Saarinen, Eero
(1910-61) Finnish-born US architect and designer. Saarinen worked with fellow architect Charles eames and explored the use of plastics in furniture, producing the first moulded plastic chairs. His Tulip chairs and tables of 1957 used moulded glass fibre with aluminium supports in the base for extra strength.

sabaton
See armour.

Sabino, Marius-Ernest
(1878-1961) French glass-maker of the art deco period, especially 1923-39. Sabino's work imitated many of the glassblowing techniques and decorative motifs of his contemporary René lalique.

sabre
Curved 18th-19thC cavalry sword with a single cutting edge, designed for slashing.

sabre leg
Early 19th-century curved chair leg which resembles the line of a sabre blade, most closely identified with the regency period. From 1815 a sabre leg was sometimes referred to as a Waterloo leg after the Battle of Waterloo.

sabretache
A decorated flat pouch suspended from the belt of cavalry officers and worn until the early 20thC.

saddle seat
Solid wooden seat with two slight depressions separated by a central ridge, commonly seen on Windsor chairs. It is also a term for a wide, U-shaped seat.

saddle stool
Three-legged, solid wood stool with saddle-shaped seat.

saf
The name given to Oriental rugs with designs of multiple prayer niches, or mihrabs. Examples, often fragmentary, are known from the 16thC. The mihrabs on many safs are small and close together suggesting they were not used as prayer rugs but as decorative wall-hangings.

sagger
A fireclay vessel used to hold and protect objects during firing.

Salopian ware
See caughley.

salt
General term for any container used for table salt, ranging from the large, ceremonial standing salt of the 14th to 16th centuries to the more common salt cellar (a shallow, open bowl) and salt caster (similarly shaped to a sugar caster but smaller). Salt cellars are often gilded or have a glass liner to prevent corrosion by damp salt. A trencher salt, most popular 1640-1750, has no feet and rests flat on the table.

Salt-glazed stoneware
stoneware with a thin, clear glaze with a slightly pitted texture, produced by throwing salt into the kiln during firing. There are two basic types. Salt-glazed coarse stoneware was developed along the Rhine at Westerwald, Germany, for bottles (see bellarmine) and tankards, and adapted by British potters such as John dwight of Fulham in the late 17thC. Although the clay is grey, a wash of iron oxide matures it to a brown surface colour, hence its alternative name of brown stoneware. Tigerware is a mottled version. Salt-glazed fine white stoneware, incorporating a finer-grained white clay, was introduced in staffordshire potteries c. 1720 as a substitute for Chinese porcelain. It is typically decorated with stamped or sprigged motifs, sometimes with incised or moulded patterns, and from c. 1745 with more intricate decoration, sometimes painted in enamels. It was superseded by creamware

salver
Plate or tray, usually of silver or silver-gilt, used for the formal offering of food, drink, letters or visiting cards. Large, heavy, oblong or oval silver salvers evolved into what we know as trays in the 18thC. Small, flat salvers are known as waiters. Glass salvers, popular in Britain from the 18thC, usually have a central stem like a tazza.

Sam Browne
An officer's belt designed to support a holster and sword. It has crossed belts and was named after General Sir Samuel Browne, VC, a one-armed British officer who is said to have designed it.

sampler
An embroidered panel of fabric sewn as a reference for, or as a demonstration of, a range of different stitches. By the 18thC most samplers were sewn by children, following patterns out of books. They typically incorporate letters, numbers, a short poem or motto, the name and age of the child and the date.

Samson, Emile
(1837-1913) Founder of one of France's best-known 19thC reproduction porcelain and earthenware factories, 1845. The firm initially specialised in providing replacements for 18thC sèvres, meissen, chelsea and derby figures and Chinese services. Gradually copies of wares from all the well-known European factories were produced. Such pieces usually carried Samson's own mark based on the appropriate original, but this was often removed by people wishing to pass on the pieces as genuine.

Sancai
Chinese term meaning 'three colour', used to describe an effect created on ceramics by using three mineral colours in a glaze, usually yellow, green and brown (sometimes dubbed 'egg-and-spinach').

sand glass
Instrument for measuring time, consisting of two bulbous glass chambers connected by a narrow channel. The whole is often mounted within a wooden frame for stability. Upending the device allows a quantity of sand to trickle from one chamber to the other taking an exact period of time, usually one hour. Sand glasses, which preceded clocks and watches, were manufactured from the 16thC, but they were not made in Britain until c. 1610.

sandblasting
Process used for creating matt surface finishes on glass, invented in the USA in 1870. A design area is masked off and the object is subjected to a high-pressure jet of sand or powdered iron to leave the exposed area with a rough, greyish finish.

sand-moulding
Technique of shaping glass or metal objects where the design to be cast is formed in a mould containing fine casting sand and other ingredients.

Sang-de-boeuf
French for 'ox blood', used to describe a startling plum-red ceramics glaze. In areas where the glaze lies thickly on the ceramic body, such as near the base of a vase, it forms dark patches like coagulated ox blood. The effect is achieved by firing a copper glaze in a reducing atmosphere (one rich in carbon monoxide) and was developed in the late 17th and 18th centuries in China simultaneously with flambé glazes. European potters imitated the technique in the 19thC.

sapphire
See corundum.

sapwood
Newly formed, soft whitish wood of a tree between the outer skin of bark and the central core of heartwood, also known as alburnum.

Satin
Cloth made of silk threads or other material, made shiny by being passed through heavy rollers. Satin is used for dresses, coats, curtains and sometimes upholstery. The reverse, duller side of the fabric is known as sateen. Where satin and sateen are combined to form a pattern, the fabric is known as a damask. Satinet is an imitation satin mixed with cotton or rayon, usually used for dress fabrics.

satinwood
Smooth, fine-grained yellowish wood, popular for furniture from the late 18thC. West Indian satinwood became fashionable c. 1770, and the paler East Indian variety in the early 19thC. Both were used for veneers, decorative panelling, and inlaid decoration. In addition, the pale colour made satinwood an ideal surface for painted decoration. See also harewood.

satsu bako
See tea ceremony.

Satsuma
Western name for type of Japanese earthenware exported throughout and since the meiji period (1868-1912). It is named after the Satsuma provinces, but was made in many parts of Japan, notably in kyoto. Satsuma ware is a fine-grained, cream-coloured pottery covered in a clear to yellowy glaze usually with a very fine crackle. The decoration, sometimes done at a second workshop, varies from mass-produced broad designs to exquisite miniature scenes finely enamelled and gilded. Japanese sources suggest the Satsuma tradition dates from the 17thC, but firm identification of any pieces earlier than the 19thC is difficult. Some of the finest pieces were made c. 1900.

Savonarola
See x-chair.

Savonnerie
Parisian carpet workshop established 1627 in a former soap factory - the name comes from the French savon (soap). Oriental carpet-making techniques were employed with Turkish-knotted wool or silk (see carpet knots). The factory made large carpets with Classical motifs, landscapes and mythological subjects, and their patterns were widely copied throughout Europe ('savonnerie' generally refers to all European carpets of similar design). Lighter, rococo-style floral designs were used from the early 18thC. The Savonnerie factory closed in 1825 and the business transferred to the nearby gobelins premises

saw-cutting
See fretwork.

scagliola
Mock marble or imitation pietra dura made from plaster of Paris or clear crystals of gypsum (selenite), various pigments and chips of marble. It was produced in ancient Rome but revived in 16thC Italy, and imported to Britain for interior architectural features such as columns and wall panels in the 18thC. Scagliola was also used for the tops of tables and commodes, and increasingly, from the 1790s, when Britain produced its own, for dwarf columns and pedestals.

scale pattern
See decorative motifs.

Scarificator
A 17thC medical instrument, consisting of a number of blades released by a sprung trigger, which was used for letting blood. The blades made several incisions on the skin at once, and from c. 1800 were also used for preparing the skin for vaccination.

schwarzlot
Form of German glass and ceramics decoration in black, late 17th and early 18th centuries. The landscapes, figures and flowers are often fleshed out with iron-red and sometimes gilding.

Scottish glassware
Scotland has been involved in glass-making since the early 17thC. The first glassworks was founded at Wemyss, near Glasgow, in 1610, but the industry became centred in Leith, Edinburgh, from 1628. At first only green bottles were produced; in fact, from c. 1664 it was illegal for the Scots to buy bottles from anywhere else. But by the end of the century Leith wares included drinking glasses and novelties known as friggers. Other centres of glass-making were established at alloa, Prestonpans and Perth. Since the 186os Edinburgh has become well known for its fine lead crystal.

scratch blue
A sgraffito technique on white salt-glazed stoneware with the decoration incised into the surface and filled with blue (or brown) pigment prior to firing. The technique was produced mainly by staffordshire potteries c. 1724-76 and revived in the late 19thC by artists such as Hannah Barlow at doulton.

scratch carving
Simple decoration on 16thand 17thC furniture. Designs consist of single lines carved into the surf ace of the wood.

screws
Metal screws with tapering, threaded bodies and slotted heads were first used during the early decades of the 18thC. Early threading was hand-filed; lathe-turned screws date from the second half of the 18thC, and sharp-pointed, machine-made screws from the mid-19thC.

scrimshaw work
Small carvings in horn, bone, whale tooth, walrus tusk, ivory, shells or wood, engraved using a knife and needle, made by sailors on long voyages. Scrimshaw work dates from the 17thC.

scutcheon
See escutcheon.

seal
Engraved stamp for impressing a design or monogram onto sealing wax or for printing it on paper. Used since ancient times, ornamental seals returned to fashion in the 16thC when they were worn by men on a neck chain or chatelaine, in the 17thC on watch chains, and during the early 18thC Regency period suspended from small fobs at the waist. Small seals are also found set into finger rings, and at the other end of the scale set in large, sculpted mounts with heavily ornamented handles. Various materials were used for the seal matrix and its setting, including various gemstones. Glass seals, mounted in gold, silver, brass or steel, were popular from c.1740. A seal box is a small, usually round, silver or gold container similar to a snuffbox, and used to hold the official seal for important documents. They are often engraved on the lid with the crest of a city or institution such as a university. Prominent citizens given the freedom of a city were often presented with a seal box known as a freedom box.

seat curb
See fender.

seaweed marquetry
Flowing marquetry style popular on william & mary furniture from the 17th and early 18th centuries. The effect was achieved by setting a light wood such as holly or box against a contrasting dark walnut ground in seaweed-like patterns.

secretaire
Chest of drawers with a desk area concealed behind a false drawer-front. Instead of the angled fold-down bureau, the top 'drawer' pulls out and the front drops down to form a writing surface and reveals recessed pigeonhole compartments and small drawers behind. Secretaires were introduced during the late 17th to early 18th centuries.

sedan chair
Portable enclosed chair for one person, used by the upper classes in Britain and France during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The chair was fixed on poles on either side and carried by two men. A person could be carried from one house to another without setting foot outside. When not in use, sedans were kept in the entrance hall of large houses.

sedan clock
Small, portable, early 19thC timepiece, sometimes used in a sedan chair. It has a brass-bound, rectangular or circular, turned mahogany or toleware case with an enamel watch dial. Sedan clocks provided one way of recycling 18thC watch movements which were too thick for the slim-cased pocket watches then in vogue.

