Furniture of the Olden Time

by Frances Clary Morse

Bombé. Kettle-shaped.

Bonnet top. A top made with a broken arch or pediment.

Bracket. The piece of wood of bracket shape, used in the angle made by the top and the leg.

Bracket foot. A foot in bracket form.

Broken arch or Pediment. One in which the cornice is not complete, but lacks the central section.

Buffet. A sideboard, or piece of furniture used as a sideboard.

Buhl. A form of inlaying engraved brass upon a thin layer of tortoise shell, over a colored background. Named from its inventor, Buhl, or Boulle.

Bureau. In early time, and even now in England, a desk with a slanting lid. Now used chiefly to indicate a chest of drawers.

Bureau-table. A small chest of drawers made like a desk, but with a flat top.

Butterfly table. A small table with turned legs and stretchers and drop leaves, which are held up by swinging brackets with the outer edge curved like a butterfly wing.