An Illustrated Dictionary of Words used in Art and Archaeology / Explaining terms frequently used in works on architecture, arms, bronzes, Christian art, colour, costume, decoration, devices, emblems, heraldry, lace, personal ornaments, pottery, painting, sculpture, &c., with their derivations.

by John W. Mollett

Fig. 325. Early English Font.

Fig. 326. The Fontange Head-dress.

Fontange, Fr. “A modish head-dress,” deriving its name from Mademoiselle de Fontange, a lady of the court of Louis XIV., who invented it. (Fig. [326].)

Font-cloth, O. E. (1) The hanging with which the font was ornamented. (2) The Chrismale (q.v.).

Fools. In Church architecture and decoration, grotesque figures of men with fool’s cap and bells are frequently seen under the seats of choir-stalls and miserere seats. (See the article Obscœna.)

Foolscap. A fool’s cap was the device of the Italian society called the Granelleschi, formed at Venice in 1740 to oppose the corruption of the Italian language. A sheet of foolscap paper is 17 in. by 13½ in.

Forceps. Tongs or pincers, the attributes of some of the martyrs. (See Forfex.)

Foreshortening. The art of representing objects on a plane surface as they appear to the eye in perspective.