Seddon, George
(1727-1801) Cabinet-maker and founder of one of the best-known firms of British furniture-makers which was a rival of the Lancaster-based gillows. It employed hundreds of craftsmen during its heyday in the 1780s.

self-pouring teapot
Teapot whose lid is a cylinder with a vent-hole in the finial. When the lid is raised to its full height, the vent is stopped with the finger so that when pushed down the cylinder displaces the liquid through a downward-pointing spout. In the USA self-pouring teapots are known as pump pots. The pots were made during the later 19thC in pottery, britannia metal and electroplated silver

semainier
French boxes, cupboards and chests of drawers with seven compartments, one for each day of the week. The nearest British equivalent was the wellington chest, made in the mid-19thC.

semiprecious stone
Term used to refer to all gemstones except precious stones. Gemologists and jewellers consider the description too general and refer to stones by individual names. The term does not apply to synthetic gemstones, glass and paste or to organic substances used in jewellery, such as amber, coral, jet and tortoiseshell.

Senneh knot
See carpet knots.

sepiolite
See meerschaum.

Serpentine
1 Descriptive term for an undulating profile, especially in furniture. Serpentine fronts, with a convex curve in the centre flanked by slightly concave sides, were seen on rococo chests of drawers, cabinets and sideboards in the 18thC. From the late 17thC, some chairs had curving serpentine stretchers. 2 Mineral which ranges in colour from various shades of brown to shades of green, and is often mottled in appearance. The green varieties are the most valuable and sometimes resemble nephrite jade. Serpentine is used for carving cameos and intaglios as well as in architecture as a decorative stone. Bowenite is a harder variety of serpentine and cream, grey or pale green in colour. 3 See matchlock.

Seto
Japanese ceramics centre, in production from the 9thC. It is best known for its 19thC vases and useful wares decorated with paintings of birds, fish and landscapes, mostly in underglaze blue.

settee
Upholstered seat with back and arms for two or more.

settle
Long wooden bench with arms and a panelled back which was designed to seat two or more people. A high-backed settle - sometimes with storage space beneath the seat or a cupboard in the back - was a familiar sight on either side of the hearth in farmhouse kitchens and inns from the 16th to 19th centuries. A settle table is a wooden settle with a hinged back that folds over to rest on the arms and form a table.

Sèvres
French national porcelain factory and a leading influence on European ceramics fashions c. 1760-1815. Soft-paste porcelain was manufactured exclusively from c. 1740 until the discovery of local china clay deposits enabled true porcelain to be produced from 1768. From the 1750s, Sèvres acquired and maintained its lead in French ceramics, largely due to royal patronage. Louis XV granted the factory a monopoly to produce porcelain in the meissen style, 1745-66, and even after this was relaxed, no other French company was allowed to produce porcelain with coloured ground or gilding. In the 1750s the factory introduced striking enamel grounds of rich, dark royal blue, pea-green, sky-blue (bleu celeste), rose-pink and yellow, enriched with gold and enclosing panels or medallions of superbly painted landscapes, figures or flowers. Figures were also successful, mostly left white, but above all, from the 1750s, figures and groups in unglazed biscuit porcelain. From the swirling effects of rococo style, forms moved towards the more restrained neoclassical style in the 1770s. The toughness of true porcelain meant that a broader palette of high-temperature colours could be used; gilding was applied even more freely at this time, and jewelled decoration was introduced. With the French Revolution, Sèvres lost the benefits of its royal patronage, but by 1800 revived with the backing of Napoleon - huge urns, vases, plaques and dinner services were made for him. This was empire style - much copied by many other factories. New ranges were introduced in the art nouveau and art deco periods.

sewing table
See work table.

sextant
Navigational instrument using mirror reflections to measure the sun's altitude, developed from the octant in 1757 by Captain John Campbell. It was not in common use until the mid- 19thC and was made until modern times when periscopic types were used on aircraft.

sgraffito
Technique of creating a design on a pottery surface by scratching or scoring through an unfired slip coating to expose the darker body beneath. In 16thC sgraffito ware from the Bologna area of Italy, for example, designs were incised in the white slip coating to reveal a red clay ground. The technique has been much used throughout Europe since medieval times, particularly on country pottery from south-west Britain - it was a feature of Barnstaple pottery throughout the 18th and 19th centuries - and was often inscribed to commemorate special events such as harvests and christenings. See scratch blue

shagreen
1 Highly polished skin of sharks and sting rays, used from the 17thC for covering knife cases, hip flasks and other small items. 2 Untanned leather, originally made in Persia (Iran), with a coarse, granular finish and usually dyed green.

Shaker furniture
Furniture made by the Shakers, a puritanical community in the USA founded by emigrants from Britain in 1774. The Shaker men made articles notable for their simplicity of construction and appearance, economy of design and material, yet high quality of craftsmanship. The styles remained unchanged until the late 19thC when output and quality declined as the communities decreased in number.

shako
A style of military headdress. The name is used for a variety of caps, the most common feature being a tall, cylindrical crown and a small peak. British soldiers wore shakos for much of the 19thC.

shamshir
A sabre originating in India and Persia (Iran), with a long, slender curved blade designed for making slashing cuts. A common type of shamshir has a mameluke hilt, with a crossguard terminating in acorn-like finials and a pommel curving over at right angles to the grip.

Sheffield plate
Thin layer of silver fused to a sheet of copper. Also known as 'Old Sheffield' and fused plate, the process effusing the precious and base metals together by heating and rolling was invented by Thomas Bolsover in Sheffield in the 1740s. In the 1760s, the introduction of double-plating (which coated both sides of the copper sheet) made Sheffield plate a more convincing, lower cost alternative to objects made of solid sterling silver. Wire made by a similar process widened the scope of design to include openwork and wire work articles. The difficulty of concealing the copper at the edges, and of the proneness of the silver coating to wear, to some extent limited the range of products to luxury hollow-ware salvers, cruets, bread or cake baskets. Sometimes, part of an article, such as the stand of a tureen, would be made in Sheffield plate, the main body in sterling silver. The introduction of electroplating from 1840 made Sheffield plate obsolete by 1880. Sheffield plate is usually unmarked except for the maker's name in some cases.

shelf clock
A type of cheap clock developed in the USA in the 19thC which is slim enough to stand on a narrow shelf. The clocks are often in a plain rectangular case, with a glass door. A variation, produced in bulk 1822-1914 and exported to Britain, is the ogee (or OG) clock, made in various sizes, with curved ogee-shaped moulding on the frame.

shelf dolls
English term for sakura-ningyo -Japanese dolls designed as ornaments for a shelf. They are based on legendary Japanese heroes and heroines and have been exported to the West from c. 1900.

Shellac
1 Varnish made from the secretions of a scale insect on trees in India and the Middle East. It was used by European craftsmen to imitate Oriental lacquer. Shellac, dissolved in alcohol, is also used in french polishing on furniture. 2 Early form of plastic, invented 1868 and used to make gramophone records and moulded ornaments.

Shelley potteries
See foley china works.

Sheraton, Thomas
(1751-1806) British cabinet-maker whose Cabinet-Maker's and Upholsterer's Drawing Book encapsulated the elegant, neoclassical furniture style named after him.

shibayama
See lacquer.

shilling
A British coin of ancient origin, but since its revival in 1550, a silver piece with a face value of 12 old pence, and after decimalisation replaced by the 5p piece. Shilling is abbreviated to ‘s’.

shi-shi
See dog of fo.

shot glass
1 Glass container 1-3 in (25-76 mm) tall that was filled with lead shot in which to clean and support quill pens. 2 A US term for a small tumbler for a single measure - or 'shot' - of whiskey.

side cabinet
See chiffonier.

side chair
Simple chair without arms, also known as a single, upright or small chair.

side table
General term for any easily movable table designed to stand against a wall, or in a dining room as an additional table for food, plates and dishes, and sometimes referred to as a serving table.

sideboard
Dining-room furniture piece, developed, as it is known today, in the last quarter of the 18thC. Sideboards were designed for the storage and display of tableware and for serving food, and usually have a central drawer flanked by cupboards or drawers.

sidereal time
See mean time.

signpost barometer
See angle barometer.

sileh rugs
See sumakh.

silhouette
Outline of a figure, either painted or cut out of paper and mounted on card, popular from mid- 18thC to c. 1880, and revived in the 1920s.
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silicon ware
See doulton.

silk
The fine, lustrous, supple fibre produced by certain insect larvae and spiders, especially the silkworm. Silk cloth was produced c. 700 bc by the Chinese and remained a closely guarded secret until the 6thC ad, when it spread to France, Spain, Italy and Sicily. The main silk production centres today are southern Europe, Japan, India and northern China. The best-quality silk is net silk which is very slightly twisted, and reflects light especially well. The waste from net silk is spun silk. Silk which has yet to be spun and woven is raw silk, of which there are a number of varieties such as floss silk (for fine embroidery), organzine (for the warp of quality silk fabrics) and tram (for the weft of quality silk fabrics).

silk-screen printing
A printing process based on the stencilling principle, in which a stretched screen of silk or other fine fabric is coated with ink-resistant substance in the design areas to be left blank. Coloured ink is forced through the uncoated areas onto the printing surface. Layers of different colours can be applied using different stencils.

