Learn the Vocabulary of an Appraiser

Terms, Words, and Slang Used by Appraisers, Dealers in the Trade, and Curators:

• African-American Furniture Makers: Thomas Day (NC), C. Lee (New Orleans), William Coons (MO), Henry Boyd (LA).
• Lambrequin knee: The knee on a table leg carved in the manner of the ornamental drapery by the same name which typically adorns the top of a window or shelf.
• Karelain Burl: Decorative burl wood often used in furniture.
• Concertina Action: A mechanical mechanism sometimes found in English and Irish gaming table but rarely in American versions whereby the frieze is hinged to collapse inward on itself as the top fold over to double.
• Secrétaire à abattant (French): A writing desk with a fall-front that swings toward one to reveal a fitted array of cubbies and small drawers. It typically is supported on four tall turned or cabriole legs.
• Bonheur du jour (French): Literally “daytime delight”. A type of lady’s writing desk.
• Tool Marks: Telltale marks of any kind left in a surface by a tool that was directed by the hand of the maker.
• Estoppel (law term): A bar preventing one from making an allegation or a denial that contradicts what one has previously stated as the truth.
• Modernism (More)
  • British Arts & Crafts 1880-1910
  • American Arts & Crafts 1900-1915
  • European Art Nouveau 1890-1910
  • Wiener Werkstätte 1903-1933
  • De Stijl 1917-1928
  • Bauhaus 1919-1933
  • European Art Deco 1920-1940
  • American Art Deco 1920-1940.
• Divvy (slang noun): One who has the divine ability to detect quality when others are oblivious.
• Divvy (slang verb): To divvy is to detect quality, rarity, or some other value attribute with one’s divine ability.
• Skin ( slang verb): To remove the original surface of a furniture piece down to fresh wood rendering as much as 95% of its value void.
• Line Bead: An incised line for decorative purposes, straight or shaped.
• Cock Bead: A raised line for decorative purposes, usually straight.
• Eames Furniture: RE article: “Charles Eames (1907-78) and Ray Eames (1912-88) gave shape to America’s twentieth century. Their lives and work represented the nation’s defining social movements: the West Coast’s coming-of-age, the economy’s shift from making goods to the producing information, and the global expansion of American culture. The Eameses embraced the era’s visionary concept of modern design as an agent of social change, elevating it to a national agenda. Their evolution from furniture designers to cultural ambassadors demonstrated their boundless talents and the overlap of their interests with those of their country. In a rare era of shared objectives, the Eameses partnered with the federal government and the country’s top businesses to lead the charge to modernize postwar [WWII] America.” Library of Congress.
• Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
• Chinese Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
• Chinese Federal Period (1911-1949). The Republic of China.
• Chinese Modern Period (1949 – ). The Peoples Republic of China.
• Shou (Chinese) Character: A Chinese symbol of longevity and happiness.
• Ruyi (Chinese): A curved decorative object often carved into a motif on Chinese furniture that represents a ceremonial scepter in Chinese Buddhism.
• Addorsed, adorsed: A repetitive back-to-back carved or applied decoration of animals, clouds, or some other organic motif often on Chinese furniture.
• Qilin (Chinese): A hoofed Chinese chimerical (fanciful mythical) creature known throughout various East Asian cultures. It is said to appear sometimes with the arrival of a sage. Considered a good omen, it brings rui (serenity or prosperity). It varies in form, but is often depicted as a fiery deer with scales and an ox-like tail. Westerners sometimes refer to it as a “Chinese unicorn.” Often it is carved into hardwood furniture or applied as decoration to metal and ceramic objects d’art.
• Exlibris: A former library book.
• Ricasso: The unsharpened portion of the sword or knife blade near the hilt.
• Ovolo: A round, quarter section of a circle.
• Langerhaunbird (German): A type of Alpine grouse often depicted in silver or on porcelain.
• Vermiform: Having a long thin cylindrical form like that of a worm.
• Pyriform: Shaped like a pear.
• Sutherland Table: A wooden table with two drop leaves that nearly reach the floor, hinged from a very narrow central section top. When it is folded down it occupies very little space, but provides a large usable surface when open.
• Secondary Market: Auctions, flea markets, antiques shops, yard sales, thrift stores, etc.
• Apposite Value: The value that is pertinent and fully relevant to the appraisal assignment.
• Studio Art Glass Movement: A movement that began in the United States in the 1960s and has spread all over the world. It is characterized by the proliferation of glass artists who are not affiliated with factories, but work with hot glass in their own studios. The emergence of independent glass artists was made possible by Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino’s development in 1962 of a small furnace and easy-to-melt glass.
• Lost Wax Casting: A technique adapted from metalworking. The object to be fashioned in glass is modeled in wax and encased in clay or plaster that is heated. The wax melts and is released through vents or “gates,” also made of wax, which have been attached to the object before heating; the clay or plaster dries and becomes rigid. This then serves as a mold, into which molten or powdered glass is introduced through the gates. If powdered glass is used, the mold is heated in order to fuse the contents. After annealing the mold is removed from the object, which is then finished by grinding, fire polishing, or acid etching.
