)

Camark - (Ceramics, Pottery, American) Camden, Arkansas

Cambrian Pottery Works - (Pottery, Wales)

Cambridge Glass - (Glass)

Cambridge Pottery - (Ceramics, Pottery)

Came - (Furniture, Glass, Lighting)

Camel-back – (Furniture) a piece of furniture with one, two or three humps on the back. On a two-hump piece the humps are of equal size, and on a three hump piece the middle hump is usually taller.

Cameo - (Jewelry)

Cameo Back - (Furniture) One undoubted Victorian contribution to the English chair: open oval back and cabriole legs: from 1840.

Cameo Glass - (Glass) Art glass carved with relief decoration through one or more layers of contrasting colors.

Cameo Habille - (Jewelry)

Campaign Furniture - (Furniture)

Campana Vase - (Household Accessory)

Campbell Kids - (Advertising, Collectibles, Memorabilia)

Camphene Lamp - (Lighting)

Camphor Glass - (Glass)

Camp Mug - (Metal)

Can - (Metal, Pottery)

Can Milk Cover -  (Tableware) A Victorian Era invention to hide the can on canned milk so they would be more pleasing to the eye while on the dinning table. They can be Metal or Ceramic, some dinnerware sets came with matching can milk covers.

Can Milk Cover

Canape - (Furniture)  The French term for a sofa.

Canapé - (Furniture) The French term for a sofa.

Canary Luster - (Ceramics)

Canceled to Order - (Stamps)

Cancellation - (Stamps)

Candelabra - (Lighting)

Candelabrum - (Lighting) A standing branched support for more than one candle. What are now called candelabra were in early times called candlesticks and chandeliers, apparently without distinction; it was not till the nineteenth century that the word candelabra came into use.

Candle Box - (Domestic) Box, of oak usually, or some metal such as brass, pewter or even silver, for storing candles. Examples will be found rectangular or cylindrical and will probably date from the eighteenth century.

Candle Clock - (Clock)

Candle Mold - (Kitchen)

Candle Shears - (Lighting)

Candle Shield - (Lighting)

Candle Stand - (Furniture)  A portable stand for supporting a candle, lamp or a light such as a candelabrum. They are made in various styles and a variety of materials. Often in pairs, and as this fashion seems to have come from France the French words Gueridon or Torcheres are often used.  Due to Lighting improvements in the 19th Century they are no longer made.  

Candle Stand

Candlestick - (Lighting) A support for a candle, at first by means of a pricket or spike, then, from the fifteenth century, by means of a nozzle. In silver examples the wide platform (to catch the grease) tends to disappear by the middle of the seventeenth century; the removable nozzle dates from circa 1760. The fluted column, the baluster ornament, were the staples until the classical revival came in in the 1760's (urn-shaped sockets, etc.).

Candlewick - (Glass, American, Pattern)

Candlewick - (Needlework, Textile)

Candy Container - (Household Accessory)

Cane - (Material) A pliant material made from rattans (a class of palms), introduced into England early in Charles II's reign by the East India Company. When first used the mesh was large but was reduced by the end of the seventeenth century. In 1803, there was a revival of caning for seat furniture.

Cane - (Glass) The rods of opaque or colored glass used in twist-stem glasses and latticino glass-making technique generally are called canes.

Cane - (Collectibles, Fashion Accessory) Walking stick.

Cann - (Silver)

Cannelure - (Weapon, Sword)

Cannon - (Weapon, Artillery)

Cannon Stove - (Kitchen)

Canopic Jar - (Pottery, Ceramics)

Canopy - (Furniture)  A covering, a projection, usually intended for ornament rather than utility. Canopies were often built-in to medieval furniture; but they were also a suspended fabric.

Canova, Antonio - (Fine Art, Ceramics, Italy)

Cant - (Furniture)

Canteen - (Household) A small wooden case divided into compartments for carrying bottles.

Canteen - (Household) a cutlery case for the traveler.

Canteen - (Military)

Canterbury - (Furniture)  Music rack of several vertical divisions, with drawer(s) or shelf beneath, of rosewood, walnut, mahogany; the earliest (late-Georgian) are simple but they grow more and more elaborate with brass or ormolu banding and some are bobbin-turned; much esteemed today for holding periodicals and newspapers. Also: supper tray with partitions for cutlery and plate.

Canton Ware - (Ceramics, Porcelain) One of the most important ports in China and connected by rivers and waterways with the great porcelain making centre of Ching-te-Chen; it was therefore only natural that decorating workshops should be established at Canton to take advantage of the export trade to the West. Canton enamelware dates from about 1725. Most of the 'Oriental Lowestoft' was decorated here and the industry flourished well into the nineteenth century.

Capacity Mug - (Ceramics)

Caparison - (Textile)

Cap Case - (Luggage)

Capeline - (Armor)

Capewell & Kimmel – (Fine Art Engravers) Capewell & Kimmel was an engraving firm in the mid to late 1800’s they did work for many books and publications. Their most popular being the Godey's Lady's Book and Frank Leslie’s Ladies Gazette of Fashion.

Capital - (Furniture)  The head (or top) of a column or pilaster.

Capital Coverlet - (Textiles)

Capo-di-Monte - (Ceramics, Porcelain) A factory for making porcelain set up in 1743 at Capo-di-Monte, near Naples, by Charles, King of Naples. Soft-paste porcelain of excellent quality was made; figures are superb-and very rare. In 1759, when Charles became King of Spain, the factory was removed to Buen Retiro, near Madrid. Early in the nineteenth century the Doccia factory acquired a large number of the Capo-di-Monte moulds and made considerable use of them; but as these Doccia reproductions are hard-paste porcelain their detection should not be difficult. The mark is the Flur-de-lis, also to be used at Buen Retiro.

Cap of Maintenance - (Armor)

Capstan Table - (Furniture) Rent Table.

Caquetoire - (Furniture French): Sixteenth-century chair, with arms and tall back.

Carmel Slag - (Glass)

Carbuncle - (Jewelry)

Carcass - (Furniture) The main structure of a piece of furniture on which veneer is applied.

Carcenet - (Jewelry)

Carda - (Armor)

Cardinal's Hat - (Pewter) Broad-brimmed pewter dish.

Card-cut - (Silver). Designs cut in thin sheet-metal and applied to the body, an ornament introduced in Charles II's reign and fully developed in the first quarter of the eighteenth century.

Card-cut - (Furniture) Flat ornament applied to or carved on the piece (favored during the middle years of the eighteenth century).

Carcase - (Furniture) The main structure of a piece of furniture on which veneer is applied.

Card-table - (Furniture)  A table designed for card playing appears in rare instances towards the end of the seventeenth century, being developed in the early eighteenth century. It had a folding top covered with cloth or velvet and frequently had sinkings for counters and candlesticks.