Silver
Precious metal which is lighter and slightly less malleable than gold, but unlike gold is prone to tarnishing due to chemical reaction with pollutants in the air. Silver products are made from an alloy of pure silver and a small proportion of a base metal such as copper to improve strength and durability. The proportion of pure silver varies according to standards set by different countries. See britannia standard, hallmarks, and sterling standard.

silver gilt
Silver plated with a thin layer of gold.

silver table
See tea table.

Silver-electroplated glass
British glass, also known as silver-deposit glass, produced c. 1890-1920. A design was painted in a flux, placed in a silver solution and subjected to an electric current, which fixed the silver to the painted surface.

Silveria glass
Silvery art glass made by enclosing silver foil between two layers of clear glass. The technique was developed by John northwood ii, c.1900, and was made at stevens & williams.

silvering
1 The silver version of gilding in which a thin film of silver is applied to a surface using silver leaf. The technique was introduced in the latter part of the 17thC and used on elaborately carved cabinet stands and tables. When lacquered or varnished, the silver takes on a yellowish tinge, and was sometimes used as a cheap alternative to gilding. 2 The film of tin foil and mercury, silver or other reflective material applied to glass in a mirror.

silverwood
See harewood.

singerie
Monkeys dressed up in human clothing, popular as a decorative theme in the 18thC. It is found in most forms of art and although it was not much used after 1800, it was revived in the 19thC after the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. See affenkapelle.

single chair
See side chair.

siphon barometer
Barometer that has a J-shaped glass tube containing mercury. The wheel barometer was developed using a siphon tube.

size gilding
See gilding.

skean dhu
Gaelic for 'black knife' - a Scottish Highlander's dirk that was held in the sock against the leg when not in use.

skeleton clock
Clock with its workings exposed in an open framework, usually housed under a glass dome and mounted on a wooden or marble base. Skeleton clocks were made in France from c. 1750, and became popular in Britain in the Victorian era from c. 1840.

slag glass
See lava glass.

slick stone
See linen smoother.

slider
See coaster.

slip
Liquid clay used as a finish or as a decorating medium on pottery, or as a medium for casting hollow-ware and particularly figures. Slip, or engobe, is also used to join the various parts of an object figure or group of figures that have been cast in separate moulds. A decorative slip can either be used as a dip or poured over an article of pottery to coat it, or made into a stiffer mixture and piped or slip-trailed (also known as tube-lining) on the surface of the body. The process precedes firing. Mixed clays are used or metal oxides added to achieve different colours and effects. Pottery decorated with slip is known as slipware. See also sgraffito. Slip-casting is a forming process in which the liquid clay is poured into a porous plaster mould which absorbs much of the moisture, leaving a layer of clay to harden on the mould walls. Surplus slip is poured out, the mould removed, and the resulting clay shell fired. A slip glaze or Albany slip contains a high proportion of clay and produces a greenish or brownish finish. It was used at Albany, near New York, and on salt-glazed stoneware from the 19thC onwards.

slipper
See bourdalou.

smallsword
Lightweight and elegant, short sword which dates from the late 17th and 18th centuries.

smalt
A blue pigment produced by grinding a coloured glass mixture containing cobalt oxide to a fine powder. It was used in the manufacture of bristol blue glass and in powder-blue ground in ceramics.

smear glaze
See glaze.

Smith, George
(c. 1786-1826) regency furniture-maker, upholsterer and designer. Smith popularised the circular dining table and the ottoman sofa in Britain and published several books of his designs. His furniture was much influenced in the early years by collector and Egyptologist Thomas hope, and Smith also used gothic and Chinese motifs widely. His later work became increasingly heavy and over-decorated, a foretaste of Victorian furniture.

snakewood
Deep, bright red tropical hardwood with irregular dark markings resembling those of a snake or hieroglyphic characters - hence its names - snakewood and letterwood. Snakewood is difficult to work because of its hardness but is seen as an inlaid decoration on 17thC furniture and occasionally in late 18th and early 19thCveneers.

snap table
A table with a top that snaps or folds down vertically over the supporting pillar, as in 18thC tripod tables. See birdcage.

snaphaunce
A form of ignition similar to the flintlock using flint and steel.

snuff bottles
Small bottles, 2-6 in (5-15 cm) high, used for holding snuff. Most were produced in China from the 18thC and were made from a variety of materials, including glass, ivory, porcelain, agate and jade. The bottles are usually round or oval in shape, with a spoon attached to the inside of the stopper and are often richly carved or enamelled. Glass bottles sometimes have interior painting. Large numbers of Chinese snuff bottles were exported to the West from the mid-19thC onwards.

snuffer
Implement used to trim or cut candle wicks.

soapstone
A form of magnesium silicate, or talc, used in its solid white, red, greyish or greenish form for carved ornaments, particularly in China. In the mid-18thC, particularly in Britain, powdered soapstone, or steatite, was sometimes used as a binding agent in soft-paste porcelain paste. It provides good resistance to sudden temperature changes, improved whiteness and plasticity.

sociable seat
See confidante.

soda glass
Glass made with soda (sodium carbonate) rather than potash (see bohemia) as the flux agent. The soda was originally derived from marine plants (see cristallo), but later produced chemically. In its molten state, soda glass is easier to manipulate than potash glass, but in its finished form it is light and fragile, and cannot be cut. In Britain, soda glass was superseded in the 17thC by lead crystal, which was stronger and more resonant, but continued to be made until the early 19thC on the Continent, and is still used for some Venetian-style glass today.

sofa
Any movable seat on which to recline, now virtually interchangeable with settee. The word is derived from the Ottoman sopha (the dais on which the Grand Vizier received guests).

sofa table
A development of the pembroke table although narrower and longer, made from the late 18th to mid-19th centuries. There are usually two shallow drawers at the front and normally flaps at both ends supported by fly brackets. Early examples have end supports whereas later tables stand on pedestals. Sofa tables were designed to complement the length, line and height of a sofa, and were typically used by women for writing, drawing or reading.

soft-paste porcelain
See porcelain.

softwood
Timber from cone-bearing trees which is generally softer than hardwood and therefore easier to work. Softwoods include pine, cedar, spruce and yew.

solid china
See frozen charlotte. solid jasper See jasperware. solitaire See cabaret.

Song dynasty
Chinese dynasty, sometimes spelt Sung, of great ceramic development, ad 960-1279. Porcelain was improved and it is the most likely period of the invention of underglaze blue. stonewares were given highly sophisticated glazes in a wide range of colours and the practice of patronage of ceramics was established. The first Song dynasty wares reached Europe at the end of the 19thC and became a source of inspiration for studio potters in France and Britain.

Sonneberg
Town in southern Germany famed for doll-making. Early dolls of turned wood were produced from before 1700; from 1807, mass-production techniques resulted in the large-scale manufacture of papier-mâché heads. The peak production period, however, started c.1850, from when Sonneberg dolls in bisque, composition, wood, wax and china were produced and exported throughout the world.

souscription watch
See breguet.

sovereign
A British gold coin first issued by King Henry VII in 1489 and revived in 1817 with a fixed value of £1 (100p). Gold sovereigns are still made today, mainly for trading in the bullion market.

soy frame
Late 18thC British bottle stand, similar to a cruet, usually made in silver or sheffield plate.

spandrel
The corner space between an arch or circle and a rectangle. Originally an architectural term for the space between one arch and the next in arcading, it is used in the context of carpet and textile patterns. On a clock dial, spandrels refer to the ornamentation in the four corner spaces between the chapter ring and the dial plate. See box above.

Spanish flintlock
See miquelet.

Spanish knot
See carpet knots.

spatterware
See sponged ware.

spelter
Zinc alloy, often containing lead, used as a substitute for bronze. Spelter was much used in the 19thC for cheap, cast articles such as candlesticks and clock cases. It was popular as an inexpensive medium for art Nouveau applied ornament and art deco figures.

spider-leg table
Gate-leg table with particularly slender, turned legs, and with more or less standard dimensions of around 28 in (71 cm) high, with a 36 x 30 in (91 x 76 cm) surface. The tables were produced both in Britain and the USA during the second half of the 18thC.

spill vase
Single or pair of cylindrical vases or a wall-hanging vase, designed to hold spills or matches for lighting candles and pipes. Some examples have a rectangular holder for a matchbox. They were made in porcelain, pottery or brass from the late 19thC. Spill vases are also known as paper cases, match vases or match stands.

spindle
A slender, turned rod based on the shape of a spinning-wheel spindle, which is often seen on the upright members or horizontal stretchers of a chair.

spinet doll
See piano doll.

spinning
1 Metalworking technique used since Egyptian times to form hollow containers from sheet metal by pressing the metal against a rotating wooden core on a lathe. 2 Technique used to turn wool, cotton and flax into thread suitable for weaving using a spinning wheel, first seen in the 14thC.

Spitalfields silk factories
Centre of silk weaving in London from the late 17thC, at its peak during the 18thC. Many early designs were French-influenced, brought over by huguenot weavers. In the early 18thC velvets, damasks and silk brocade were produced for dressmaking. In the 1770s the industry fell into irreversible decline when patterned materials went out of fashion. See also bizarre silk.

spittoon
Open or conical-topped container made of metal or ceramics used for spitting into. Some are small for hand-held use, others are larger and rest on the floor.

splat
The vertical member of a chair back, rising from the seat to the top rail.