• Drawn Stem: The stem of a drinking or serving vessel that is drawn out from the main gather rather than formed from a separate gather and then applied.
• Greek Key: A repetitive motif in the shape of a key.
• Chinoiserie: (shēn-wäz-rē), A style in art reflecting a Chinese or Japanese influence through the use of elaborate decoration and intricate patterns.
• Japonaiserie: Like chinoiserie but Japanese.
• Trefoil: A three-lobed Gothic motif similar to a three-leaf clover. ♣
• Sang de Boeuf (French for ox blood): A brilliant red or plum-colored glaze used on Chinese monochromatic Kangxi wares.
• Silvering: A technique for decorating furniture, frames, and woodwork with silver leaf.
• A Piume (Italian): An internal feather-like decoration of fine filigree.
• Air-trap: An air-filled void in glass.
• Annealing Cycle: The period of time for hot glass to cure, become cold.
• Aurato (Italian): Gold foil covers the hot gather of glass and breaks into a crackled pattern when the work expands.
• Aventurine: Translucent glass with sparkling inclusions of gold, copper, or chromic oxide, first made in Venice in the 15th century.
• Berkemeyer (German): A type of drinking glass with a funnel-shaped mouth. It was made in Germany and the Low Countries in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Bullicante (Italian): Air bubbles placed in a regular pattern within the glass; the surface is smooth.
• Cable: A stem with a rope-like appearance.
• The McKinley Tariff Act 1890: Required imports to be marked with the name of their country of origin.
• Assembled Set: Objects of a kind (i.e. chairs) that are not identical which were gathered together to make a set.
• Diminutive: Smaller than regular size but not miniature.
• Original Condition: See untouched.
• Untouched: Original condition as if recently departed from the maker’s hand but inclusive of patina consistent with time.
• Skinned: Furniture stripped or belt-sanded to within an inch of its life often reducing its market value to single digits.
• Knop: A component, usually spherical or oblate, of the stem of a drinking glass, hollow or solid, used either singly or in groups, and placed contiguously or with intermediate spacing; also the finial at the center of a lid.
• Listed Artist: Any artist that appears in the on-line databases that feature auction results.
• Shop-made: Slang for metalwork made in a blacksmith’s shop.
• Muraqqá [Mughal]: A Muraqqá is an album of artwork which predominated in the sixteenth century in the Safavid, Mughal and Ottoman empires. Pages were decorated with painting and calligraphy on paper.
• Kerf: A cut made with a saw or knife. Kerfing is in simple terms the act of cutting a series of kerfs (cuts) into a board, all in close proximity, so the piece can be made to curve.
• Mill Saw Marks: Parallel, relatively straight lines made against the grain in wood caused by a straight saw blade driven by power other than a human arm.
• Standing Proud: As wood ages around a tenon, it shrinks. The result is a tenon that protrudes from the mortise. This phenomenon can be detected in other features as well.
• Rafia: Course fibers from the Giant Palm or Rafia (Raphia australis) used in weaving and ornamentation.
• Snipe Hinges: Cotter pin hinges.
• Reciprocal Border: A border comprised of shapes that mirror one another: > < 》《 ╣╠
• Checking: The cracks that develop naturally in wood secondary to drying.
• Curule Chair: A seat with heavy curved legs and no back, reserved for the use of the highest officials in ancient Rome.
• Anthemion: A pattern of honeysuckle or palm leaves in a radiating cluster, used as a motif in Greek art.
• Jet: Black lignite. Often used in Victorian mourning jewelry.
• Picker: One who supplies another with antique or vintage merchandise.
• Sexton: A blue collar employee of a church charged with ringing the bells, daily upkeep, and sometimes grave digging.
• Draper: A tradesman named after his occupation, cloth merchant.
• Cooper: A tradesman named after his occupation, barrel making.
• Miller: A tradesman named after his occupation, milling grain for bread.
• Porter: A tradesman named after his occupation, carrying.
• Glazier: A tradesman named after his occupation, installing glass into windows and doors.
• Collier: A tradesman named after his occupation, coal hauling or shoveling.
• Hanger: A tradesman named after his occupation, wallpaper hanger.
• Sawyer: A tradesman named after his occupation, one who saws wood.
• Skinner: A tradesman named after his occupation, skinning animals.
• Tanner: A tradesman named after his occupation, tanning animal hides.
• Saddler: A tradesman named after his occupation, making saddles.
• Taylor: A tradesman named after his occupation, maker of clothes.
• Ford: A tradesman named after the service he provides, river crossing.
• Wheeler: A tradesman named after his occupation, a maker of wheels for carts or wagons.
• Smith: A tradesman who fashions a product from raw materials, e.g. blacksmith (steel), silversmith, etc.
• Hackney: A tradesman who drives a coach; today we call them taxis.
• Turner: A tradesman who turns wood or metal on a lathe, e.g. table legs, spokes, spindles, etc.
• Cartwright: A tradesman named after his occupation, a maker of carts or wagons.
  
