Furniture of the Olden Time

by Frances Clary Morse

F

Fan back. The back of a Windsor chair with the spindles flaring like an open fan.

Fender. A guard of pierced metal, or wire, to place before an open fire.

Field bedstead. One with half high posts which uphold a frame covered with netting or cloth.

Finial. The ornament which is used at the top of a pointed effect as a finish.

Flemish foot or leg. An early scroll form with one scroll turning in and the other turning out; found upon Jacobean furniture.

Fluting. A series of concave grooves.

French foot. In Chippendale’s time, a scroll foot terminating a cabriole leg; in Hepplewhite’s time, a delicate form of a bracket foot.

Fretwork. A form of ornament in furniture, sawed or carved in an open design.