Ever hear a term when people are referring to an antique piece of furniture? I am going to try to shed some light on those terms and offer some helpful hints as well.

The first term is "marriage." I'm sure you've heard it when a piece of furniture is in 2-3 pieces and some wonder if its a "marriage" piece or not. When determining this, pay attention to the following:

*the colour, grain, and quality of timber, particularly on the sides. Backboards should closely resemble each other, both on the timber used and the construction.

*the drawers, which should display the same constructional characteristics in all sections. For example, the dovetails should be the same, the screws used in holding the backboards should be identical.

*the joining of the sections. A loose fit may indicate a marriage.

*the veneer, which should not extend far beyond where the base meats the top when the latter is removed.

*indications of the use of additional moulding, intended to widen the top to correspond with the base.

*the overall appearance of the item. Married furniture is often of out proportion., showing a visual imbalance between the joined parts. All sections of a genuine piece should display stylistic union, and decorative embellishments should be identical in both design and execution.

Our next term is "Boulle marquetry." This is a decorative inlay using tortoiseshell and other materials such as brass, pewter, ebony, or mother of pearl. It is named after the master cabinet maker to Louis XIV, Andre-Charles Boulle(1642-1732) who perfected rather than invented the technique. (See I didnt even know that till I read it). It is also referred to as "berainesque" after the architect and designer Jean Berain who worked with Boulle and was one of the principal creators of the Louis XIV style. It was revived in Britain between 1815 and 1840 and known as "Buhl" work. Sometimes it is multicolored inlay, such as blue and green with red, which is very popular. Pay attention when buying boulle as it can be very expensive to repair.

FYI: American furniture termed, for example, "Queen Anne" does not necessarily date from the actual period of Queen Anne. This is because it took about 20 years for the latest fashions to cross the Atlantic, but the style is never the less of that period.

Another term that is not heard as often is "Japanning." It was developed in the 17th century in imitation of Chinese and Japanese lacquer, which was very costly, scarce and in great demand. The main ingredient was shellac, seed-lac, or gum-lac, which was dissolved in alcohol and then applied in numerous coats and usually decorated with gilt chinoiserie.As shellac was weak and permeable to water, it was necessary to build up raised areas in sawdust and gum arabic in order to replicate the depth of relief obtainable with lacquer. Japanning became a popular pasttime for young ladies during the late 17th and early 18th century. The technique was fashionable in the first half of the victorian period for small pieces of furniture, trays, jugs, etc. Decoration often included British flowers such as roses and forget-me-nots.

"Lacquering" is a term you have probably heard of. It is a technique involving the application of numerous layers of varnish made from the sap of the Chinese Rhus tree onto wood, leather or fabric. When dry, the layers form a hard crust which can be carved in relief. It was first used in China in the 4th century BC and became extremely fashionable in Europe when trade with the East opened up in the 17th century. With its increase in popularity, many decorative techniques were developed including incised designs, inlaid mother of pearl, gold or silver, and intricate small scale carving. The huge demand in the 17th century for Chinese lacquerwork led o the decline in quality because craftsmen were forced to hurry their work, while at the same time good quality Japanese lacquer was beginning to appear. This resulted in the European imitation of the process we spoke of before known as Japanning.

I could go on and on as there are many different terms and phrases and hints. If you have a question on a certain term or phrase on furniture. feel free to email me. Thank you for reading.