• Weaver: A tradesman named after his occupation, the weaving of textiles.
• Hunter: A tradesman named after his occupation, hunting.
• Shipwright: A maker of ships.
• Anthemion: A pattern of honeysuckle or palm leaves in a radiating cluster, used as a motif in Greek art.
• Flitch: A longitudinal cut section from the trunk of a tree.
• Book-matched veneers: The assembling of wood veneers from the same flitch so that successive sheets are alternated face up and face down. In figured wood, side-by-side sheets show a symmetrical mirror image about the joints between adjoining sheets.
• “Made”: Slang for Antiques that have been drastically altered from a lesser value form to a greater value form for the purpose of enhancing marketability. Also, a reproduction made from scratch using antique materials, period tools, and period methods in order to achieve a product that has greater market demand. These “made” pieces can be but are not always designed to deceive.
• Sabots: Derived from the wooden shoes worn in the low countries, ormolu mounts on furniture feet.
• Salor / Salyr: A tribe in south Turkmenistan. Salor is the western trade name for the Salyr peoples who are one of the original tribes of the Ohguz confederation.
• Satin Finish: In glass making, a satin finish is achieved by dipping a piece in acid; also matte finish.
• Scope of Work: Steps that comprise the extent of the work assignment.
• Scribe Marks: Visible thin scratches or pencil lines left by a measuring tool called a scribe.
• Cutlass: A short, single-edged, curved broad sword typically used aboard naval vessels where space is confined.
• Hammer Price: The final bid at auction excluding any associated fees or commissions.
• Gimlet Nail: A relatively modern round wire nail.
• Ferrous Metal: Iron and steel.
• Firescreen: A portable device to shield people from the heat of an open fire.
• Posterior: In the back, the farthest away:  e.g. backboards on a cupboard.
• Anterior: Forward end or edge, closest: e.g. facing cabinet doors.
• Superior: At the top, highest point: e.g. a finial atop a table lamp.
• Inferior: At the bottom, lowest point: e.g. the feet on a chest.
• Tambour Door: A rolling front or anterior door on a desk or table consisting of narrow strips of wood glued to canvas.
• C-scroll: A roll-top desk with a quarter-lune tambour door.
• S-scroll: A roll-top desk with a serpentine tambour door.
• D-end: An extension table that has ends with rounded corners.
• Tilt-top: A candlestand or tea table with a top that tilts on a hinge from the horizontal plane to vertical.
• Slant-front: An inclined central feature on a secretary that swings out toward the operator to provide a horizontal surface for writing; sometimes referred to as a fall front.
• Fall-front: A central feature on a secretary that swings out toward the operator to provide a horizontal surface for writing.
• Oxbow-front: Refers to the anterior surface of a cased furniture piece with two convex curves flanking a concave one.
• Serpentine-front: Opposite an oxbow front.
• Bow-front: Refers to the anterior surface of a cased furniture piece with a convex curve.
• Block-front: Refers to the anterior surface of a cased furniture piece that has drawers with protruding edges. These drawers are often carved.
• Seat Rail: The horizontal jointed structural members comprising the seat of a chair.
• Fire-back: A heavy cast-iron or wrought iron plate placed against the back wall of a hearth to protect the masonry and reflect heat.
• Summer Kitchen: In the old days before air conditioning, cooking and baking were accomplished daily in the summertime in an ancillary kitchen located adjacent to a manor house in a separate building. This kept the main house from overheating. As one would expect, the additional heat was welcome during the cooler seasons so cooking was then done in the main house.