Spode
Staffordshire ceramics factory founded by Josiah Spode in 1770. Early production included creamware, pearlware and blue-printed earthenware. Spode perfected the bone china formula, and in the 19thC was noted for its regency-style ornamental ware and useful wares with bat-printed designs (see transfer-printing). William Copeland became a partner in 1833, and sole proprietor in 1847, when parian porcelain figures were introduced. Finely crafted table services and vases continued to be made into the 20thC.
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sponged ware
Inexpensive pottery with mottled colour effects applied by a sponge. It was produced and exported in quantity by Staffordshire potteries in the 1820s, and was popular for the next three decades. In the USA it is known as spatterware.

spontoon
See polearms.

spoons
See cutlery.

sprigging
The addition of separately made relief ornamentation onto a ceramic body, cemented in place with slip. The clays used for sprigging may be in a contrasting colour to that of the body, but need to be of similar consistency for the pieces to adhere successfully during firing. Sprigging was developed by Thomas whieldon in the early 18thC, then taken up by other Staffordshire potters, notably on Wedgwood jasperware.

Sprimont, Nicholas
(c. 1716-71) Flemish-born huguenot silversmith and porcelain manufacturer who was based in London and specialised in rococo pieces decorated with human figures, dolphins, shells, crabs and various other natural motifs. See chelsea.

Spring-driven clocks
See balance, barrel, fusee, train.

spur marks
Light indentations or pimples in a ceramic glaze found on the base or rim of some plates, dishes and figures. They - and the similar stilt marks - are made by cones or pegs used to support the body in the kiln or to prevent stacked wares from sticking to each other. The marks can aid identification; they are characteristic, for example, of chelsea and arita porcelain. See patch marks.

squab
A flat, loose cushion, as opposed to fitted upholstery, usually tied to the frame of an armchair with corner tapes and used from the 17thC. Squab stools have a raised rim to hold a cushion in place.

St Cloud
Ceramics factory near Paris founded in 1664 to produce faience. Later, in the early 18thC, a separate concern was established producing cream-coloured soft-paste porcelain with a thick glaze. The factory's peak period was 1725-50. Early pieces were moulded after the Chinese style with prunus boughs or decorated in underglaze blue. kakiemon-style decoration was characteristic after 1730, and many pieces were mounted in silver. The factory closed in 1766.

St Ives pottery
See leach, Bernard.

St Louis
French glassworks founded in the Miinzthal, Lorraine, in 1767. At first it imitated English lead crystal, but c. 1839 it began to produce original, fine-quality tablewares, elegant ornamental wares made of opalescent and other coloured glass, latticing and paperweights. The factory is still in operation and has revived the production of sulphides.

Staffordshire potteries
The largest concentration of ceramics factories in Britain since the 17thC. At the heart of The Potteries are the so-called 'five towns' (in fact six) of Stoke-on-Trent: Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton. The availability of a variety of local clays and coal for fuel provided the essential foundations for the industry to develop. From the mid-18thC, the early pioneering techniques and wares of Staffordshire potters such as Thomas whieldon, John astbury, the elers brothers and, above all Josiah wedgwood, had a profound influence on European ceramics, and an expanding international export trade was established. Almost every stage of British ceramics development can be traced in the Staffordshire potteries, from slip-ware and other lead-glazed earthenware to salt-glazed and fine estoneware, creamware and bone china, embracing both utility and luxury markets. Linked particularly with Staffordshire are the many animal and human figures produced in the 19thC. These were made in moulds by the thousand, often depicting notorious or famous contemporary figures, sometimes marking significant events such as coronations, murders, expeditions or wars. See flatbacks.

stained glass
Glass coloured with metallic oxides, or by flashing. Since the 11thC it has been used for making windows, often in churches. The early technique was to cut the glass into pieces to fit the design, paint faces and draperies with black or grey enamel, and then fix the pieces into a lead framework, hence the term ‘leaded light’. By the 16thC larger panels of glass were being used and the design was painted on in coloured enamels. Stained glass began to appear in houses from the 14thC. Medieval styles and techniques were widely imitated until the late 19th and 20th centuries, when designers such as Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William morris in Britain and John La Farge and Louis tiffany in the USA experimented with new applications and designs.

stainless steel
Strong, corrosion-resistant steel containing chromium and nickel, invented in Britain 1913. It became a popular material for cutlery after 1945, when Scandinavian designs in the material were first seen.

Stake Murray, William
(1881-1962) British engineer, painter and studio potter whose best work is seen in large, simply decorated vases, influenced by the Japanese potter Shoji Hamada, and by his contact with potter Bernard leach.

Stam, Mart
(1899-1986) Dutch architect and furniture designer who worked with the bauhaus design school in Germany and created the first chair using the cantilever principle in 1924.

stamped velvet
See gauffered.

stamping
1 Impressing a design or mark into a ceramic or metal body with a stamp. See die-stamping. 2 The process of pressing low-relief ornamentation made separately in an intaglio mould onto a ceramic body, fixing it with a liquid clay slip and firing. See also sprigging.

standing cup
Large, ceremonial drinking vessel, used in Britain and other parts of Europe from the Middle Ages to the 17thC and later copied for display. They were made of silver, silver-gilt, copper-gilt, or pewter, and consisted of a covered bowl resting on a knopped stem, supported by a spreading foot. Very elaborate examples incorporated real coconut shells, sea shells and ostrich eggs.

standing tray
See butler's tray.

standish
ee inkstand.

stater
Ancient Greek coinage of gold or silver.

steatite
See soapstone.

stem
See glasses, drinking.

stem cup
Chinese drinking vessel with a wide shallow bowl and a stem widening at the base, also known as a gaozu. Most stem cups are of porcelain and became popular in the ming period, but earlier examples exist.

stenciling
A simple method of decoration in which a design or lettering cut from card or other material is used as a template for reproducing a pattern onto a surface placed below. Stencils were used from the 17th to the 18th centuries to decorate walls and were popular during the arts and crafts movement as a furniture decoration.

step cut
See jewel cutting.

stereoscope
A 19thC instrument for viewing two drawings or photographs of the same object, pictured at slightly different angles, to produce a single, three-dimensional image. It was invented by British scientist Charles Wheatstone in 1838.

sterling standard
The proportion of pure silver to base metal set for British sterling silver. From 1300, apart from the period 1697-1720, when the britannia standard was enforced, the legal standard has been 92.5 per cent pure silver, the remainder being one or more base metals such as copper, to lend strength and workability. See hallmarks.

Steuben Glassworks
Leading US glass factory founded by English designer Frederick carder in 1903. It was taken over by the corning glassworks in 1918, but continued to produce vast quantities of art glass. From the mid-1930s the factory specialised in lead crystal, ornamental wares including commissioned designs from various artists and sculptors such as Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, Eric Gill and Graham Sutherland.

Stevengraphs
Trade name for English silk pictures made by Thomas Stevens of Coventry on a Jacquard loom, 1879-1938. They are approximately 2½ x 6 in (6 x 15 cm) and followed themes such as horse races, transport and portraits of famous people.

Stevens & Williams
Family firm of glass-makers based at Brierley Hill near stourbridge, established in the 17thC. In the 19thC, the firm was one of the top three factories in the Stourbridge area, alongside richardsons and Thomas webb. Products included cameo, lead crystal, engraved and many coloured glasses. In the 20thC, the firm changed its name to 'Royal Brierley' after receiving a royal warrant in King George V's reign, and has become known for its commemorative glassware.

stick barometer
The simplest and earliest type of barometer, invented in the 17thC. It consists of a mercury-filled glass tube set within a long, narrow wall case. The mercury level is read directly against a simple vertical scale.

Stickley, Gustav
(1857-1942) New York furniture designer who made solid, plain furniture in the style of the arts and crafts movement, later known as Mission furniture.

stickwork
See tunbridge ware.

stile
See joining.

stilt marks
See spur marks. stipple engraving See engraving.

stirrup cup
Drinking cup, frequently in the shape of an animal's head, used for the final drink before setting off on a hunt. The cups, common from the mid- 18thC, have neither handle nor foot, and were made in pottery and porcelain, silver and glass

stockinette
Elastic, machine-knitted, silk or fine cotton fabric used 1860-80 and 1920-40 as a material for dolls' bodies. It is also seen, though rarely, stretched over the head of a papier mâché doll.

stomacher
1A decorative, often elaborately embroidered or jewelled, triangular panel of material inserted into a bodice on a woman's dress and worn over the chest and ending in a point over the stomach. Stomachers were a feature of women's dresses from the late 15th to late 18th centuries. 2 Large, triangular brooch worn from the 18thC on the centre of a woman's dress bodice. Some were made in sections to be worn as a sequence of two or three brooches. Stomachers, also known as devant le corsage or corsage brooches, were especially popular in the Edwardian period.

stone china
An extremely hard, white clay body used for heavy-duty table services, which was developed in the early 1800s at various Staffordshire potteries. The body is opaque and covered in a glaze with an often blue-grey tinge, and the design is painted over a blue, black or puce printed outline. Popular styles include those derived from Chinese famille-rose export services or anglicised versions of imari porcelain patterns. Ironstone china' was a term patented in 1813 by Charles Mason, possibly in a bid to corner the market and to mislead competitors. Analysis suggests that the slag iron purported to be part of its make-up, is not actually present. While Mason's (later Ashworth's) was the main producer of 'ironstone', other Staffordshire factories followed suit.

stoneware
One of the three fundamental ceramic bodies, the others being earthenware and porcelain. Stoneware is a very hard, dense material made from a clay fired to a point at which the individual grains of clay fuse together, rendering the finished product impervious to liquid. The manufacture of stoneware was first introduced to Britain from Germany in the late 17thC. See red stoneware, and saltglazed stoneware.

stool
The most basic and oldest form of single-person seating, consisting of a seating platform with no back, and three or four legs.

stopped dovetail
See joining.

stopper
Glass, ceramic or metal piece that fits in the neck of a bottle or decanter. Stoppers were frequently decorated to match the container.