Carlin, Martin - (Furniture Maker French)  Eighteenth-century maitre ebeniste who was patronized by Marie Antoinette.

Carlsbad - (Tableware, Ceramics)

Carlton - (Ceramics)

Carlton House Table - (Furniture)  D-shaped writing-table, the back semicircular, the straight front containing drawers, the top built up at the back with further drawers and sometimes surmounted by a gallery. Late Georgian and Regency; of mahogany or satinwood.

Car Mascot - (Automobilia)

Carnival Glass - (Glass)

Carolean - (Furniture, Architecture)

Carousel Figure - (Collectibles, Folk Art)

Carpenter - (Furniture Maker) Carpenters made most of the domestic furniture in England until 1632 when a committee of the Court of Aldermen gave joiners the exclusive rights to furniture making, a monopoly that carpenters, especially those outside London, disputed for many long years. Carpets Said to have been introduced into England by Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I. Until the mid-eighteenth century the term 'carpet' was applied to coverings for furniture as well as for the floor. There are two basic methods of carpetweaving. In tapestry (or smooth-faced) carpets, a loom is used. For pile carpets, rows of knots are tied on the warp thread of a loom and the ends cut down close to the knots, thus forming a pile. After each row is finished weft threads are run through the knots to secure them. Persia and Asia Minor are and have been the great carpet-producing countries, followed by China, India, Spain and France. In England the main manufacturing centres have been Axminster, Wilton, Kidderminster. Separate entries are accorded the more important types and makes.

Carpet - (Textile)

Carpet Balls - (Toy)

Carpet Beater - (Domestic)

Carpet Runner - (Textile)

Carpet Runner - (Toy)

Carr, Gene – (Artist American 1881- 1959) From New York, He was an illustrator, did genre paintings, mostly watercolor and cartoons.

Carr, Gene

Carrara Marble - (Materials)

Carrara Ware - (Ceramics) The Wedgwood equivalent of Parian ware; name derives from the white marble of Tuscany.

Carreau - (Weapon)

Carriage Glass - (Glass)

Carriage Post - (Folk Art, Metal)

Carrickmacross Appliqué - (Textile)

Carrier’s Stamps - (Stamps)

Cartes de Visite - (Photography) CDV

Cartoon - (Textile)

Cartoon - (Fine Art)

Cartoon Character - (Collectibles)

Cartouche - (Decoration) Originally a roll or case of paper, but also applies to an ornament in the form of a tablet representing a sheet of paper with the ends rolled or curled over. Framed ornamental area on furniture.

Cart-Spring Clock - (Clock, American)

Carver Chair - (Furniture) A name given to a heavy, square type of American chair of turned oak, named after Governor Carver's chair at Pilgrim Hall; Plymouth.

Caryatid - (Furniture) A standing figure used to support an entablature.

Case - (Musical Instruments, Piano) The Case is the cabinet or exterior wooden parts of the piano. All exterior parts of the piano - top, sides, arms, music shelf, wallboard, etc. - taken as a whole. Although the proto-typical veneer is usually ebony, many other woods such as mahogany and walnut are often used. The choice of wood or condition of the case does not affect sound quality. Also referred to as the rim on a grand piano.

Cased - (Furniture)

Cased Glass - (Glass) Two or more layers of different colored glass that has been bonded together. Cased or Flashed or Overlay Glass Layers of different colored glass laid over a basis of clear glass to which had been applied a thick opaque-white coating. Oblique cutting revealed geometric or otherwise decorative designs; sometimes engraving and deep cutting was an added embellishment. The Romans possessed such a technique; the Bohemian glassmakers made a great deal of cased glass in the nineteenth century; but it was never better done than in England from 1845.

Cash Register - (Collectibles, General Store)

Casino Collectibles - (Collectibles)

Casque Norman - (Armor)

Cassel Porcelain - (Ceramics, Porcelain, Germany) German hard-paste porcelain factory active 1766-88.

Cassone - (Furniture) Italian for chest or coffer, an important piece of furniture in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and one on which the Italian makers lavished much skill, painted decoration being sometimes superb.

Cast - (Metal)

Castel Durante - (Ceramics, Pottery, Italy) Famous maiolica centre in Urbino, Italy; the wares produced here in the first half of the sixteenth century are particularly esteemed. Nicola Pellipario, one of the greatest maiolica painters, worked at Castel Durante c. 1712-27.

Castellini, Fortunato - (Jewelry)

Castelli Majolica - (Ceramics, Pottery, Italy)  Maiolica producing centre in Abruzzi, Italy, from the sixteenth century.

Caster Set - (Tableware) A receptacle for sugar and dry condiments such as pepper, having a perforated lid (though sometimes unpierced for mustard); silver examples may date as early as the late seventeenth century; the use of glass (often with silver lids) became common at the end of the eighteenth century.

Caster - (Furniture) From the 16th Century, small wheels used on the ends of furniture legs, particularly dining tables and heavy chairs, to make them easier to move. Small wheel or roller fitted to a piece of furniture to enable it to be moved without lifting. At first of wood, later of leather in the form of a single roller, then in the mid-eighteenth century a system of leather discs came into use, but gave way, towards the end of the eighteenth century, to brass wheels.

Casting Bottle - (Domestic)

Cast Iron - (Materials) As distinct from wrought iron, cast iron is hard and brittle and has been 'cast' in a mold.

Cast Iron Toy - (Toy)

Castle - (Armor)

Castwork - (Silver)

Caswell-Runyon Furniture Company - (Furniture Manufacturer) The Caswell-Runyon Furniture Company was located in Huntington, Indiana. They seem to have been in business from sometime in the 1920s or 1930s to the 1950s. They manufactured well-made innovative Cedar Chests and Sewing Cabinets. Many seem to have unique designs and beautiful veneer work. Currently there are no records available about the history of this company, other than many obituaries of people that worked there.

Cat - (Furniture)  A three-armed, three-legged stand for warming plates at the fire. Some were made of metal but most are of wood, mahogany particularly, and have elaborately turned arms. Made from the middle of the eighteenth century.

Catalina Island - (Ceramics, Pottery)

Catesby, Mark - (Prints, Artist)

Cathedral Clock - (Clock)

Catskill Moss Ware - (Ceramics, Earthenware, England)

Caucasian Rug - (Floor Covering)

Caudle Cup - (Tableware) Another name for a porringer. Caudle was a drink composed of thin gruel and sweetened and spiced wine or ale.