• Whistle Walk: Usually a covered walkway leading from the summer kitchen to the manor house on which servants walked carrying freshly cooked food. Servants were forbidden to partake of their burdens and, to prevent delectable transgressions, they were required to whistle as they walked, hence, whistle walk. Whistling and chewing are incompatible simultaneous actions.
• Widow’s Walk: A railed area atop a house located near a seacoast on which women would scout for their seafaring loved ones’ return.
• High Country Furniture: Furniture made in the back country by a skilled craftsman with the intent to simulate the more formal styles of his urban contemporaries.
• Vernacular Furniture: Furniture constructed in a simple, less sophisticated manner but not necessarily in the country; urban makers made vernacular furniture, too.
• Smalls: Refers to small antique, vintage, or collectible merchandise, i.e. glassware, silver, etc.
• Pie Safe: A case furniture piece with punch-decorated tins on the front or on the front and the sides; used as a food storage cabinet when baking was a major chore accomplished once a week in bulk.
• Jelly Safe: A case furniture piece with punch-decorated tins on the sides; used as a food storage cabinet for canned goods (Mason jars) when canning was a major seasonal chore accomplished periodically in bulk. Not all jelly safes have tins.
• The Stolen Valor of Act 2005 – click. It is illegal to sell, buy, or trade military medals & ribbons.
• Orrery: A planetarium.
• Planetarium: A complex, hand-cranked brass instrument that demonstrates the motions of the planets with their respective moons, supported on a central pilaster resting on a tripod cabriole leg base, orrery.
• Gilt: Gold leaf. (Also, interestingly enough to be mentioned, a young sow yet to farrow.)
• Gilding: The technique of applying gold leaf as a decorative finish or flourish, to gild.
• Gold Tooling: Applied decoratively embossed gold leaf embellishments on leather.
• Mercury Gilding: The technique of applying a gilt finish or flourish consisting of gold and mercury to decorative objects.
• Honey Gilding: The technique of applying a gilt finish or flourish consisting of fixing gold leaf with honey to decorative objects. After lightly firing, the gilt is softer and somewhat duller.
• Size Gilding: The technique of painting a gilt flourish on porcelains in gold size or animal glue when partially dried.
• Parcel Gilt: Any article partly decorated with gilt.
• Pap: A bread and milk mixture used to feed invalids.
• Pap Boat: A small flat 18th century invalid feeder with a spout used to serve a mixture of milk and bread.
• Huanghuali Wood: A type of extinct yellow rosewood once found in China now highly prized by collectors.
• Tramp Art: During the Great Depression (1930s) many men were out of work. They road the rails around the country trying to find employment. In their spare time while sitting around campfires the more capable would use pen knives to whittle discarded wooden apple or orange crates into decorative utilitarian objects, like trinket boxes, and then barter them for a meal or lodging. Often these pieces were chip-carved. Today, tramp art is sought by collectors. The more elaborate examples can be quite valuable.
• Chip-carved: A decorative or utilitarian wooden object embellished with repetitive tool or knife chips so as to render a pleasing aesthetic effect. Tramp art is often so decorated.
• Annealing: A process for strengthening glass or metal under high temperature which is diminished slowly.
• Linocut: Similar to a woodcut, but the tool-worked medium is linoleum.
• Egg Tempera: A painting process in which the color is bound with egg instead of oil.
• Teinturier: Any red- or rose-colored juice from a grape.
  