Storr, Paul
(1771-1844) The most eminent English silversmith of the 19thC, working in London and noted for his neoclassical and rococo silverware which he made on a grand scale. He supplied some of his work to royalty and nobility, and worked for rundell, Bridge&Rundell, the Crown goldsmiths, for a time. In 1822, he established his own firm, Storr & Mortimer

Stourbridge glasshouses
Glass-making centre in Worcestershire. Glass factories were established there in the early 17thC by a group of huguenot glass-makers. It was the most important 19thC English producer of fine table and decorative glass, including coloured, lead crystal, engraved and cameo glass. See Thomas webb & sons, stevens & williams, richardsons.

strapwork
Decorative motif incorporating interlacing bands or ribbon-like straps. It was popularised by illustrators and engravers in 16thC Flanders, and was a feature of Elizabethan style. Strapwork designs are seen in wrought-iron work, carved in low-relief on furniture, stamped, cast or engraved on silver, and painted on ceramics. The German version, laub und bandelwerk, is seen on early meissen porcelain. See decorative motifs.

straw marquetry
Decoration using short coloured lengths of straw to form marquetry pictures or patterns and applied to items such as furniture, boxes and mirrors. It was popular from the 17th to 19th centuries, particularly in France.

Strawberry Hill Gothic
See gothic revival.

stretcher
The horizontal bar or rail that connects and supports the legs of chairs, stools, cabinets and tables. Stretchers are found in a variety of styles on the lower part of the leg on 16th and 17thC furniture. By the early 18thC they were used only on a limited basis, and by the end of the century they were considered unfashionable. See chair.

striking systems
The blows struck on bells, or gongs of coiled wire, to sound periods of time on a clock. Hour striking sounds the number of hours at each hour, whereas a passing strike sounds one blow at each hour. A half-hour or French strike is hour striking with an additional single blow at each half-hour. Quarter striking is also hour striking with the addition at each quarter-hour of either a double blow on a smaller bell or six or eight blows on a nest of bells. The term chiming indicates a quarter strike on a nest of bells and should not be used to refer to the hour strike. A grande sonnerie strikes the hours and the quarters at every hour and quarter-hour; and a petite sonnerie strikes the hours only on the hour and successive quarter-hours by single, double or triple 'ting-tang' on two bells. A Dutch strike counts out the hour both at the hour on one bell and at the previous half-hour on a differently toned bell.

stringing
See banding.

strut clock
Small, slim, bedroom or travelling clock, with an easel-like strut behind, or sometimes with a swivel strut at the base. The clock was introduced c. 1845 by Thomas Cole (1800-64) and was produced by various clock-makers to c. 1880.

stucco
An Italian term for a slow-setting plaster composed of gypsum, sand and marble powder. It is used for sculptures and relief decorations on walls and ceilings.

studio pottery
Ceramics made or decorated by independent artist-craftsmen.

Stumpwork
Type of needlework in which layers of buttonhole stitching and sewn-on decorations such as seed pearls create three-dimensional 'stump'pictures.

style
See gnomon.

style rayonnan
See lambrequin.

sucket fork or spoon
Combined spoon and fork, the two-pronged fork being at the tip of the spoon handle. It was used mainly to eat succade - preserved fruit, either in syrup or candied. Most surviving examples are of 17th - 18thC.

Süe & Mare
rench furniture-making company operational 1919-28, officially known as the Compagnie des Arts François, but better known by the surnames of its two founders, Louis Süe and André Mare. Its high-quality art deco furniture made of luxurious materials was usually commissioned, and the company also designed interiors and decorative objects.

sugar box
A box with a lid used for holding and serving sugar. Some examples have two compartments for different types of sugar as well as room for a spoon. Sugar boxes are found in silver or porcelain.

sugar nips
Early type of sugar tongs like a pair of scissors but with arms instead of blades. Sugar nips were introduced in the mid-18thC for breaking pieces off sugar loaves.

Sulphides
White ceramic cameos and medallions embedded in clear glass, a technique believed to have been first patented in 1818 by Pierre-Honoré Boudon de Saint-Amans. A thin layer of air under the glass gives them a silvery appearance. Sulphides are seen set in paperweights, in the base of goblets, perfume bottles and tumblers, and were widely produced in the early 19thC. Fine examples were made by baccarat, clichy and Apsley pellatt.

sumakh
A flat-weave technique used in Oriental rug-making, with a complicated, almost embroidery-like weave. The sumakh or soumak technique is widespread in the Caucasus, seen in the similar verneh and sileh rugs of the southern Caucasus, and also in the wearings of the nomadic Turkoman tribes in eastern anatolia, Iran and other parts of central Asia.

Summerly's Art Manufactures
See cole, Henry.

Sunderland ware
Domestic pottery such as chamberpots, jugs and plaques made in large quantities in Sunderland, England, c. 1800-50. It is decorated with black transfer-printed designs of sailing boats, bridges, emblems and inscriptions, some hand-coloured and framed with splashes of purple-pink lustre.

sundial
Device for telling the time by the sun. The dial has a central protruding arm known as a gnomon, and as the sun rises the shadow cast by the gnomon indicates the time on markings round the edge of the dial. A pocket sundial known as the Butterfield dial - invented by Michael Butterfield (fl. 1670-1724) and made of silver or brass with an octagonal base and adjustable bird gnomon - was widely copied up to the late 18thC. Both pocket and fixed sundials were widely used from the 15th until the mid- 19th centuries, after which accurate pocket watches and the introduction of standard time made them obsolete.

Sung
See song.

Sutherland table
A mid-Victorian, drop-leaf table with a central section that is unusually narrow compared with the broad leaves, and a gate-leg construction beneath.

Suzuribako
Japanese lacquer box used for writing materials (suzuribako means 'ink-stone box') dating from the 13thC onwards.

swag
ee decorative motifs.

swaging
The process of shaping the edge of a piece of silver flatware or other metal using a tool called a swage block which consists of compatible blocks - one with the edging design in relief and the other with the design recessed. The metal edge is pressed between the blocks to mould the metal. The process is still used today to make hand-forged spoons.

Swansea
The most important pottery and porcelain centre in South Wales in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Cambrian Factory, producing creamware earthenware and basaltes EARTHENWARE. Was active from c. 1767. But it was for the finely modelled and decorated, high-quality soft-paste porcelain produced from 1814, with the help of William Billingsley from Nantgarw, that Swansea became famed. From 1822 the factory produced only earthenware and finally closed in 1870.

sweetmeats
Dry sweetmeats such as chocolates, nuts and dried or candied fruits, were popular from the 17th to early 19th centuries, and various containers - in silver, glass and ceramics - were made to hold them (see bonbonniè). Porcelain sweetmeat figures carrying a bowl were made as part of dessert services notably at meissen and chelsea. A sweetmeat dish is one dish with several compartments. A sweetmeat set is made up of separate containers, usually sections of a circle, which when placed together form a composite piece. These were popular in the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Tall-stemmed sweetmeat glasses were used in Britain in the late 17th and early 18th centuries for 'wet' sweetmeats such as jellies and custards. They are more usually known as jelly glasses. See also epergne.

swell front
See bow front.

swing glass
See cheval mirror.

sword
General term for any weapon with a handle and a long blade used for cutting and thrusting. It encompasses the lightweight rapier, the two-handed claymore, and the curved-bladed sabre. Swords carried by foot soldiers are shorter than those for mounted soldiers. Simple crossguards gradually gave way to knuckle-guards for greater hand protection in late 15thC Europe. Rapiers, and their direct descendants, the small swords, were carried for personal protection or as part of court dress, rather than in a military context, from the 16th to18th centuries. Swords were still standard sidearms for some armed forces in Europe into the early 20thC, but apart from their continuing role as part of a dress uniform, they were replaced by bayonets from the 18thC.

Sycamore
Hard, milky-white, European wood, related to the North American maple. It has a fine, even grain and natural lustre. Solid sycamore furniture was made in medieval times, and from the late 17thC the wood was used in floral marquetry on walnut furniture, sometimes stained green or grey to make harewood, and for veneers. Because it has no taste, sycamore was much used for domestic ware.

syllabub glass
Wide-bowled, stemmed, 18thC glass used to serve syllabub, a creamy dessert.

sympiesometer
Type of barometer used for measuring air pressure, comprising a short column of mercury and a bulb of gas, mounted in a brass or wooden wall case. It was widely made in the 1820s and 30s.

synchronous clock
See electric clock.

synthetic gem
A man-made gem with the same chemical composition as a natural gem, as opposed to an imitation which only looks like the natural stone.

Tabako-ire
Japanese tobacco pouch which was hung from a kurawa (ashtray) netsuke. A tabako-bon is a tobacco cabinet, also known as a tabako-dansu, which has drawers for tobacco, a metal or china container for charcoal, and hooks for hanging a kiseru (pipe). 19thC examples are often decorated with lacquer. A kiseru'zutsu is a pipe holder.

Tabby
1 17thC term for silk taffeta with a changeable surface finish like shot silk. 2 A basic weave in which the warp thread is woven alternately over and under each weft thread.

tabernacle clock
A German clock of the renaissance period in the form of a turreted tower, often with a dial on each of the four vertical sides, and with a balustraded gallery top containing hour and quarter-hour bells. Most German town guilds in the 16th and 17th centuries required an apprentice to make a tabernacle clock, with many additional astronomical and calendar dials, as a masterpiece clock before qualifying as a master clock-maker.

table clock
Specifically, a spring-driven clock set within a flat-based case of metal or wood. The dial is either on the upper or front surface, sometimes with subsidiary dials on the sides and back. Table clocks were first made in France and Germany in the 16thC. British bracket clocks and mantel clocks fall into the table clock category. See drum clock.

table cut
See jewel cutting.

Tableau
See plaque.

tablette
ee aide-memoire.

taffeta
Fine TABBY-weave silk fabric used in Britain since the 14thC, and especially from the i6th to 17th centuries, for cushion covers, counterpanes and curtains. From the 17thC, taffeta was stretched and a gum-like substance applied to give a glossy, watered finish.