Caughley Ceramic Factory - (Ceramics, Earthenware, Porcelain, England) This ceramics factory established in the 1750's, produced earthenware until 1772 when Thomas Turner, who had been at Worcester, married the proprietor's daughter and instituted the manufacture of porcelain that at first followed the Worcester style. John Rose of Coalport purchased the Caughley factory in 1799 and kept it in being till 1814, when he transferred the business to Coalport. There were thus two periods at Caughley. In the first blue and white wares predominated; noteworthy were the 'Willow' and 'Broseley Blue Dragon' patterns which originated here (perhaps the work of apprentice engraver Thomas Minton). In the second period nearly all the porcelain produced was sent in the biscuit state to be glazed and decorated at Coalport. The usual mark is the letter 'c', which frequently looks like the Worcester crescent; the letter 's' and the word 'SALOPIAN' are quite common; the marks of several factories were copied.

Cauldron (Domestic) A kettle, but used for all manner of cooking since earliest times. The cauldron is probably the oldest cooking vessel of all.

Cauliflower Ware - (Ceramics, Earthenware, Porcelain)

Causeuse - (Furniture, French) A small sofa; a love-seat.

Cavalier Furniture Co. - (Furniture Manufacturer, American) Chattanooga, TN 1938 - 1960s The Cavalier Furniture Co. started as a sawmill in 1865 and was called the Tennessee Furniture Co. but was not called Cavalier Furniture Company until 1938. The Tennessee Furniture Co. transitioned into the largest wooden refrigerator producer when they purchased the Odorless Refrigeration Company in 1905. In 1923, the name Cavalier was chosen for the company’s line of refrigeration items. In the 1930s, Cavalier started to produce Coca-cola chest coolers and machines.

Cavity - (Coins)

Cedar - (Wood) Soft, fragrant wood used from the middle of the eighteenth century for the lining of drawers, chests, etc.

Cedar Chest – (Furniture) Also called Blanket Chest and Hope Chest. A low box type chest made for storage of textiles and other items. Usually, but not always lined with cedar wood for moth protection.

Celadon - (Porcelain, Chinese, Japanese, Korean) Celadon glaze - Sea Green, high-fired, and used on top of a white porcelain body. Gray-green or a bluish gray-green color that is translucent.  Dates from the Sung period and is thought to be the result of porcelain makers attempting to simulate jade. In the eighteenth century the classic Sung wares were copied a great deal. The term "Celadon" is today used in at least three different ways as denoting a color, a glaze and a ware. There is much debate as to why this ware is called celadon. The name "Celadon" has long been thought to have come from the analogy of the color with the green ribbons of the robe worn on stage by the shepherd Celadon, hero of the pastoral romance L'Astrée, by Honoré d'Urfé. Recently, scholars have put forth the theory that the name "Celadon" might alternatively derive from a corruption of the name Saladin, a Sultan who in AD 1171 are known to have sent a gift of such ceramics to the Sultan of Damascus.

Celadon Color - (Porcelain, Chinese, Japanese, Korean) High-fired green wares in general, in China known as qingci Typically first made in Zhejiang during the Eastern Han dynasty but occurring as far back as the Shang dynasty. The production spread to Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi in the 3rd and 4th centuries; the wares of superior quality were fired at 1300' C and had a porosity of under 0,5%. Commonly produced at kilns in both the north and the south from the 7th century on. From a ceramic point of view this is not a good classification headline since, when failing to maintain the reducing atmosphere in the kiln, a yellow or brown glaze would be obtained on the same wares. The term in this case thus applies only to the visual appearance.

Celadon Glaze - (Porcelain, Chinese, Japanese, Korean) greenish, high-fired, and used on top of a white porcelain body.

Celadon Ware - (Porcelain, Chinese, Japanese, Korean) A term first minted in Europe to describe the wares decorated with a subtle sea green glaze - obtained by slight under firing - and made at the kilns centered in the Longquan area of southern Zhejiang province. These wares are among collectors recognized as a specific group and are referred to as Longquan Celadon to avoid mistakes.

Celebrity Doll - (Doll)

Celery Dish - (Tableware)

Cellaret - (Furniture) A term that came into use in the middle of the eighteenth century to indicate a case, with partitions, for bottles; usually on legs; found in many shapes.

Cell Glazing or Cell-mosaic - (Enamel) A variation on the cloisonne enamel technique (see Enamel) in that the cloisons or cells are filled with pieces of glass or stone that have been cut to fit. The French term is verroterie cloisonne.

Cellini, Benvenuto - (Fine Art, Sculpture, Gold Smith)

Celluloid - (Materials)

Celour - (Furniture) A canopy for a bed; sometimes used as an alternative term for a tester.

Celt - (Tools)

Celtic Cross - (Decoration)

Censer – (Ceramics, Metal) Bowl used to burn incense. The most common form is covered metal.

Centering - (Stamps)

Central Device - (Coins)

Centre-piece - (Silver, Glass) Silver table piece, often of pierced work, with central basket and several branches; an epergne.

Ceramic Art Company - (Ceramics, Porcelain, American)

Ceramics - (Ceramics, Pottery, Porcelain) From the Greek word keramos, meaning pottery or potters' earth. Ceramics is the generic term that covers all forms of pottery, earthenware and porcelain.

Cerbotana - (Weapon)

Cerveliere - (Armor)

Chaeh - (Bronze, Chinese)  Ancient bronze vessel for heating and storing wine, the shape like that of an inverted helmet; has three or four pointed feet and a side-handle.

Chaffers, Richard - (Earthenware, Porcelain, Potter, England) (1731-65) Potter of Liverpool who made blue and white earthenware and porcelain from Cornish soapstone.

Chaffers, William - (Ceramics, Author) Author of the standard work Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain.

Chafing Dish - (Kitchen) A portable metal dish, with handles, for heating food.

Chain De Forcat - (Jewelry)

Chain-Stitch Embroidery - (Needlework)

Chair-table - (Furniture) The Chair-table Medieval furniture form. Armchair with a tabletop back that swings over on hinges and rests on the arm to form a table. The top can be round or oval and there are some rectangle tops to be found. Examples survive from the sixteenth century. They were in use in America into the 18th Century.

Chair-table

Chaise Lounge - (Furniture French) A couch or day-bed with upholstered back.

Chalice - (Gold, Silver, Metal, Glass, Ceramic) A cup or goblet, usually metal. Wine cup used at mass; it has a shallow circular bowl and a tall stem.

Chalk Silhouette - (Decoration)

Chalkware - (Household Accessories, Carnival)

Chamber Horse - (Furniture) Chair-like contrivance on which to do physical exercises; latter half of the eighteenth century.

Chamberlain, Robert - (Ceramics, Porcelain, England, Decorator) A decorator at the Worcester porcelain factory who, in 1783, set up his own business, first as a decorator and then as a manufacturer. This venture so prospered that in 1840 Chamberlain & Co. took over the old company (see Worcester). 'Chamberlain's Worcester' is a typical mark; sometimes just 'Chamberlain's'.