• Deal: A type of European pine tree with wood that is similar to heart pine.
• Annealing Cycle: The period of time hot glass cures, becomes cold.
• Antique: Personal property at least 100 years old. A standard set by U.S. Customs.
• Approach to Value: The method used to realize an opinion of value.
• Applied: An element or component attached to, not carved or extruded from a primary surface.
  
• Ark: An English chest, ca.13th-19th centuries, consisting of pegged oak or elm planks and a canted lid used to store flour or meal.
• Astragal Molding: The astragal is a raised bead with a narrow fillet on either side often used as muntins.
• Apposite Value: The value that is pertinent and fully relevant to the appraisal assignment.
• Bombé: A cased furniture piece that bulges.
• Butt Hinge: A hinge composed of two plates attached to abutting surfaces of a door.
• Broken Pediment: A pediment with sloping or curving sides that terminate before reaching the apex; also broken-apex pediment.
  
• Fine Art: Either a single unique example or an edition of no more than 200 identical pieces that are signed and numbered by the artist – The Visual Arts Rights Act of 1990 (VARA).
• Folk Art: Objects de art created by skilled untrained hands.
• Gesso: Plaster.
• Glazed: Refers to glass in doors or frames.
• Frass: The saw dust residue created by a wood boring insect.
• Pewter: An alloy of tin and lead often with small amounts of copper and antimony.
  
• Braganza Foot: Named after Queen Catherine of Braganza, the English King’s (Charles II) Spanish wife in the 17th century, this rectilinear scrolled and ribbed foot replaced the William & Mary bun foot.
• The Grand Tour: A continental European tour comprised of a visit to the major capitals beginning with Paris and ending in Italy for the purpose of completing one’s education. This was a sort of right of passage especially for young English gentlemen that had its origins in the 16th century probably because part of France was occupied by the Brits.
• Chalice: A gold, silver, or silver gilt goblet or cup for wine.
• Salver: A silver tray with feet.
• Breech: The rear end of a barrel on a firearm which houses the chamber containing the charge.
• Coif: An embroidered close-fitting cap worn by women and men alike in the 17th century.
• Chapter Ring: The dial around the face of a clock on which the numerals are situated.
• Jambiyah (Arabic): A type of double-edged curved blade knife found throughout Arab world.
• Verdigris (French): The green oxidation on copper and brass.
• Rinceau (French): A continuous wavy or spiral ornament of acanthus leaves or vines.
• Guéridon (French): A small, movable table of Continental origins, often used as a lamp or candle stand.
• Bergère (French): A wide, comfortable upholstered armchair with a curved and fully upholstered back and closed arms, much like a low wing chair in that it envelopes the body.
  
• Secrétaire à Abattant (French): A tall French writing cabinet with a fall front in the middle of the case below a shallow drawer at the superior and above low cabinet doors.
• Skean Dhu (Gaelic): A small, straight, dirk-like knife worn at the top of the hose in Highland dress beginning in the Victorian era.
• Claymore (Gaelic): Originally a large broadsword, ca.15th-17th centuries, with a cross-hilt wielded with both hands by Scottish mercenaries. Today, the same term is used for a rectilinear curved antipersonnel mine.
  
