Bureau, Or Secretary Desk

Desks were made in various forms from the table desk with sloping face for holding writing materials and writing or reading upon, such as the Bible-box, to the important secretary or bureau with china cabinet above and cupboards and drawers below, which began to make its appearance in the reign of William and Mary. Sometimes the writing portion of the desk is formed by a hinged flap, which when lowered is supported by sliding rests or quadrants; at other times the desk is covered by a cylinder, roll, or tambour front. See Bureau.

Desk-Box

See Bible-Box.

Deu-Darn

See Tridarn.

Diamond Ornament

A favourite late Tudor adornment for the fronts of chests, the panelling of bedsteads, etc. See Lozenge.

Diaper Work

A pattern of flowers, figures, etc., treated in a conventional manner and constantly repeated, applied as a decoration to a plain surface.

Dining Room

See Parlour.

Dining-Table

See Table.

Dinner Wagon

A two- or three-tiered, movable table upon which to place plates, dishes, cutlery, glass and other dining-room necessaries.

Dipped Seat

See Dropped Seat.

Dished

A term applied to the sinkings in the surface of card tables to hold money or candlesticks. Where the sinking affects the whole surface the table is termed a dish-topped table. See Pie-Crust Table.

Divan

A long upholstered settee without back or arms usually standing against the wall. The divan is an importation from the East.

Dog Grate

A mobile iron frame with bars used in the open hearth for burning fuel. The front was often ornamented with elaborate and costly designs on brass or other metals, like the andirons, which they to some extent superseded in the first half of the eighteenth century. The name is now applied to any movable fire grate.

Dole Cupboard

A cupboard with open bars to contain bread or other comestibles for distribution to the poor. Such cupboards are found in many churches where they are sometimes still used for their original purpose.

Dolphin Ornament

A frequent mid-sixteenth-century adornment in the shape of dolphins, single or intertwined.

Domed Top

A term somewhat erroneously used in place of "hooded top" to describe the rounded tops of cabinets, etc., which were a popular feature in the early Queen Anne period.

Dossier

See Canopy Chair.

Double-Chair

A chair or settee for two persons with open back resembling two chair-backs connected together, and usually called a "two-chair-back chair". It was made in the early Queen Anne period, and was a development of the upholstered settee called a "love seat" or "courting chair" of French origin and popular in England from the end of the seventeenth century.

Double Chest

See Tall-Boy.

Dovetailing

A method of joining two pieces of timber by cutting the edges with reverse wedge-shape projections which fit into one another, so making a secure joint. The method was known to the early Egyptians.

Dowelling

A mode of fastening two pieces of wood together by means of dowels or pegs of wood or iron. Like dovetailing and mortising, it was known to the early Egyptians.