George III Secretaire Bookcase

• Swan Neck Pediment - Most commonly found on clocks, cabinets and bookcases, a swan neck pediment is formed by two flattened "S" shapes which almost meet in the centre. The form was derived from classical architecure and popularised by Chippendale in the 18th century. A true pediment is triangular in shape, and as a swan neck pediment does not meet at the apex of the triangle it is known as a "broken pediment". Swan neck pediments are also known as scrolled pediments.
• Astragal / Glazing Bars - An astragal, bead or glazing bar is the term used to describe the wooden strips that divide the glass in a cabinet into sections. However it can also refer to the narrow beading on a multi-door cabinet or bookcase that covers the gap between the doors, when they are closed. The astragal is usually attached to the inner stile of the left-hand door (or the right hand as you look at it).
• Dentil Moulding - An architectural ornamental feature found on furniture, usually directly beneath the upper mouldings on a cornice. The timber is cut in a series of deep rectangular sections, alternatively raised and flat, like the crenellation on a castle battlement. In appearance not unlike a row of small teeth. From the latin "dens", teeth. Most commonly seen on bookcases, chests and cabinets, and less frequently on desks and wardrobes.
• Bracket Feet - On bracket feet the corner edge is square and joined by a mitre to its partner on the opposite angle. The inner edge is usually shaped or scalloped. Bracket feet were first introduced in the early 18th century and used until c. 1830 and are found on carcase furniture such as chests, cabinets, bookcases and bureaux.
  
  Ogee bracket feet, a variation on straight bracket feet, have the outside edge forming an "S" shaped curve with the top bulging outward and the bottom turning inward.
  
  On splayed bracket feet, the exterior edge curves outward.
• Frieze - An architectural term denoting the flat, shaped or convex horizontal surface of furniture, between the architrave and the cornice, usually found on a cabinet or bookcase, or on desks and tables where it may include drawers, the area between the top and the legs. In ceramics, the term refers to the banding, of usually a repeating pattern, on the rims of plates and vases.
• George Iii - George III (1738 - 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.
• Cornice - The upper section of a high piece of furniture such as a bookcase, wardrobe or cabinet that sits immediately on the main structure. The cornice is usually decorated with a variety of architectural mouldings, worked either with a moulding plane or, from the later 19th century, by machine. The front and side of the cornice are mitred together, strengthened by glue blocks, and the back is generally a simple dovetailed rail to hold the structure together. Cornices are generally, though not always, fitted separately to the piece and are held in place either by screws sunk into the top board or by wooden corner blocks. A pediment may sit above the cornice, but sometimes the terms cornice and pediment are used interchangeably.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• bookcases, function or type - secretaire 258
• bookcases, period - Georgian 265