19th Century Two-Drawer Side Table with Tapered Legs

• Tapered Legs - found on both cabinet and country-made furniture from the 18th to the later 19th centuries. The leg sometimes terminates in a spade foot, though on most country furniture the taper continues for the whole length of the leg. The important thing to remember is that the taper ought only to be on the inside face of the leg, and the outer face should be straight and square. Some legs were made where both sides tapered, but in such a case the taper ought to be the same on both the inner and outer faces of the leg. Where the inside of a leg is straight, with only the outer face tapering, there is every reason to be suspicious
• Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• tables, purpose or type - side tables 1,143