• Berkemeyer (German): A type of drinking glass with a funnel-shaped mouth.
• Terracotta (Italian): Literally ‘fired clay’, terracotta is a red earthenware clay left unglazed.
• Tazza (Italian): A silver tray elevated on a central pedestal.
• Istoriato (Italian): A story painting on Italian majolica ware.
• Canne (Italian): In glass-making, sections of glass rods cut from the end.
• Sgraffito (Italian): Refers to scratching a decorative design through a surface coat to reveal a different color below; usually a potter’s technique employed on ceramics.
• Cristallo (Italian): A type of clear and transparent glass similar to rock crystal.
• Harigaki (Japanese): A decorative lacquer-work technique involving the use of a needle to scratch a lacquered surface before the object is dry.
• Ivrene: Translucent art glass that is ivory-colored bearing a slight iridescence.
• Teapoy: A small tripod stand or table designed for the storage and mixing of tea.
• Slipware: Pottery with coating of fine liquefied clay often decorated with designs.
• Graining: The skilled application of paint in a purposeful manner to a lesser value wood to make it resemble a greater value wood.
• Lappet: A rectilinear band of high quality lace which were hung in pairs from the back of ladies’ fashionable lace caps in the 18th century.
• Pricket: A candlestick made of bronze, brass, copper, or sometimes Limoges enamel which has a spike atop the capital on which the candle is impaled.
• Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun (French: 1755-1842): Is recognized as the most famous woman painter of the eighteenth century.
  
• Samuel Yellin (Polish-American: 1885-1940): Master blacksmith based in Philadelphia.
• Greene & Greene: A Pasadena California architectural firm (1894-1922) that specialized in fine quality bungalow style house designs and their decorative interior elements, and Arts & Crafts style furniture. The firm was established by brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868-1957) and Henry Mather Greene (1870-1954).
• John Edwards (Boston: 1671-1746): Founder of the Edwards silversmith dynasty that included his sons Samuel (1705-1762) and Thomas (1701-1750) and his grandson Joseph.
• George E. Ohr (American: 1857-1918): A studio potter from Biloxi, Mississippi, known for making irregular forms with iridescent glazes during the Arts & Crafts Period.
  
• Wiener Werkstätte (ca.1902-1932): A Viennese workshop founded by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser that lead to a craftsman association that produced a variety of home furnishings in a distinct design known today as progressive.
• Anthony Quervelle (US-French: 1789-1856): Cabinet-maker, Philadelphia from ca.1817, known for ornate mahogany and giltwood pier tables and cabinets often decorated with ormolu mounts mirroring the style of his elite contemporaries in France (Empire) and England (Regency), both are similar very high-styles.
• Kas: A large cupboard used for storing clothes with its origins in The Low Countries and Germany. Immigrants from Europe brought the form to the New World.
• Marbling: The decorative application of paint to resemble marble, hence faux marble tops, on furniture. Also used for decorating books.
• Niello: A hard black alloy comprising copper, lead, silver, and sulfur used to fill engraved designs on silver pieces thereby providing a decorative contrast. The Russians are particularly adept at this art form.
• Fleur-de-lis: A stylized design of an iris flower which is used both decoratively and symbolically.
• Floriform: Formed like flora, plants.
• Foliate: Floriform.
• Footring: An separate or protruding ring of the same material upon which a vessel rests.
• Trifid: Divided or cleft into three narrow parts or lobes.
• Sumac Weaving: In rug-making, a technique creating a flat surface.
• Trumeau Mirror: A mirror having a painted or carved panel above or below the glass in the same frame.
• Spelter: Zinc.
• Cased Glass: Two or more layers of different colored glass blown one over the other, sommerso.
• Celery: A stem or handle with vertical ribbing like a celery stalk.
• Cold Colors: Pigments applied as decoration to glass by cold painting.
• Cold Painting: The technique of decorating an object by applying paint such as artists use on other materials. This is in contrast to enameling, in which powdered glasses of various colors are fused to the surface by heating.
• Cold-Worked: Glass modified without the use of heat, i.e. ground, cut.
• Cluthra Glass: A two-layered glass with small bubbles and powdered glass trapped
  between the layers.
• Cullet: Melted glass.
• Motif: A distinct design or component thereof.
• Mihrab: A prayer niche within a mosque often represented in Oriental prayer rugs by an arch.
• Boteh: A pear-shaped device often used in Oriental rug designs similar to a Paisley figure.
• Apron: The facing board, often shaped decoratively, on the bottom of a cupboard between the front legs.
• Skirt: The boards on a table under the top, sometimes shaped decoratively, that form the undercarriage; also frieze.
• Traveler: A tool to measure length in cabinetmaking or linear distance when surveying.
• Tight Seat: A seat on upholstered furniture designed to be without a loose cushion.
• Stretcher: A horizontal cross member between legs on furniture implemented to provide strength.
• Stringing: An inlaid line on furniture of contrasting color. Usually a contrasting wood type but can also be sulfur, brass, or ivory. Paint can simulate this effect.
• Bead: A decorative line, either scratched or raised, on furniture or any other object that provides a decorative effect.
• Skep: A woven straw or wicker beehive.
• Scrimshaw: Scratched decorations on ivory or bone highlighted in black (soot) or brown (tobacco juice) typically made by sailors while at sea to pass the time.
• Obi: A waist sash worn with a kimono.
• Treen: Cookware, tableware, and table utensils fashioned from wood.
  
