Cabriole leg
Encyclopedia
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
shaped in two curve
Curve
In mathematics, a curve is, generally speaking, an object similar to a line but which is not required to be straight...
s; the upper arc
Arc (geometry)
In geometry, an arc is a closed segment of a differentiable curve in the two-dimensional plane; for example, a circular arc is a segment of the circumference of a circle...
is convex, while lower is concave; the upper curve always bows outward, while the lower curve bows inward. The axes of the two curves must lie within the same plane. This design was used by the ancient Chinese
Chinese art
Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...
and Greeks, but emerged in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the very early 18th century, when it was incorporated into the more curvilinear styles produced in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Holland.
According to Bird, "nothing symbolises 18th century furniture more than the cabriole leg." The cabriole design is often associated with bun or the "ball and claw" foot design. In England, this design was characteristic of Queen Anne and Chippendale
Chippendale
Chippendale may refer to:*Thomas Chippendale, or his furniture*Thomas Chippendale, the younger, son of Thomas Chippendale*Chairface Chippendale, a supervillain*Chippendales, a chain of clubs and troupe of performers*Chippendale, New South Wales...
furniture. In France, the cabriole leg is associated with the Louis XV period of furniture design. The cabriole design appeared for the first time in the USA in the 18th century. The basis of its original concept was emulated upon legs of certain four-footed mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, especially ungulate
Ungulate
Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving. They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive...
s. The etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
of this term specifically derives from the French word cabrioler, meaning to leap like a goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
.
History
Earliest forms of the cabriole leg were known to the ancient Chinese and Greek civilisations. In the case of the ancient Chinese, this leg was most closely associated with the lacquerLacquer
In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...
ed table. While the Chinese culture preserved historical continuity of use, Europeans lost this style prior to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. Finally in France, in the very early 18th century the cabriole leg style re-appeared, imitating a popular graphic scroll design found in French art about the year 1700; in France this design was part of the Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
style. Quickly England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was producing a version of the cabriole leg, which historically is called Queen Anne Style and is associated with the period 1712–1760. (The reign
Reign
A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation or of a people . In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office...
of Queen Anne lasted from 1702 to 1712, but the Queen Anne furniture period is generally considered to continue until 1760, although imitations have, of course, endured to later periods.) The Queen Anne cabriole leg chair typically had a back with hoop design and a vase shaped splat
Splat (furniture)
A splat is the vertical central element of a chair back. Typically this element of a chair is of exposed wood design. The splat is an important element of furniture identification, since its design has a multitude of variations incorporating the themes of different furniture periods...
; it also typically had a bun or pad foot. (An alternate design of a Queen Anne chair consisted of a Chinese style, which had flat cresting, vertical back edges and a leg that was also cabriole style.) A subsequent evolution of the cabriole leg in England occurred in about the year 1750 with the advent of Chippendale
Chippendale
Chippendale may refer to:*Thomas Chippendale, or his furniture*Thomas Chippendale, the younger, son of Thomas Chippendale*Chairface Chippendale, a supervillain*Chippendales, a chain of clubs and troupe of performers*Chippendale, New South Wales...
furniture design; while Chippendale chairs adopted the cabriole leg, the leg design became more delicate than those of the Queen Anne Style.
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
designs arose by the mid-18th century, imitating the English Queen Anne Style and borrowing elements from all three sub-periods of its development in England: Queen Anne period (1702–1714), George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
period (1714–1727) and George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
period (1727–1760). To demonstrate the central role of the cabriole leg in this period of American furniture, this period "has frequently been called the cabriole period, and this is no misnomer, since the cabriole leg found almost universal employment in most forms of furniture". The American cabriole leg was strongly associated with the pad foot design. Regional differences emerged in American cabriole leg styles by the mid to late 18th century; for example, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts style featured a very slender cabriole leg compared to other American locales.
Construction
In current times the cabriole leg continues in use and more modern manufacturing techniques are applied to form this complex shape. In any case, the initial step is preparation of a templateTemplate
Template may mean:*a stencil, pattern or overlay used in graphic arts and sewing to replicate letters, shapes or designs...
drawn on hardboard or cardboard. Structurally, the cabriole leg is weaker as the "S" shape is more accentuated or "bowed"; in any case the cabriole leg must be fashioned out of a solid piece of wood, rather than laminate. Some of the initial rough turning is sometimes carried out using a lathe
Lathe
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...
, but eventually a bandsaw is required due to the complex arc formations of the design. The next steps include application of a spokeshave
Spokeshave
A spokeshave is a tool used to shape and smooth wooden rods and shafts - often for use as wheel spokes, chair legs ,, self bows,and arrows. It can also be used to carve canoe paddles.-Modern:...
, rasp
Rasp
A rasp is a tool used for shaping wood or other material. It consists of a point or the tip, then a long steel bar or the belly, then the heel or bottom, then the tang. The tang is joined to a handle, usually made of plastic or wood. The bar has sharp teeth...
and scraper. The bottom of the leg may terminate in a bun, ball or "ball and claw" rendition; Queen Anne style furniture characteristically uses the bun foot (also called pad foot). The small brackets are constructed from a separate piece of wood and either affixed by dowel
Dowel
A dowel is a solid cylindrical rod, usually made of wood, plastic or metal. In its original manufactured form, dowel is called dowel rod.Dowel rod is employed in numerous, diverse applications. It is used to form axles in toys, as detents on gymnastics grips, as knitting needles, as structural...
s or screws.
Examples in notable collections
There are a number of cabriole leg pieces in important collections of historical antique furniture. In the noted collections of Henry CavendishHenry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
there is a set of "ten inlaid cabriole leg satinwood chairs with matching cabriole legged sofa" documented to have been acquired by Cavendish himself. Another example is manifested in a cherry candlestand deriving from Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
with cabriole legs, described by the Essex Institute as produced between 1725 and 1750; moreover, this specimen is notable for the early design of dovetail
Dovetail joint
A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joint technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart , the dovetail joint is commonly used to join the sides of a drawer to the front....
ed attachment of the legs as opposed to dowel
Dowel
A dowel is a solid cylindrical rod, usually made of wood, plastic or metal. In its original manufactured form, dowel is called dowel rod.Dowel rod is employed in numerous, diverse applications. It is used to form axles in toys, as detents on gymnastics grips, as knitting needles, as structural...
led attachment of later eras.