Terms

Claw and ball feet (or ball and claw) termination mainly used on cabriole legs in the first half of the 18th century (though earlier examples occur), representing a bird's or dragon's claw clutching a ball. It derives from an oriental symbol of evil in the world — the dragon's claw grasping a pearl.

A splat refers to the central, vertical members of a chair back, generally shaped or pierced.

The term "cabinetmaker" emerged as more sophisticated methods of furniture building emerged in mid-17th century England and colonial America. The earliest American settlers brought deeply embedded woodworking traditions with them on their long voyages to the New World. They made good use of the abundance of timber that resulted as they reshaped the forested landscape.

Postmodern design emerged primarily in architecture in the United States beginning in the early 1970s, largely instigated by the books of Robert Venturi.

What is a chair? What does it look like? A seemingly simple and traditional object, the chair plays a particularly important role in not only the history of art and design, but also the history of people.

In the history of art, architecture, and design, Modernism typically refers to the period between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, even though its influence is present both before and after this time, especially into the middle of the century.

Orthography (or “correct writing”) refers to the general conventions or standardized rules of writing in a particular language. An orthography may include standards for spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.