Chamberlain Worcester - (Ceramics, Porcelain, England)

Chamber Stick - (Lighting)

Chambers, Sir William - (Furniture Designer 1726-96): Architect and furniture designer; author of Designs of Chinese Buildings and Furniture (1757); architect of Somerset House.

Chamfer: The canted surface that remains after an angle-edge has been bevelled off.

Chamfron or Chanfron: Head armour worn by horses from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century; an iron spike normally projected from the chamfron.

Chamois – (Animal) An extremely agile goat antelope (Rupicapra rupicapra) of mountainous regions of Europe, having upright horns with backward-hooked tips.

Champagne Swizzle Stick - (Silver) A silver retractable implement that when extended to its full length has several little silver arms that fan out from the handle. The size of champagne swizzle sticks is generally around 3 inches long. They can be decorated with etching sometimes have little balls on the end of the arms. Worn on one end of his watch chain by a considerate gentleman in the 1920’s, this implement, if put into a glass of champagne would cause it to go flat and therefore, avoiding white dots around the mouth his girlfriend or wife. At that time face powder, was her only choice for make-up.

Champagne Swizzle Stick

Champion, Richard (1743-91): Porcelain-maker who joined with Cookworthy c. 1770 in the hard-paste venture at Plymouth (q.v.) and Bristol (q.v.) which he took over when Cookworthy pulled out. But the difficulties were too great and in 1781 Champion sold the hard-paste patent to the company that founded the New Hall factory (q.v.).

Champleve Enamel: See Enamel.

Chandelier: This term, of considerable antiquity, has been applied to a number of lighting fittings but is now confined to lights hanging from the ceiling. The early 'candlebeams' remained in use until ousted by metal chandeliers made chiefly in the Low Countries. Brass chandeliers with S-shaped branches were made in Holland and England in the late seventeenth century and for much of the eighteenth century. With the introduction of cut glass, the use of glass for chandeliers became an important English industry from the early Georgian period until the early nineteenth century.

Chaney Company Instruments – (Clocks, Scientific Instruments) Chaney Instrument Company is located in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The Company founded in 1943 is still in business today. Chaney Instrument Company is known for making quality clocks and thermometers with headquarters in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and offices in Hong Kong, Canada, and Norcross, Georgia.

Chatelaine - (Domestic, Jewelry) A Chatelaine is a clasp for keys and other items that was attached to a clip and worn at the waist. Usually worn by the Mistress of the house or Housekeeper.

Chantilly: French porcelain factory founded about 1725 under the auspices of Louis-Henri de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, who doted on Arita (q.v.) porcelain and desired that a similar ware be produced in France. Soft-paste porcelain was made, the glaze until the middle of the century being opaque owing to the incorporation of tin oxide, a practice particular to this factory. Decoration was in the Kakiemon style at first; later, Meissen was the model. The mark is a hunting horn. The factory closed in 1800.

Chapter Ring: The brass, sometimes silver, ring set in a clock dial on which the hours and minutes are engraved.

Charger: A large plate or dish.

Chatelaine (French =mistress of a chateau): In medieval times a long waist chain with pendant clasp from which hung purse, keys, etc. Victorian ladies dispensed with the waist chain and favoured, hooked into their waist-bands, an ornamental metal plate from which hung several short chains with swivel endclips for carrying scissors, pencil, keys, scent bottle, penknife, needlecase.

Checker or Chequer - (Furniture) Pattern ornament of square sections of light and dark wood-like a chess board.

Chelsea: The Chelsea porcelain factory was in existence by 1745; silversmiths of French descent seem to have been prominent in the founding of the works; Nicholas Sprimont, who was to become owner, may have been connected with the factory from the start. It is usual to speak of four periods at Chelsea: Triangle 1745-50; Raised Anchor 1750-4; Red Anchor 1754-8; Gold Anchor 1758-70. At first the body was glassy, the celebrated 'moons', or spots of greater translucency, persist until the late 50's when bone-ash was introduced into the paste. Oriental influences are strong in the early wares, but by 1750 Meissen tends to be the model and by 1758 Sevres provides the inspiration.

It is generally agreed that the finest porcelain made in England during the eighteenth century was made at Chelsea. Figures are particularly esteemed. Many of the best pieces bear no mark. A figure with a fine mark under the base is probably a forgery as it was customary to mark figures inconspicuously low down on the back.

Chelsea-Derby: In 1770 the Chelsea works was sold to William Duesbury and John Heath of Derby and the term 'ChelseaDerby' is applied to those wares thought to have been made at Chelsea after the Derby take-over. The Derby styles soon got the upper hand and many authorities now think that Chelsea quickly became little more than a studio for the decoration of porcelain made at Derby. The Chelsea works closed in 1784.

Cherry - (Wood) Cherry is a wood that has a close compact grain and reddish color. Commonly used for inlay, and for making small pieces of furniture.

Chestnut: There are two varieties of this tree, the 'horse' and the 'Spanish' chestnut, both having almost white wood; used as a substitute for satinwood in the late eighteenth century.

Chest-on-Chest – (Furniture) A 17^th Century form of case furniture that is comprised of one Chest of Drawers on top of a slightly larger chest of drawers. In the 18^th Century, legs were added and it evolved into the Tallboy, but the term Chest-on-Chest continued to apply. In America, the term can also refer to the Highboy.

Cheval - (Furniture) A large toilet mirror in a free-standing four-legged frame. These mirrors, also known as Horse Dressing-glasses, were first made in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, by which time it was possible to cast single plates of glass six or more feet long, a technical advance that permitted the making of toilet mirrors that would reflect the full height of a person standing close to the glass. In most examples the tall mirror swivels between the uprights on screws, but there is another type in which the mirror, balanced by weights within the uprights, can be moved up and down like a sash window.

Cheveret - (Furniture) A small table on slim tapering legs with a removable book-shelf or stand fitted to the top. Incorporated in this stand there may be small drawers (under the shelf proper).

Cluao-tou (Chinese): Three-legged bronze cooking vessel with handles terminating in a dragon's head (Han dynasty).

Chichi Rugs: Caucasian rugs with geometric designs in blue, red, ivory, supported with browns and greens; three to five stripe border; Ghiordiz knot and medium weave.

Chien Ware: Stoneware of the Sung dynasty made at Chien-an (and later at Chien-yang), Fukein Province. The dark heavy body has an extremely thick black or blue-black glaze streaked with brown. Conical tea-bowls were the principal products, which were prized by the Japanese, who also copied the ware, and gave it the name temmoku. Other black-glazed wares from the provinces of Kiangsi, Honan and Chihli are usually termed Chien ware.

