Eagle's Head

A carved feature found on English furniture in the Decorated Queen Anne period. It was frequently used as a termination to the arms of chairs and settees.

Ear-Piece

The volute or scroll springing from the knee of a cabriole leg and finishing under the seat-framing of the chair.

Easy Chair

The name given to the large class of upholstered and cushioned chairs made for luxurious ease and comfort. They were of French origin and were first made in England in the early Queen Anne period. They were sometimes called "French chairs."

Eberlein, H. D., And Mcclure, A

Authors of the instructive "Practical Book of Period Furniture" (Lippincott).

Ebonist

The term menuisier en ebene was first used in France in the seventeenth century, and the shorter term ebeniste, or the Anglicized version, "ebonist," was afterwards applied to a worker in other woods than ebony, especially to a cabinet-maker of the better kind.

Ebony

The black variety of this valuable wood is usually selected for furniture and cut into veneers. The Venetians used it in the sixteenth century, but it was not generally employed in Europe until after the settlement in 1695 of the Dutch in Ceylon, in which country the best wood was grown.

Echinus

The egg-and-dart, egg-and-tongue, or egg-and-anchor ornament, carved on the ovolo mouldings of furniture in the classic taste.

Edict Of Nantes

The revocation of this Edict in 1685 was of widespread importance in the development of the arts and crafts in this country. Many thousands of skilful French workers, including designers, ebonists, weavers, carvers, and others connected with the furnishing and decoration of houses, found refuge here. Notably they founded the silk industry in Spitalfields.

Edwards And Darly

See Darly, M.

Egg-And-Anchor

See Echinus.

Egg-And-Dart Or Egg-And-Tongue

See Echinus.

Egyptian Furniture

The oldest civilization which has left mobiliary relics is the Egyptian. The British Museum, the Museum at Cairo, and one or two other public collections contain examples found in tombs. Thus the supposed throne of Queen Hatshepsu, wife of Thothmes II., a king of the eighteenth dynasty, is in the British Museum ; it is of rosewood, enriched with carving and gilding. There, too, is the wooden frame of a couch with animals' feet. In 1923 various other examples of the richest type of Egyptian furniture were found in the tomb of Tutankamen in the Valley of the Kings. Most of the seats and stools of the Egyptians were without backs. Tables partook of the nature of stands and often had one central leg. Egyptian furniture was the remote ancestor of the Empire Style (q.v.).

Eight-Leg Table

A name given to a slight eighteenth-century form of the gate-leg table. Such tables had movable legs on each side to support flaps, and were usually of mahogany.

Elbow-Chair

See Arm-Chair.

Elizabethan Period

The development of the Tudor Style under Elizabeth was due chiefly to the Italian Renaissance. The heavy mediaeval contour of the furniture persisted, but the carving and other details were improved. Among the details are arabesques, fruit, cartouches, bulbous knobs, inlay, and hammered iron mounts. See Renaissance.