• Lehnware: A type of treen made by Joseph Lehn from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
• Still Bank: A type of storage container for saving coins typically made of cast iron, tin, or ceramic materials. There is usually a slot in which the coins are passed by hand. Piggy banks are still banks.
• Mechanical Bank: Similar in function to a still bank but with an additional feature that actually moves the coin into the saving slot in one swift motion.
  
• Ormolu Mounts: Decorative ornate metal elements, typically gilt bronze or brass, applied to furniture.
• Seat Furniture: Furniture on which one sits - chairs, benches, sofas, etc.
• Cased Furniture: Furniture pieces with doors, shelves, lids, or drawers which are designed to store.
• First-Growth Wood or Timber: Typically the lumber rendered from full-grown trees that were present when the Europeans first set foot in the New World. These boards are very wide, the grain dense and beautiful. Heart pine is usually this virgin wood.
• Heart Pine: Refers to the densest center-cut planks from first-growth yellow pine trees.
• Secondary Surfaces: The unfinished surfaces on furniture within, under, and in back.
• Primary Surface: The finished surfaces on furniture clearly visible with doors closed.
• Muntins: The wooden stays within a window or door frame in which panes of glass are mounted.
• Lights: Panes of glass within a door or window.
• Mule Chest: A case furniture piece with a hinged-lid blanket box over drawers. Blanket boxes developed first. Chests of drawers developed later. The mule chest was a transitional form comprising both features, in effect a hybrid, as is the offspring of a horse and donkey – a mule, hence mule chest.
• Rive: To split. Oak and ash woods are rived to make splints for weaving baskets or chair seats.
• Openwork: A surface with sections removed completely through for decorative effect; common in chair splats and silver serving pieces.
• Splint: Rived woven wooden strips comprising the chief component of baskets; sometimes chair seats.
• Hard Image: A type of photograph not on paper or celluloid, but on hard materials known as daguerreotypes (copper), ambrotypes (glass), or tintypes (tin).
• Union Case: A thermoplastic container ca.1840s-1870s, usually black or brown in color, typically square or rectilinear but sometimes round or oval, with a decorative pressed motif on the back and front, that opens on hinges to reveal one or two daguerreotype, ambrotype, or tintype photographs within.
• Wall Show: Usually an up-scale antiques show where each booth has had walls erected for displaying fine art and antiques. Typically the walls are covered with paper.
  
• Stile: A vertical post on case furniture or a leg on seat furniture.
• Rail: A horizontal element comprising furniture; i.e. bed rails, chair rails, etc.
• Slat: The horizontal component in the backrest of a chair, often a shaped flat board with openwork. Also, the cross-support boards under a mattress or boxspring.
• Splat: The central vertical component in the backrest of a chair, often a shaped flat board with openwork.
• Splash: The vertical component, either a board or marble slab, that is attached to the top of a case furniture piece (i.e. sideboard, washstand, etc.) in the back; it sometimes will have flanking candle shelves.
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