Chiffonier - (Furniture) A tall chest of drawers, quite narrow, the series of drawers designed to contain papers, jewels, or 'chiffons'; not to be confused with the following

Chiffonikre - (Furniture) A small set of drawers on legs.

Chimney-board - (Furniture) A board for blocking the fireplace when not in use, often decorated to match the walls of the room.

Ch'in Dynasty (221-207 s.c.): See Chinese.

Chinese: (Under this heading the main purpose is to give dates -for handy reference. The linking commentary cannot, for reasons of space, be other than a superficial survey of the Chinese achievement. Separate entries are accorded those wares that the collector is likely to encounter.)

Legendary Period: (assigned to the third millenium b.c.) : hieroglyphic writing, a calendar, silk, pottery, decorated artefacts.

Hsia Dynasty (Legendary-?2200-1766? b.c.): painted pottery, jade, bronze.

Shang-Yin Dynasty (? 1766-1122? b.c. or, more likely, ?1600-1000? b.c.): worked in bronze-superb ritual vessels ceremonial jade, bone, ivory, stone, clay, tortoiseshell, marble. Money was in use-and a form of writing that is the parent of the present system.

Chou Dynasty (?1122-249 b.c.): great territorial expansion and agricultural development; schools of philosophy and ethics (Confucius ?550-479 b.c.; Taoism a near contemporary school); jade, ceramics, lacquer, mirrors (of polished bronze), inlaid bronzes; iron cutting tools.

Ch'in Dynasty (221-207 b.c.): bureaucracy and censorship; the 'burning of the books'; standardization of the written language and of weights and measures; the Great Wall completed.

Han Dynasty (206 b.c. to a.d. 220): Confucianism becomes orthodox; consolidation at home, conquests abroad; expanding foreign trade and a turning to the West result in textiles and wares reaching the Mediterranean; literature and art flourish; paper invented. The first monumental stone sculpture, glazed pottery, a felspathic stoneware that approaches porcelain, are but some of the achievements identified with Han.

The Three Kingdoms (A.D. 220-80) and The Six Dynasties (A.D. 265-581): 'Period of the Warring States'; disunion, wars, foreign invasion; ferment; Buddhism introduced; jewellery, sculpture, painting of a high order; glass imported from the West.

Sui Dynasty (A.D. 581-618): unity again, but the house of Sui soon gives way to the house of T'ang.

T'ang Dynasty (a.d. 618-906): the greatest epoch in China's long history, a golden age in which poetry, the visual and the plastic arts reach new heights; printing invented, paper money introduced. Porcelain invented in the late seventh or early eighth century (a merchant writing in 851 speaks of a clay as fine as glass from which drinking vessels are made and through which the shimmer of water can be seen). T'ang art is vigorous, robust, healthy, full of verve and shows a love of effects; but with the vigour goes restraint, refinement and a disciplined sensibility as regards proportion and the use of colour. Coloured pottery glazes are found in a number of colours green, blue, yellow, brown; the glaze frequently has a fine crackle and usually stops short of the foot-ring in an uneven line. Both impressed and incised designs of flowers and birds are typical. Those items of porcelain that have survived, mostly small bowls, are white and translucent true porcelain that must have been fused at a high temperature and contained a considerable proportion of felspar.

The Five Dynasties (A.D. 907-60): wars, internal strife, but the arts flourish, especially painting (landscape, flower subjects).

Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279): the most 'civilized' dynasty of them all thanks to a cultured and cultivated ruling elite. A great period for collecting and cataloguing art of earlier times and this leads to much copying. In painting the landscape of mood is introduced; the weaving of silk tapestries is notable. A rich period for ceramics: Ting ware, celadon, painted stoneware; Sung pottery and porcelain are esteemed for calm unbroken surfaces, classical purity of form, and such techniques as monochrome glazing, painting on slip under the glaze, painting over the glaze, sgraffito.

Yuan or Mongol Dynasty (A.D. 1279-1368): foreign rule; the drama and the novel; bamboo painting reaches its peak; Western Europeans arrive in China. The earliest known examples of underglaze blue painting on porcelain date from the end of the Yiian dynasty, as does shu fu porcelain.

Ming Dynasty (A.D.1368-1644): Ming means bright. Attempts are made to emulate the great days of T'ang and this results in a Court of unparalleled splendour; there is a love of colour and decoration, rich figured silks and brocades, vigorous sculpture. Porcelain comes into its own, blue-and-white, enamel ware, Fukien wares. The manufacture of porcelain tends to be confined to a single city, Ching-t8-chen, and with abundant china stone and china clay near at hand a huge export trade-chiefly in blue-and-white, celadon, stonewareis built up, the markets ranging from the Philippines to East Africa. From about 1600 there is the beginning of the export trade to Europe and in 1635 it has been recorded that 129,036 pieces of porcelain were sent to the Dutch possession of Batavia for shipment to Holland.

Ch'ing or Manchu Dynasty (A.D. 1644-1912): Ch'ing means pure, clear. At first there is considerable territorial expansion: Tibet, Nepal, Korea, Mongolia, Manchuria, Turkestan, are all part of the empire. At the same time it is an antiquarian age, scholars devote incredible energy to the compilation of lengthy encyclopaedias and works of learning, there is much looking back, collecting, copying. In painting, the influence of the West is considerable (shading and perspective); in literature, the novel is notable. During the K'ang-hsi period European interest in China and Chinese art reaches its peak ('Chinoiserie'); and under this emperor there is a great revival of ceramics (which had declined at the end of the Ming era) with the rebuilding of the imperial factories at Ching-te-chen c. 1680. For many the most admired wares are those small monochrome pieces that recapture the pure forms of Sung; but there are new colours, turquoise-blue, sang-de-boeuf (ox-blood), many others; and, most familiar of all, the muchadmired underglazed blue and enamelled wares, the popular blue-and-white 'ginger jars', famille verte, famille noire, and, later (from the 1720's), famille rose (made for export only). The European market becomes more and more demanding; everything is copied, faience, Venetian glass, Delft pottery, Limoges enamels, not to mention the wares of former dynasties; and, of course, armorial china, European motifs, religious (Christian) decoration. But under three reigns (K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng, Ch'ien-lung-i.e. from 1662 to 1795) standards remain high, craftsmanship superb; not till the end of the eighteenth century does a decline set in, and by then Europe could supply her own needs from her own factories

Chinese Republic - (Chinese Period) Period in Chinese History from 1911 - 1949.

Ching-te-chen: Porcelain centre in the district of Fou-liang, Kiangsi Province, China. This ancient pottery source came under the patronage of the first Ming emperor, Hung-wu (1368-98) and went on to become the greatest ceramics-making centre the world has known.