Talbert, Bruce
(1838-81) Architect and furniture, metalworkand wallpaper designer. Talbert's furniture is simple and functional - a reaction against the overly elaborate gothic revival. It is bulky but practical and well-proportioned, and decorated with panels of lighter wood, tiles, Gothic tracery or shallow carving. Talbert published an influential pattern book in 1867.

talking doll
In the early 19thC, dolls that could say 'mama' or 'papa' were developed in Germany by Johannes Malzel of Regensburg (the sound was produced by a bellows when the limbs were moved), and in Britain by Anthony Bazzoni of London. Some talking dolls dating from the late 19thC contained phonographic wax cylinders.

tallboy
High chest comprising one chest on top of another, with seven or more full-width drawers and a top pair of half-width drawers. The top chest is generally slighlty narrower than the lower one. Tallboys, also known as chests-on-chests, were introduced in the early 18thC and derived from the chest-on-stand - a chest of drawers on a stand like a lowboy.

tambour
1A flexible shutter used for roll-top desk lids and sliding doors for cupboards. Tambour covers are made from narrow slats of wood glued to a canvas or linen backing, and were developed in France in the iSthC. 2 A pair of wooden hoops that form a frame to hold embroidery while it is being worked on. The resulting design, stitched in a continuous line of cross-stitches, is known as tambour work and was used to decorate white muslin dresses and accessories, especially 1780-1850.

tang
Long shank on sword blade to which the hilt is fitted.

tankard
Drinking vessel with handle for beer, ale or cider. The earliest surviving tankards from the 16th and 17th centuries retained the same basic form - straight, tapering sides with S-shaped handle, rectangular thumbpiece and a hinged lid - until lidded tankards went out of use in the 18thC. Open tankards or mugs were used from the 19thC.

tantalus
Decorative stand, case or box for cut-glass decanters, fashionable from the mid- 19thC until the Edwardian period in Britain. It is usually for two or three decanters, but can be for up to six. The decanters can only be removed by raising or lowering the overhead handle or bar which locks them in place. tapestry Handwoven fabric in which a design or picture is worked in during manufacture using the weft (crosswise) threads, although the term is loosely used for any woven wall-hanging or upholstery. Tapestries are usually woven with wool, silk or both, and take the name of the factory that produced them, such as gobelin.

tapestry-weave
See kilim.

targe
Light Scottish circular shield made of wood and leather with central boss, used 16th to 18th centuries.

tastevin
Small, shallow bowl or cup for wine-tasting. The French version has a single ring handle and is often attached to a chain or ribbon worn around the neck. The 17thC British version has two scroll handles.

tavern clock
Georgian wall timepiece with a weight-driven movement, which was developed c.1720 and made into the early 19thC. The large dial is unglazed and the trunk below it houses the weights and a seconds-beating pendulum. The clocks were also known as Act of Parliament clocks, after a 1797-8 Act which taxed clocks and timepieces. This supposedly resulted in private owners putting away their clocks and relying on public clocks. The Act was soon repealed, following a petition from clock-makers.

Tazza
Italian for 'cup', originally the name of a shallow drinking vessel used in 16th and 17thC Italy. It later came to refer to other shallow or virtually flat dishes raised on a central stem also known as comports.

tea bowl
Small, tapering circular cup without a handle and sometimes with a saucer, for drinking tea. The first European examples were based on the Chinese tea bowl and made in silver from the late 17thC and in ceramics and glass during the 18thC.

tea caddy
Box or casket with a hinged lid and lock used for storing tea leaves. Caddy is derived from the Malay kati, a unit of weight for tea. When tea was first introduced to Britain in the 17thC it was stored in porcelain jars, also known as caddies, which were imported from China. Tea was very expensive in the 18thC and kept in lockable silver or wooden caskets, originally known as tea chests. By the end of the century the name had changed to caddy.

tea ceremony wares
Pottery such as bowls, water jars, tea caddies (natsume), charcoal burners (hibachi), incense boxes (kogo and kobako), utensil box (satsubako) used for the traditional Buddhist tea ceremony. In Japan the ceremony is known as cha no yu (hot water for tea). Much Japanese tea ceremony ware, such as raku ware, is rough, irregularly shaped earthenware, in keeping with the simple origins of the ritual.

tea kettle
Large vessel resembling a teapot made for holding hot water, produced in ceramics, silver and sheffield plate from the early 18thC and electroplate from the mid-19thC. The kettles usually had a matching tripod stand and spirit lamp. The tea kettle was superseded by the tea urn c. 1760, but was revived in the 19thC.

tea table
Small, lightweight, easily moved table. tripod tables were replaced by four-legged examples with a galleried or tray top towards the end of the 18thC, and these were also known as silver tables or china tables. Some versions have a fold-over top -rather like a card table without the refinements for games.

tea urn
Large, pear-shaped, lozenge-shaped or spherical hot-water um with two handles, a domed cover with finial and a spigot and tap. Some examples have a red-hot iron inserted into a central tube in the body of the urn, others are heated by a spirit lamp. Tea urns were made in silver, electroplate, copper, japanned metal or porcelain, largely replacing the tea kettle from the 1770s to mid-19thC in Britain and Europe.

tea-dust glaze
Greenish-brown glaze popular on Chinese 18thC porcelain. Known as cha ye mo, it was achieved by blowing green glaze powder through a fine gauze onto a brown glaze before firing.

teak
One of the hardest, strongest and most durable furniture timbers of all. True teak is from India and Burma, but other similar woods are wrongly called teak. It is usually golden-brown in colour and darkens with age to medium and deep brown, sometimes with dark markings. It is slightly oily and smells leathery. It is so hard that cabinet-makers often charged a higher price to cover the costs of the extra work involved and the repair of blunted tools. Teak was used sparingly in the 18th and 19th centuries for table tops, chairs, chests, and campaign furniture.

teapot
Covered vessel, generally of silver or ceramics, used for infusing and serving tea, and made in several different styles and sizes. Tea was first imported to Britain in the second half of the 17thC. Teapots are generally shorter and rounder than coffee or chocolate pots, and the spout, which is always opposite the handle, is positioned nearer the bottom of the pot. punchpots closely resemble teapots although they are usually much larger.

Teapoy
1 Small tripod table which was introduced in the early 19thC. From the 1820s, the table top was replaced by a wooden box which was used to store tea. 2 Large, earthenware or porcelain tea caddy.

tear
See air-beading.

Telescope
Instrument for magnifying distant objects, invented in the early 17thC, and consisting of telescopic wooden or metal tubes containing lenses.

temmoku glaze
Black or dark brown glaze found on Chinese 10th- 13thC (song dynasty) stoneware. The ware was also made in Japan for use in the tea ceremony. The glaze, when streaky, is known as a hare's fur glaze.

Tempera
Painting medium consisting of powdered colour pigments, egg yolk or egg white and water; used for panel painting until the 15thC when it was superseded by oil paint.

tenon
See joining.

tent stitch
Small diagonal stitch that spans one mesh of canvas or other material, worked in horizontal or diagonal rows.

term
Short for terminal figure, a half statue or bust on a pillar or pedestal.

Terracotta
The name, translated from the Italian as 'baked earth' for a low-fired unglazed earthenware. The clay used is often rich in iron and therefore fires brick-red. A vogue for Classical Greek style c. 1860-80 prompted British factories to produce terracotta wares, including wedgwood, minton, doulton and Torquay Potteries. Terracotta has been used for a wide range of wares - from figures, plaques, candlesticks and vases to garden urns and flowerpots. Terracotta can be made with a slightly glossy surface and is suitable for painted decoration without any need for subsequent glazing and firing. The body is usually left unglazed, but some practical pieces such as jugs are glazed on the inside in order to make them waterproof.

test
tesestests

Tester
A wooden canopy over a bedstead, chair or pulpit. The tester is supported on four posts, or on two posts and a back panel or headboard. See bedstead.

Testoon
British silver portrait coin issued by kings Henry VII and Henry VIII, with a face value of 5p (12d), later known as the shilling c. 1550.

tête-a-tête
See cabaret.

Thaumatrope
1 Optical toy, developed in the late 1820s, consisting of a card or disc with two different figures drawn on each side. When it is rotated the two figures appear to combine into one. 2 Cylinder bearing a series of figures on the inside and a series of slits on the outside. The figures are viewed through the slits and when the cylinder is rotated appear to be moving. The effect is similar to that produced by a zoetrope.

The commode chair,
with a hinged seat enclosing a chamber pot, was introduced in the mid-Georgian period, and known by the Victorians as a night commode.

Thebes stool
Wooden stool with a thonged leather or wooden seat based on an Egyptian design and introduced by liberty in 1884.

Theodolite
Surveying instrument for measuring vertical and horizontal angles, invented in 1571 by a British mathematician, Thomas Digges, but developed by engineer Jesse Ramsden c.1790. It incorporates a small telescope which moves horizontally and vertically, and often a magnifying lens and spirit level.

Thonet Brothers
Austrian furniture-makers established Vienna, 1842, which specialised in bentwood furniture, perfected by its founder Michael Thonet (1796-1871). Furniture was exported to the USA and Europe, especially after mass-production techniques were introduced in 1859. By 1871 Thonet Brothers was the largest furniture-making firm in the world. The company changed its name to Thonet-Mundus in 1923, producing tubular steel chairs designed by Marcel breuer, Ludwig mies van der rohe and le corbusier among others.

