Drop-Handle

See Handle.

Drop-Ornament

The shaped, carved, or pierced ornament depending from the under-framing of a chair, cabinet, or other piece of furniture. When the ornament occupies the whole width of the under-framing, it is usually termed the apron, front, skirting-piece, or valance.

Dropped Or Dipped Seat

The seat of a chair having a concave upper surface between the two side rails.

Drunkard's Chairs

These chairs, measuring as much as 33 inches in width, were in vogue in the time of Queen Anne, and persisted until nearly the end of the eighteenth century. They were made for the comfortable repose of the men of that period after their wine; and because their ample width allowed two persons to sit side by side, they were also called "lovers' chairs."

Duchesse

Sheraton tells us that a "duchesse is merely two barjier [bergere] chairs fastened to a stool in the middle." Hepplewhite made similar chairs. The term is also applied to the modern type of dressing-table with a swing-glass.

Dug-Out Chest

An ancient chest or coffer hollowed out of a tree-trunk shaped with an axe, and sometimes clamped with iron bands. These dug-outs were also called "trunks," and examples may still be seen in some churches.

Dulcimer

A small musical instrument of extreme antiquity, probably the earliest ancestor of all keyboard instruments. It is triangular in shape and consists of wire strings stretched above a sounding-board. The strings are struck by two hammers, held one in each hand; one hammer is covered with hard, and the other with soft, leather for graduation of tone. The larger instruments were sometimes mounted upon stands. The dulcimer has now become a mere children's toy and is rarely seen.

Dumb Waiter

A tray, fitting into a stand, for carrying food and dining-room requisites from one room to another, or for the reception of dishes, etc., during a meal. In its earlier form it was a three-tiered, tripod, circular table, and dates from the early part of the eighteenth century. Sheraton designed a variety of dumb-waiters of a rather elaborate type, containing drawers as well as shelves and trays.

Dummy Board Picture

See Picture-Board Dummy.

Dutch Foot

See Club-Foot.

Dutch Furniture

During the seventeenth century, and especially in its earlier years, when the arts and crafts in England were not in the same advanced state as in other European countries, English chair and cabinet makers depended for their designs and much of the better kinds of furniture on the Dutch and the Flemings. The furniture of these two peoples was much alike, but the Dutch was the heavier. The slight dissimilarity was, no doubt, caused by German influence on the one hand and Spanish and French on the other. Leaving out French influences, which were ever growing in England after Colbert founded his Academy in Paris in 1664, Dutch and Flemish designs in furniture continued to prevail in England until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Features such as the "bandy" or cabriole leg, the kettle or bombe front, marquetry etc., are said to have been introduced into England by the Dutch, but they did not originate them.