Chinoiserie - (Oriental) The term means both a vogue for things Chinese or Oriental style wares made in the United States or Europe in the Chinese manner (or what the artist thought was the Chinese manner). The fashion for Chinoiserie began quite early in the seventeenth century but has remained very popular through the years. The pseudo-Chinese furniture of Chippendale, the 'willow pattern' decoration of Minton and Spode, these are chinoiseries.

Chip-carving - (Decoration Wood) Faceted surface ornament done by rough carving executed on wood by means of chisel and gouge. It can be found on any wood from ancient time until today on Furniture, African and Pacific Area Weapons, and Decorative Arts such as boxes and utilitarian objects.

Chippendale, Thomas (1718-79): English cabinet-maker and designer whose reputation stands higher than that of any other. He was born at Otley, Yorkshire, the son of a. carpenter. It is thought he may have been apprenticed to a London cabinetmaker, but there is no definite evidence of this; what is known is that he married in London in 1748 and soon after that he had rented the premises in St Martin's Lane that he was to retain for the rest of his life. He worked with two partners, first James Rannie and then Thomas Haig. The business was continued after his death by his eldest son, another Thomas (1749-1822), in partnership with Haig.

While some furniture of superb quality has been identified as from Chippendale's workshops, his great reputation is due to his book of designs, The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker's Director. This folio volume was first issued in 1754, reprinted in 1755, and a third enlarged edition was issued in parts between 1759 and 1762. The Director was by far the most ambitious work of its kind published up to that date. Practically every type of domestic furniture of the mid-eighteenth century was illustrated. The first edition contained more than 150 plates; the third edition had some 200. Almost all the designs are in the Gothic, Chinese and Modern (rococo) fashions. Just how many of the designs were drawn by Chippendale is a matter for dispute, but the plates are signed by him and in the preface he took the credit for the entire work. It cannot be too often pointed out that 'Chippendale furniture' means furniture corresponding in style to the designs illustrated in the Director.

Chocolate Pot: Like the coffee pot but usually a little smaller, and the lid may have an aperture in it to allow a stirring stick to be inserted.

Chou Dynasty (?1122-249 s.c.): See Chinese.

Chaeh (Chinese): Ancient bronze vessel for heating and storing wine, the shape like that of an inverted helmet; has three (someti,nes four) pointed feet and a side-handle.

Chromolithograph / Chromolithography - (Fine Art Print) A lithographic process using several stones or plates -- one for each color, printed in register. The result is color prints, to be distinguished from colored prints that have the color hand-applied after printing.

Chubu China Occupied Japan Mark – (Porcelain Japan) – The Chubu China pottery was opened after WWII during the American Occupation of Japan. The only Chubu Marks that I have seen to date include the Occupied Japan Mark.  I am unsure what became of the factory after the occupation. Chubu is one of Eight Regions in Japan and is located in the central region of Honsho the Largest Island of Japan which they call the Mainland.

Chun ware: Stoneware of the Sung dynasty that comes close to porcelain; made at Chiin Chou, Northern Honan Province. There are several types of ware. The most esteemed has a light grey body and a downward-flowing glaze (which has an irregular lower edge) that is to be found in various shades of grey, blue, violet and red. A lavender glaze with purple mottling is another variety. And a distinct variety has a coarse yellowish or dark body but with a similar glaze to the finer wares.

Clapboard: Pine timber imported in board form from the Baltic countries for use in panelling.

Clavichord: A small rectangular musical instrument, with strings and a keyboard, that dates from the thirteenth century. The mechanism comprises strips of metal, the tangents, which are attached to the ends of the keys. When a key is depressed the appropriate tangent rises and strikes the string, causing it to vibrate. English clavichords are so rare that the collector can forget about them; but as the instrument continued to be made on the Continent till the beginning of the nineteenth century there is still some scope in that direction.

Claw-and-ball Foot - (Furniture) See Ball-and-claw.

Clay, Henry: Inventor of 'Clay's Ware', the first papier mache.

Clignancourt: Paris hard-paste porcelain factory producing during the last quarter of the eighteenth century.

Clobbered Decoration: Overpainting existing decoration on ceramics is termed 'clobbering'.

Clocks: The mechanical clock was invented during the last quarter of the thirteenth century, the earliest form probably being the Turret clock designed to be fitted to a church tower or other building. (The clock from Wells Cathedral was made c. 1390.) The first spring-driven clock was made about the middle of the fifteenth century. The earliest clocks were of wrought iron, with the use of brass coming in, on the Continent, in the sixteenth century, and in England, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Few domestic clocks were made in England before the seventeenth century. The first individual English type of weight-driven clock, the lantern clock, had a frame, dial and side doors of brass or iron and was surmounted by a bell; several specimens, made by the famous Fromanteels  and dating back to the 1620's, are still in existence, and the lantern clock continued to be made till the beginning of the nineteenth century. The long-case or 'grandfather' clock came in the 1660's, with the pendulum. The earliest were thirty-hour movements, but quite soon came the eight-day clock and then those designed to run for a month, three months, six months and (rarely) a year. The spring-driven mantel clock came into favor at about the same time as the long-case clock but few early specimens have survived as they were poor time-keepers and much more liable to damage. Many of these early mantel clocks were intended for the bedroom and contained repeating mechanism; they were an 'extra' in the house, often not much more than trinkets; until the middle of the eighteenth century most had the inaccurate verge escapement because of its one virtue-a clock so fitted could be taken from room to room and set down without elaborate leveling. But from about 1740 the mantel clock stayed on the mantel. There would almost certainly be a mirror behind it, and because of this the backplate lent itself to decoration. The anchor escapement became standard. The number of early mantel clocks with original verge escapements must be very few; most were converted to the anchor escapement but some have been reconverted to the verge.

The great age of English clock-making was from 1660 to 1750; the outstanding makers were the Fromanteels, East, Jones, the Knibbs, Tompion, Quare and Graham. The woods used for cases: at first, to c. 1685, veneered oak; then from c. 1670 to 1770, walnut; from 1760, mahogany. Dials: from 1660 to 1673, 8 to 8 1/2 in. square; from 1673 to 1,695, 10 in. square; from 1685 to 1712, 12 in. square; from 1705, rectangular, of greater depth than width. Until about 1710 the hood slides upwards to be removed; from about 1700 it slides forward. The top is likely to have a gable pediment c. 1660-75, a flat pediment (carved) c. 1665-1730, and to be arched from c. 1720.

Cloisonné Enamel - (Decoration Metal) A method of applying decorative enamel to metal. This is done by soldering wires on to the metal base and then filling the spaces with colored enamels and firing to obtain a hard glass-like appearance.

Clouds (Yun) – (Chinese Symbolism) Symbolizes rain, fertility, good fortune and happiness, especially when they have more than one color.