Threading
1 Threads of molten glass used to decorate glassware, similar to, and often referred to as trailing. Threads or trails of glass are applied onto the glass body when it is still in its molten state, and can then either be left raised on the surface or rolled into the glass body. From 1876 threading was usually carried out by for the production of ceramic figures. In 1763, the factory made a definite move towards the luxury market, and wares imitating meissen, sèvres and Japanese designs were produced. These were often finished by outside decorators such as James giles. A new period began in 1783 under the Flight family and, from 1793, under the Flight and Barr families, with an improved soft-paste formula. Products ranged from simply decorated teawares to elaborate regency vases, and ornaments decorated in rich enamels and gilding by first-class artists such as Thomas Baxter and Samuel Astles. bone china was introduced in 1800 but only achieved pure translucency and whiteness from 1820. Some decoration was done by Robert Chamberlain's rival Worcester factory. The resulting ware, together with Chamberlain's own bone china produced since 1791, became known as 'Chamberlain's Worcester'. The two companies merged in 1840. New management in 1852 changed the factory's name to Kerr & Binns, and from 1862 it became the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company. Victorian Worcester is often richly gilded and painted in enamels - flushed colours against an apricot ground. Specialities included japonaiserie in the 1870s and 80s, figures, including children, modelled by James Hadley (1837-1903), parian ware ornaments and elaborate renaissance-style vases. High-quality painted decoration, often signed by the artist, was frequent at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

thumbpiece
Metal knob or lever, also known as a billet, on the lid hinge of a vessel, allowing it to be opened with the thumb while holding the handle with the fingers.

thuya
Soft, close-grained, reddish-brown wood with a mottled figuring, imported from Africa and the USA and sometimes seen in veneers and inlaid decoration.

Tiffany & Co
Leading American jewellery firm founded 1837 in New York by goldsmith Charles Tiffany (1812-1902). The firm gained an international reputation for jewellery, especially diamonds, watches, gems and silverware. It introduced the sterling standard to the USA in 1850, which was later legalised for American sterling silverware. In 1886, Charles Tiffany designed the Tiffany setting with curved prongs to secure a solitaire diamond to a finger ring. Charles's son, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), founded an interior design company in New York in 1879 which later became Tiffany Studios. In 1880 he patented favrile glass and for the next 20 years produced art, mosaic and stained glass pieces as well as art nouveau vases, bowls and lamps with glass shades. From 1902 he concentrated on jewellery, and also produced pottery and designed furniture, wallpapers and fabrics in art nouveau style. The studios closed in 1932, but Tiffany & Co still operates.

Tigerware
See salt-glazed stoneware.

Tigerwood
See zebra wood.

Tiles
Decorated ceramic slabs for roof, wall or floor decoration. maiolica tiles of 15thC Italy were designed for flooring, but their bright colours inspired Spanish and Portuguese pictorial wall tiles. The Dutch produced monochrome blue and white or manganese purple and white wall tiles which were exported throughout Europe from the 17th to 19th centuries. Key centres for decorative tiles in Britain were bristol, lambeth and liverpool from the late 17thC, and in France, rouen, nevers and Lisieux. In Germany and other parts of central Europe, tiles with incised or relief designs, covered with a green, yellow or brown lead glaze were made by the Hafner (stove-makers). Demand for decorative tiles fell in the early 19thC, but revived in the mid-century. The British output came from Staffordshire potteries, particularly minton. The medieval technique of making encaustic tiles, in which tiles are inlaid with clays of contrasting colours and fixed with heat, was also revived. At the end of the century glazed tiles were made in arts and crafts, aesthetic and art nouveau styles.

till
Locking compartments for keeping money, fitted into a medieval chest or casket - the forerunner of the drawer in a chest of drawers.

timepiece
Any timekeeping device, generally used to indicate one that does not strike the hours or quarters.

tin
Soft, brittle, silvery-white metal usually combined with other metals to make alloys such as bronze and pewter. Tin is also used to line other metals in a process known as tin-plating. This gives a rust-resistant finish or a protective covering to the interiors of brass or copper vessels.

tin toy trademarks
Initials or trademarks used by the most important makers of mechanical toys from the late 19thC. Some companies such as Bing, Carette and Günthermann, changed their marks from time to time, making accurate dating possible. Trademarks were applied in a variety of ways: stenciled or rubber-stamped on the body; applied as a transfer, a printed tin-plate lozenge or embossed brass plate; or impressed directly onto the body of the toy.

tinder-box
Wooden or metal box used from the 15th to 19th centuries for keeping tinder for fire-making. The box may be pocket-sized or larger for household use, and also contained a flint and steel for making sparks and sometimes brimstone matches for transferring the flame. Some 16thC boxes have a wheel-lock mechanism for producing sparks.

tin-glazed earthenware
Earthenware coated in an opaque white-ground glaze. The addition of tin oxide to a basic lead glaze resulted in an impermeable, more refined, white surface than previously achieved in the West. Tin glazes were used almost exclusively on earthenware, but were occasionally used by porcelain-makers to whiten a cream body, such as at chantilly c. 1730 and chelsea c. 1745. Tin-glazed earthenware was first made during the Mesopotamian civilisation, c.1000bc, but did not reach western Europe until the 8thC, when Moorish invaders introduced the techniques to Spain (see hispano-moresqueware). From the 13thC Italians began to develop their own style of tin-glazed earthenware which became known as maiolica; the French followed suit with their version, faience, the Germanic countries with fayence, and the Dutch and British produced delftware. Colours for decorating tin-glazed earthenware were at first limited to high-temperature colours. From the 18thC, enamel decoration was sometimes added after the tin glaze had been fired, and a second, lead glaze or kwaart was applied to give a brighter finish.

toaster
Long-handled toasting fork for holding bread, muffins or other food over an open fire from the 16thC. The toaster became increasingly popular from c.1720, and sometimes had a telescopic facility or a fitting for resting the fork on the bars of a grate or fender.

toasting glass
Tall, slender-bowled wine glass with a very slim stem used for drinking a toast, and made in Britain c. 1725-1800. Its capacity is 2-4 fl oz (50-115 ml). A toastmaster's glass dating from c. 1725-50, is similar but has a thickened base and sides allowing a capacity of only ½-¾ fl oz (15-20 ml), to ensure that the toastmaster remains coherent. See lglasses, drinking.

Toby jug

Earthenware jug shaped like a figure, usually a seated stout man in 18thC dress wearing a three-cornered hat. Recognisable Toby jugs were first made c. 1760 at Burslem, Staffordshire by Ralph Wood. Some female versions are known as Martha Gunn.

toddy
Stronger form of punch; drinking vessels for toddy are usually smaller than those for punch, and date from the late 18th to mid-19th centuries. A toddy lifter was used to transfer the punch from bowl to glass. Shaped like a miniature decanter with a slim neck, a bulbous body and a hole at either end, it operates on a siphon principle. A quantity of punch is drawn into the lifter by immersing the bulbous end into the punch, and closing the thumb over the neck hole. When the thumb is released, the liquid pours out.

Toftware
Late 17thC decorative slip-ware dishes made in Staffordshire by Thomas Toft (d. 1689) and others. The designs are executed in a naive style in brown and white slip. toile 1 Basic dress pattern made of muslin. 2 Linen cloth, or in the late 19thC, a fabric of silk and linen. 3 The pattern of a piece of bobbin lace. 4 Toile du Jouy is a printed cotton fabric made in France in the late iSthC, usually printed with romantic, figurative scenes in either red or blue on an ivory ground.

Tokyo School of Art
Japanese group of artists founded 1887 by Ishikawa Komei. The school was influenced by Western art and art schools while retaining the traditional skills of Japanese craftsmanship.

toleware
Name from the French tôle peinte ('painted tin') for small objects of hand-painted tin-plate such as boxes, trays and coffee mills. The technique originated in France c. 1740. Toleware was mass-produced from the 1760s into the 19thC in Birmingham and elsewhere in Britain.

Tompion, Thomas
(1638-1713) British clock and watch-maker who gained international recognition for his outstanding mechanical skills and craftsmanship. He was established in business by 1671, and was the first clock-maker to employ a system of serial numbers to identify timepieces. His system was continued by his successor in the business, George; graham. From 1674 Tompion worked with the British scientist Robert Hooke on various timekeeping improvements, including the balance spring, which helped to give the English a technical lead in watchmaking.

tooling
Work or ornamentation done with tools; especially stamped or gilded designs on books or leather.

topaz
Precious gemstone, ranging in colour from white through to sherry-brown and blue. Orange-red varieties are the rarest and most highly prized. Pink or 'rose' topaz is the result of heat treatment applied to yellow topaz. Topaz is hard and polishes well, but it is highly susceptible to cleavage or splitting. It is usually cut as ovals or oblongs and is often confused with the abundant and less valuable citrine.

Top-plate
The watchmaking equivalent of the back plate in a clock, so-called because a watch movement is assembled face down.

torchère
Portable stand for a candle, also known as a candle-stand. Torchères, can be in the form of standards to place on the floor or, especially from the mid-18thC, small enough to be set on a dressing or writing table.

tortoiseshell
Dark brown, mottled shell of certain species of sea turtle which can be moulded by heating, and thickened or enlarged by joining pieces together under pressure. It was especially popular for inlaid decoration on English and French furniture in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries (see boulle) , and for jewellery inlaid with piqué work in Britain in the 1860s. tortoiseshell glass Mottled brown art glass developed in Europe and the USA c. 1880. It is made by rolling a gather of clear molten glass over broken pieces of brown glass, adding a yellowish-brown stain.

touch mark
See pewter.

touchpiece
A pierced coin hung from the neck of a supplicant at a touching ceremony. A piece touched by the monarch was thought to be a guard against disease.

Tourbillon
ee breguet.

