Designing Period Furniture

UNCSA DEP3072

All furniture can be divided into two groups, what are they?

Horizontal and vertical structure

Every primary mass should be divided into 2 parts, these are called?

Major and minor masses

The compass curve is commonly found in what 2 styles of furniture?

Colonial and Early American

What is a fillet?

90 degree edge

Standard chair seat height

18”

Standard table height

30”

Standard footstool height

16”

What are the 4 classifications of furniture ornamentation?

Contour enrichment
Painting
Carving
Inlaying

Abstract motifs are derived from?

geometric shapes

Naturalistic motifs are derived from?

Plants and animals

Artificial motifs are derived from?

Man-made things

In furniture, style refers to?

The use of certain design characteristics

In furniture, period refers to?

Designates a measure of time where certain design characteristics were popularized

What are the 3 broad areas the furniture industry uses to categorize the basic characteristics?

Traditional
Provincial
Contemporary-Modern

Softwoods

ex. Pine / Poplar

• Coniferous / Cone Bearing

• Needle-leafed

• Evergreen

Hardwoods

ex. Maple

• Deciduous

• Broad-leafed

Palm & Bamboo

• Giant Grasses

Plane Sawn / Flat Sawn

• Tangential Cut

• Annual Rings

• “Slicing bread”

Wane-edge Board

“waney”

Quarter Sawn

Runs 90 degrees to the surface

Billet Sawn

Produces more stable lumber. Often passed off as quarter sawn.

22-15

Standard. Thoroughly air-dried.

20

Dry rot safety line

16

Outdoor furniture

15

Intermittently heated interiors

12-14

Occasionally heated interiors

11-13

Normal heating

9-11

Continuous high degree heating

8

Radiator shelves & casings

Pin Knots

1/2” or smaller

Spike / Splay Knots

“Slash knots”, Sliced during sawing.

Encased Knots

Dead, oozes forever

Branched Knots

2 or 3 knots springing from a common center

Tangential Shakes

Splitting of the weakest links. Caused by age, wind, or heat.

• Double Heart Shake (2 Shakes in a line)

• Star Shake (Radiating out)

• Frost Shake (Severe weather)

• Cup & Ring Shake

Pitch Veins

Filled with Sap

Sun Checking

Small splits from rapid sun drying

End Splitting

Too rapid drying

Cupping

Bowing

Springing

Warping

Compass Curve

Regular circle. Often used in colonial and early America

One-Directional Curve

“The Curve of Force” , no straight lines, Oval shape.

Reverse Curve

Sharper on one bend than the other. “Squiggle”

Compound Curve

curve made up of two or more circular arcs