Clout - (Textile) A clout in the eighteen century is what we call a diaper today. They were usually made of linen, and were pinned with straight pins, or tied with tapes.

Close Stool or Close Chair - (Furniture)  Portable jakes, usually in box form, sometimes on short legs; the term dates from the end of the fifteenth century; the close stool gave way to the Night Table (q.v.) in the first half of the eighteenth century.

Clowes, William: Staffordshire potter who made black stoneware (basalts) and pottery generally, and was a member of the company that founded the New Hall (q.v.) hard-paste porceain factory. Active c. 1785 to c. 1812.

Club Foot - (Furniture) Plain type of foot on furniture, being found with the cabriole or straight leg throughout the eighteenth century.

Coalport: This porcelain factory founded about 1796 by John Rose who had been with Thomas Turner at Caughley. In 1799 Rose bought out his former employer and in 1814 transferred the Caughley concern to Coalport. Then in 1820 Rose acquired what was left of the Nantgarw enterprise and so secured Billingsley's recipes and moulds. John Rose died in 1841; his nephew, William Rose, continued the business till 1862, since when it has been in various hands.

The earliest Coalport cannot be distinguished from Caughley with any certainty. Generally speaking the paste is excellent and with a good glaze but there is a lack of aesthetic quality in form and decoration, save in the case of the more famous imitations. Sevres, Meissen, Chelsea, were all imitated extensively, complete with marks. From c. 1840 elaborate dinner and dessert services were a feature, lavishly gilded.

Marks include 'CD', csn', 'Coalport' in long-hand, 'John Rose & Co.' Note that the words 'Coalport' and 'Colebrookdale' are synonymous.

Coal Scuttle Shaving Mug - (Vanity, Ceramic) The Coal Scuttle Shaving Mug was a popular form for the shaving mug during the Victorian Era. This style of Shaving Mug has separate compartments for the soap and the brush.

Coaster - Small wagon for use on the dining-table. Sometimes fitted with wheels, but examples are more likely to have a polished wooden base (which were originally covered with baize). They are to be found in various shapes and often with compartments to hold glasses, bottles. Also called sliders.

Cobalt Blue Glass: Opaque hard blue ware; very heavy; can be mistaken for china.

Cobb, John - (Furniture Maker ?-1778): Cabinet-maker who, in partnership with William Vile, was in business a few doors away from Chippendale in St Martin's Lane. Marquetry commodes were a specialty. He did work for George III.

Cobirons: Articles of chimney furniture, a form of andiron but for the kitchen, usually having hooks on the standards and a shaped top to take a cup or pot.

Cock-beading - (Furniture) Small molding used round the edge of drawers; introduced about 1730.

Coffee-pot: Dates from the second half of the seventeenth century; it was always tall (early examples are straight-sided, conical) and has never lost height like the tea-pot.

Coffer - (Furniture)  The distinction is sometimes made that a coffer as opposed to a chest should be covered with leather and laced with metal bands. A Coffer is also a sunken panel.

Coffer Bach: A box for a bible.

Coin: Term sometimes used in the eighteenth century for a corner cupboard; derives from the French encoignure.

Coin Glass: See Bnop.

Coin Silver - United States Standard for silver coinage had a fineness of 892/1000 from 1792 until 1837. The Standard after 1837 was raised to 900/1000 that is, 90 percent of the coin weight is silver and 10 percent is copper.

Collier Revolver: Invented by the Bostonian Elisha Collier c. 1814 and developed in England by Evans from 1819 onwards. This Flintlock is considered the true ancestor of revolvers.

Colt Revolver: A percussion revolving pistol as made by the American, Samuel Colt. Most esteemed are his early 'Paterson' models, made at Paterson, New Jersey, 1836-42. Colt went bankrupt but returned to firearms in 1847 when the Mexican War brought him a contract for 1,000 revolvers and thus began the famous enterprise at Hartford, Conn., where all Colts were thenceforth made except for those produced at the London factory between 1853 and 1857.

Combed Decoration: Ceramics decoration; a pattern used on the borders of plates and dishes in which curved parallel lines are stroked in towards the centre of the piece as if by a comb.

Commode - (Furniture)  A French term, applied to a low case of drawers, described as a new word in 1708. The commode was adopted in England in the reign of George II and illustrated in the Director (1754 and 1762); japanned, inlaid and painted commodes were a feature of late Georgian furniture.

Compote - (Glass, Silver, Ceramic) A glass, porcelain, or silver open dish with pedestal. Smaller compotes are used for candy dishes and larger one are used as serving dishes or for fruit. They can be use just for display.

Cone Beaker: Early northern drinking glass (without a foot) which probably displaced the drinking horn.

Confidante - (Furniture)  A sofa with a seat added at each end (and often set at an angle to the sofa). The idea seems to have been that the added seats could be detached and used as easy chairs; but in some examples the extra seats are not removable. The fashion probably came from France in the 1770's. Not many were made.

Confido - (Latin Inscription) Translates: confident, self-reliant, to have complete trust in.

Console - (Furniture)  A bracket usually of scroll shape in profile.

Console Table - (Furniture) A side-table partly supported by and usually fixed to a wall; the front supports are usually two legs of bracket shape.

Continental - (Term) A term referring to the European Continent it is usually presumed to mean Continental Europe, i.e., Europe, explicitly excluding Great Britain and Ireland.

Cookworthy, William (1705-80): Arcanust, Quaker; born at Kingsbridge, Devon, and became an apothecary, but with an interest in the manufacture of porcelain from at least 1745. In the 1750's he discovered china clay and china stone on the estate of Lord Camelford in Cornwall and in 1768 founded his hard-paste porcelain factory at Plymouth, later transferring to Bristol.

Copeland: See Spode.

Copenhagen: A soft-paste porcelain factory founded at Copenhagen about 1759 with the aid of the French modeller Louis Fournier who had been at Chantilly and Vincennes. This venture came to an end in 1765. The hard-paste factory which is still in existence was established in 1774 and became the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory in 1779. The famous Flora Danica service, comprising about 1,600 pieces, was produced here 1789-1802. Copenhagen porcelain is noteworthy for its high glaze, subdued colors with pearly tints, superb modelling of figures, especially animals. Three horizontal wavy lines are the famous mark.

Coquillage - (Furniture French) In French the word coquillage means shell-fish. A shell-like ornament to be found on furniture of the mid-eighteenth century; favored as a central ornament of a seat rail.

Coralline - (Pottery, Porcelain) Applied Decoration on Pottery and Porcelain that has a bumpy rough texture similar to dense coral.

Coralene - (Glass) Is glass that is decorated with applied glass beads

Corbel - (Furniture) A projection jutting from a wall or apiece of furniture and intended to take a hanging weight.