Tournai
The leading porcelain factory of the Low Countries, from its foundation in 1751 to the end of the 18thC. It produced soft-paste porcelain tableware very much in the style of French porcelain of the time, particularly that of sèvres. Exotic birds, naturalistic flowers and pink monochrome landscapes are characteristic themes. Some of the figures made, particularly those left 'in-the-white', are similar to derby figures. In the 1790s, the factory merged with the nearby St Armand-des-Eaux which made reproductions of 18thC porcelain while Tournai made household wares until the mid- 19thC.

toys
18thC English term for small ornamental objects and novelties crafted in materials such as porcelain, silver or gold, ivory or tortoiseshell. miniature ornaments, seals, scent bottles, decorative knife handles, thimbles and pomanders, for example, would be typical gifts bought from the 18thC 'toyman'.

tracery
rchitectural term dating from the 17thC and used to refer to the carved, ornamental stone openwork which decorates the top of a Gothic window. It is also found on vaulted ceilings, doors and panels. Tracery was used extensively during the first half of the 19thC on the backs of chairs and hall seats.

trader's token
An unofficial coin issued by an individual or company to supply a local need for small change.

trailing
See threading.

train
In clocks and watches, the series of wheels and driving pinions linking the source of power (a weight or a spring) to the hands, the strike or other end-function. A clock or watch may have a single 'going train', or may also have a striking, musical or alarm train. See box below.

transfer-printing
A method of printing onto solid objects such as ceramics and glassware which made the mass production of designs possible for the first time. Invented in Britain in the mid- 18thC, it was not used widely in continental Europe until the 19thC. The process involves taking a tissue print from a copperplate engraving, and transferring this to the receiving object. In ceramics this can be either over or under the glaze. Designs were initially monochrome, sometimes coloured in later. Multicoloured transfer-printing did not become established until the 1840s. A form of transfer-printing called bat-printing was used in Staffordshire in the early 19thC. The designs were transferred to the glazed earthenware by means of a flexible sheet - or bat -of glue or gelatine.

Transitional
Chinese porcelain, mostly blue and white, produced in the Transitional Period (c. 1620-80) covering the last two decades of the ming dynasty and the beginning of the qing dynasty. Imperial orders disappeared with the internal warfare following the fall of the Ming dynasty and were only partly replaced by orders from the scholar-gentry class. This move is reflected in the proliferation of wares for the writing table such as cylindrical brush pots and in painted decoration depicting more expansive landscapes and everyday rather than imperial scenes. Exports to the West were limited and were mainly of kraak porselein.

translucency
The term for the degree to which a substance such as porcelain or glass allows light to pass though it (thickness permitting) and the quality or colour of that light on passing out of the body.

treasure trove
Hidden or buried money, or precious objects whose owner is unknown.

treen
Derived from an old word for 'wooden', the term refers to small domestic articles made of turned or carved wood, such as bowls, platters and spoons.

tremblant
An item of jewellery such as a brooch, aigrette or pendant with an ornament - a flower or bee, for example - on a coiled spring which trembles when the wearer moves.

Trembleuse
Silver or ceramic cup and saucer, fashionable in the 18thC, with a central raised ring in the saucer to hold the cup firm.

trencher salt
See salt.

trestle table
The earliest form of dining table, consisting of planks of wood held together by cross-bearers on the under-surface, and initially rested, unfixed, over two or more folding supports, or trestles. In the 16thC trestles were fixed to the table top. Trestle tables were reintroduced as part of the early Victorian gothic revival.

trial
An experimental coin, banknote or stamp, possibly of unfinished design, and often struck or printed on a material different to that intended for circulation.

Tribe, Paul
(1883-1935) French caricaturist and designer of jewellery, furniture, textiles and other interior furnishings. Tribe began working in a flowing art nouveau style, but his later, simpler forms influenced the art deco movement. He is noted for well-upholstered furniture with fine carving or inlaid woodwork. In the early 1900s. Tribe worked with French fashion designer Paul Poiret and from 1914 for American film director Cecil B. De Mille. In 1930 he went to Paris and made jewellery for Coco Chanel.

tricoteuse
Term used to describe a small, 19thC French work table with a rail bordering the edge. The term is from tricoteur 'knitter'.

tripod table
Small-topped table supported on a slender pillar and a tripod of outward-facing feet. These were popular occasional tables and for serving desserts and tea in the 18thC Georgian period. Some versions have a top that snaps or folds down vertically over the supporting pillar. See birdcage.

trivet
Wrought-iron stand with three or four legs on which to place pots or kettles taken from the fire.

trompe l’oeil
Decoration on a flat surface that appears three-dimensional. The term is French for 'deceive the eye'.

troy weight
Traditional weight system used by goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellers from 1526. The name comes from the town of Troyes, France, and was probably brought to Britain by Henry V, c. 1420. The basic unit is the troy ounce (oz), divided into 20 pennyweights (dwt); 12 troy ounces make one troy pound (lb). A troy ounce is about 10 per cent heavier than an ordinary (avoirdupois) ounce. In some auction catalogues weights are quoted in troy ounces and decimal fractions. Troy weight is still used but metric grams are now taking over.

trumeau mirror
See pier.

trumpeter clock
A clock similar in design and appearance to the cuckoo clock, but with a model military bugler sounding a trumpet on the hour or quarter hour. The trumpet sound is operated by bellows. Another variant on the theme is a clock with mechanically played drums.

Trussel
See die.

Tsuba
The metal hand guard on a Japanese sword or dagger, often finely decorated. See kodogu.

tube lining
See slip.

tubular steel furniture
Furniture with a tubular steel framework, generally chromium plated. The earliest tubular steel chair was designed by the Hungarian Marcel breuer in 1925 and made by the thonet Brothers of Vienna.

Tudric
Trade name for table and decorative ware of pewter marketed by the London retail store liberty during the early 20thC to accompany its cymric silver range. Many of the Celtic-inspired art nouveau designs were created by Archibald Knox (1864-1933).

tulipwood
Hard, heavy wood, yellowish-brown with a pinkish tinge, from Central and South America. It was used for decorative veneers and banding during the 18th and early 19th centuries, especially on 18thC French furniture. See rosewood.

tulwar
The most common type of Indian sword, usually single-edged and often curved. The hilt is entirely metal with a flat disc-like pommel.

tumbler
Flat-based drinking glass with neither stem, foot nor handle. Tumblers are variously shaped and sized, but unlike beakers never have a flared mouth. In the 17thC, heavy metal tumblers with curved sides were designed to tumble back to an upright position if set down awkwardly.

Tunbridge ware
Articles such as trays, table tops, tea caddies, picture frames and games boards, decorated with a low-cost, mass-produced marquetry developed at Tunbridge Wells, Kent,in the mid-17thC. Rectangular-section rods of various woods were glued together then cut across in thin slices to produce a multi-coloured veneer. A similar technique was used in the 19thC for small stickwork articles, such as egg cups, turned on a lathe.

tureen
Circular or oval, deep, covered bowl of porcelain, pottery, silver or silver plate, made from the early 18thC for serving soup, sauce, vegetables or stew. Sauce tureens are smaller, plainer versions.

Turkish knot
See carpet knots.

Turkish style
An exotic furnishing style developed in mid-19thC Britain for the comfort of smokers. It drew inspiration from Middle Eastern themes probably because Turkey was associated with fine tobacco. The characteristic elements include fretted and arcaded woodwork; small four, six or eight-legged japanned tables inlaid with mother-of-pearl; upholstered chairs incorporating a panel of Oriental carpet; pierced brass incense burners and lamps. At first, the style was confined to the smoking room, but in the 1880s, as smoking became more widely tolerated, the Turkish corner became a popular feature in the drawing room. It centred on a high-backed corner divan seat with an Eastern-style canopy and frame.

Turkoman (or Turkman)
Generic name for nomadic tribesmen from central Asia known for their fine weaving. Turkoman carpets have a woollen pile and usually a red and black colour scheme.

turning
The shaping of wood and other materials such as metal and ivory on a lathe. The material is clamped onto the lathe and rotated, or turned, at an even rate while the craftsman shapes it by cutting or filing, so producing a symmetrically carved object. Wood turning has been a principal decorative effect on furniture since medieval times and developed particularly during the late 16th and 17th centuries. Different woods are more or less suited to turning but the introduction of high-speed, power-driven lathes in the 19thC enabled virtually any wood to be turned in a greater variety of shapes, and with a more uniform and symmetrical result than that achieved by the hand or foot-operated lathe.

turnip watch
See farmer's watch.

turquoise
Blue-green gemstone widely used, cut en cabochon (see jewel cutting), in 19thC jewellery. Turquoise probably takes its name from the French for Turkey, from where it first reached Europe. The bluer the colour the more prized the gem - the best-quality stones come from north-east Iran.

turret clock
A clock with its dial on the outside wall of a building and its movement inside.

twill
Fabric in which the weave forms diagonal, herringbone or diamond lines. The weft passes over two or more, and under one or more warps.

Twist
Form of decoration in the stem of a drinking glass, popular in the second half of the 18thC and revived in the 19thC. White or coloured glass rods are trapped in the glass while it is still in a molten state and then twisted. An air twist is a twisted air channel in the stem.

tyg
Two or three-handled drinking vessel, also known as a loving cup, usually large and of ceramic or silver, for passing from guest to guest at the end of a banquet. The term is loosely used for any two-handled cup. Earthenware tygs with slip decoration and sometimes initials or dates as part of the design, were common in the 17th and 18th centuries.

undercut
Ornamental carving cut so deeply that the decoration not only stands out from the body of the material but in parts stands free of it.

underframing
The support structure under, for example, a seat, table top, dresser or other cabinet.

underglaze
Design or colours applied, cut or incised into a ceramic body before glazing and firing. See high temperature colours,

unite
A British 17thC gold £1 coin. Handsome triple-unites were struck by King Charles I at Shrewsbury and Oxford mints in the 1640s.

upholsterer's chair
Single chair with fabric-covered back and seat. The chairs were hired out in the 17thC to private households by upholsterers.

upright
1 Frame of a chair back in one piece with the back legs. 2 Any vertical support on furniture.

urn stand
A small table on which to stand a tea urn, often with a pull-out slide for a teapot. The stands were introduced in the mid-18thC.

Utility scheme
British scheme introduced during the Second World War which enforced manufacturers to produce standardised designs to reduce wastage of raw materials. An official Design Panel hoped to encourage plain, durable but modern designs. Utility furniture tended to be rather drab, but its influence continued throughout the 1950s. Utility ceramics were also produced - simple pieces in white or cream.