Cupid's Bow

A name given to the top rail of a chair-back much in vogue during the Chippendale period, in the shape of a bow with compound curves, often embellished with spiral volutes at the ends.

Cup-Turned

A turned tapering leg, the leading feature of which was a cup-like prominence. It was a development of the Portuguese bulb, and was very fashionable at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries.

Curl

A term applied to the markings or "figure" in certain woods.

Curtain

A loose movable covering of lace, linen, or other fabric for screening a window or recess. Until the nineteenth century was well advanced, curtains were extensively used for screening beds; the most remarkable examples are the curtains or hangings of the monumental beds of the William and Mary and Queen Anne periods, a certain number of which have been preserved.

Curule-Chair

An X-shaped stool with a flat seat without back, the sella curulis of the Roman magistrate. It was copied during the Empire period in the nineteenth century, sometimes with a back added.

Cushion

A round, square, or oblong flexible bag stuffed with feathers, flock, or other soft material, and covered with stuff of varying degrees of richness ; sometimes the covering is of leather, etc. Cushions were extensively used in days anterior to upholstered furniture, and among the great were covered with costly materials, and even with cloth of gold. Sometimes a cushion is called a squab, which usually means a loose-shaped cushion or movable covering stuffed with horsehair or other material fitting the seat of a chair, settee, etc.

Cushioned Frieze

A convex, pulvinate, or cushion-shaped frieze sometimes designed for cabinets, etc., in the Renaissance style by architects of the Early Georgian period.

Cusps

The meeting points or pendants between the arcs or foils forming part of the tracery in Gothic arches. Chippendale employed cusping as a carved decorative feature on some of his furniture in the Gothic style, and Sheraton also made use of it.

Cylinder Front

This kind of roll-top cover to a bureau was of French origin, and was not very popular in England, probably on account of the loss of space on the writing-desk at the back occasioned by the cylinder when turned over. This loss of space was avoided in tops of the tambour type. See Tambour Top.

Cyma

A double curve, somewhat like the letter S, concave at the top and convex below. When convex at top and concave below it is called a Cyma reversa, or the ogee.

Cypress

The cypress was introduced into England at an early date. It was much used in the Tudor period for chests designed for the storage of clothes, since it is reputed to be impervious to the worm. Like the cedar, it has an exceedingly pleasant odour.

Cypress Chests

From the early Renaissance on the Continent and in England chests and coffers of all sizes, bearing this name, were made to hold tapestries, robes, etc., cypress wood being used as a protection from the moth.