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Our jargon-busting Dictionary helps you to understand specialist antiques and collectables terms. Also included are the histories of factories, designers, and style movements across the centuries.
Showing 1 to 6 of 211 articles
Tabako-ire
A Japanese term describing a tobacco pouch or box, usually suspended from a cord with a netsuke counterweight. Examples from the 19th century, in metal or lacquerwork, may be highly ornate.
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Tabernacle clock
A type of early clock, with a square brass case enclosing a movement made entirely of steel. They were produced principally in Germany from the late 16th to the late 17th century. Larger versions, often in elaborate Gothic architectural ...
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Tabernacle mirror
An American giltwood mirror form of portrait shape, often with engaged half-columns. The glass was divided into a large lower looking glass and an upper section resembling an entablature, with a moulded cornice, in earlier examples with ...
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Table
A furniture form made in two basic styles from early times: either with a central support, or with supports at either end. The single, large, communal dining table originated among the barbarians of northern Europe and continued in the ...
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Table ambulante
A French term describing any small, portable table. From the mid-18th century, these fulfilled the needs of domestic life, such as for books or cups of tea.
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Table centre
An elaborate silver, porcelain or glass centrepiece for a dining table, often fitted with candle sockets and cruet bottles. Known as an ‘Épergne’ in French, they were popular in the 19th century. ...
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