Cordial Glass: A small, delicate glass from which to drink cordial, i.e. liqueurs, first made in the 1670's. (It was customary to serve tea and cordials together throughout the eighteenth century.) Like miniature wine glasses, though the flute form became popular in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Corner Chair - (Furniture) See Roundabout Chair.

Corner Cupboard - (Furniture) Cupboards made for the corner of a room were known in the seventeenth century and became quite common during the William and Mary period. They were popular throughout the first half of the eighteenth century, both hanging and standing, lacquered often, sometimes in burr walnut veneer. They went out of fashion in the second half of the eighteenth century but, of course, continued to be made in country districts.

Cornice - (Furniture) The uppermost member of an entablature in classical architecture, and applied to furniture in the same way.

Coromandel: (1) Wood. Ebony imported from the Coromandel coast of India and used for banding; favored during the Regency period; blackish with light stripes. (2) Lacquer. Incised Oriental lacquer popular in England from the second half of the seventeenth century; 'Bantam-work' is the more usual term.

Corona: Term for a hanging light, a metal hoop, used in churches and grand homes in medieval times.

Couch - (Furniture) The term was in use in the sixteenth century but it is difficult to be sure if the meaning had any other than that of day-bed; it may have been more grand. In the eighteenth century men seemed to prefer the term day-bed, ladies the term couch. During the Regency period the classical couch came into favor-by way of France.

Couching Stitch - (Textile, Embroidery) In applying the couch stitch the main thread (usually thicker and sometimes gold or silver) is laid down on the fabric and is over-stitched with a (usually thinner) thread.

Counter - (Furniture) Table or chest, the top of which was designed with spaces and symbols as aids in the counting of money. The counter dates from the Middle Ages and was popular till the end of the sixteenth century. Court Cupboard A term used in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods for a side-board for the display of plate and for vessels in use during meals.

Crackle: (1) In porcelain, the crazing of the glaze intentionally for decorative purposes. (2) In pottery, the crazing that may take place, often long after manufacture, as a result of the unequal contraction of glaze and body. (3) In glass, an effect produced by the sudden. cooling of the surface of glass when still not completely blown.

Crane - (Japanese Symbolism) The Crane is a symbol of Longevity and Happiness in Japan. The Japanese Crane was more familiar to Japanese people and used to be seen in many places in Japan. Their number, however, decreased in the Meiji Era because of over hunting and environmental changes, and they were thought in the late 19th century to be almost extinct. About ten cranes were discovered surviving in the depths of  the Kushiro-Shitsugen, 70 years ago. Items decorated with 10 cranes depict the discovery of the 10 surviving cranes and are considered very lucky.

Cream Jug: The silver cream jug was introduced at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the helmet shape being popular; by the middle of the century three feet are common, the lip is elongated and pointed, the handle has broken curves; the jug grows more and more slender, almost vase-like, and the feet disappear or become diminutive; then by the turn of the century the cream jug has a full, low body.

Creamware: Cream-coloured earthenware, supposedly first made by Thomas Astbury, but brought to perfection by Josiah Wedgwood who manufactured it on a large scale from the middle of the eighteenth century and by 1765 was exporting quantities of the ware to Europe where, more than any other single factor, it brought the manufacture of faience to an end. Also called 'Queen's ware'.

Credenza or Credence - (Furniture Italian) In Italian the word credenza means cupboard. A small table by the altar side on which the bread and wine were set before consecration. The term has also been applied to a side table for the arranging of food and drinks to be served at table. English examples of the domestic credence are extremely rare.

Creepers (chimney furniture): Small andirons standing between large andirons.

Cresset: An iron lamp like a basket in which a fuel was burnt; usually fixed to a rod.

Crest Rail - (Furniture) The top rail of a chair, or the ornament at the head of a mirror or the carved decoration at the head of a piece of furniture. Also called Cresting.

Crewel-work: Form of embroidery in fine worsteds popular throughout the seventeenth century for bed hangings.

Crich or Crouch Ware: Salt-glazed stoneware which may have been made at Crich in Derbyshire.

Cristallo: Venetian, from early sixteenth century, the superb, clear, ductile glass that was Venice's greatest contribution to glass-making.

Croft  - (Furniture) Croft was a maker's name. A small writing-desk-cum-filing cabinet made at the end of the eighteenth century-a dwarf piece of furniture.

Cross-banding - (Furniture) Banding of veneer in which the grain of the band runs across that of the ground. Popular throughout the eighteenth century.

Cross Stitch - (Textile) Cross Stitch is a form of embroidery where the stitches cross each other at a 45 degree angle like an X, hence the name cross stitch. A favorite stitch used in samplers.

Crotch Veneer – (Wood) (see Curl Veneer)

Crown Wheel (horological): The escape wheel in a verge escapement. See Escapement.

Crunden, John - (Furniture Designer)  John Crunden was a Furniture designer, he published The Joyner and Cabinet-maker's Darling in 1765.

Crystallo Ceramie: Process of encasing a small object such as a cameo in a solid block of clear flint glass; the best made by the inventor of the process, Apsley Pellatt, between 1819 and 1835.

Cumming, Alexander (1732-1814): Scottish-born clock-maker who made many fine timepieces including the remarkable astronomical clock commissioned by George III and now in Buckingham Palace.

Cupboard - (Furniture) A cupboard was an open structure with shelves in the Middle Ages and what we would today call a cupboard was known as an-almery or aumbry. The use of cupboard in the modern sense did not become general until the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Curfew: A metal cover for placing over embers in the fireplace; perhaps used for safety but more probably to keep the embers alive during the night. The earliest known example dates from the first half of the seventeenth century. Rare.

Curl Veneer – (Wood) Wood veneer with plume like, curling figuring. The wood is taken from a part of a log where a branch diverges from the trunk. Also called crotch veneer.

Curule - (Furniture) A seat shaped like a camp-stool, used by Roman magistrates. In the Cabinet Dictionary (1803) a chair of different form, with semi-circular back and elongated seat, is illustrated as a curule chair.

Cushion Front Drawer - (Furniture) Convex Fronted Drawer. It is convex from top to bottom and can be in serpentine form or half round.

Cushion Front Drawer

Cushman, H.T. Mfg. Co. - (Furniture Manufacturer) See H.T. Cushman Mfg. Co.

Cut / Cut Glass / Cutting - (Glass) A technique of removing the surface of the glass by grinding it with a rotating wheel that is made of that is made of wood, stone or metal and a liquid with an abrasive in it.

Cutts, John: Porcelain and pottery painter who was manager of the Pinxton factory and did work for the Wedgwoods.

Cyma Recta - (Furniture) Molding comprising two curves, the upper concave.

Cyma Reversa  - (Furniture) Molding comprising two curves, the lower concave.

Cypress: Fine-grained wood of reddish color and great durability.