Franklin Stove

Invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1740 or 1745 - authorities differ. This was partly a stove and partly a fireplace which fitted into, or up to, the chimney opening. It burned wood on andirons, and had a decorative front. Its outstanding advantage was that it threw the warmth into the room instead of allowing much of it to go up the chimney. The Franklin stove was little known in England in its characteristic form, though derivatives of it eventually came into use.

French Chair

A generic term applied often to upholstered arm-chairs of any design.

French Foot

A bracket foot (q.v.) having a concave curve down the mitre, the height of which is usually greater than the width of the face of the bracket.

French Polishing

Shellac dissolved in methylated spirits with colouring matter is the medium used. It is important to note that this cheap and unsatisfactory manner of polishing furniture was not used until late in the eighteenth century.

Fretwork

Ornamental woodwork cut to represent small interlacing fillets or trellis-work, usually of geometrical form, and used as a perforated ornament or applied to a solid background. In order to strengthen the more delicate kinds of work which was liable to fracture, the frets were cut out of boards about a quarter-inch in thickness, made up of three sheets of veneer glued together, the grain of the centre sheet being set at right angles to the others. Fretwork was much used by Chippendale and his school during the prevalence of the Chinese taste. Small fretted tables of refined workmanship intended for the display of specimens of the silversmith's art were much in vogue for about a decade after 1760.

Frieze

The member of the entablature which is between the architrave and the cornice. Usually flat, it is sometimes made in convex form when it is said to be a torus, cushion or pulvinated frieze. It is a feature in furniture in the classical taste, and is often ornamented with inlay, carving, etc. The under-framing of a table between the top and the legs is often called a frieze, and a similar member on the pedestal of a cabinet is sometimes called an under-frieze, to distinguish it from the architectural frieze at the top of the cabinet.

Fringe

An ornamental edging used as a finish to dresses, upholstery, etc., in European countries from the beginning of the Renaissance, consisting of a band with depending tassels or twisted threads of silk or other material.

Front

The front surface of a piece of furniture, some of the principal kinds of which are as follows : straight; broken, when sections are broken into different planes; block or tub, when some features are raised above the general surface; kettle, bombe or bulging fronts; bow or swell; and serpentine.

Gadroon (Fr. Godron, A Plait Or Ruffle)

A ruffle ornament in many forms, concave as well as convex, used as a carved embellishment on the edges of tables, cabinets, etc. When used round a circular object the ornament is more or less pear-shaped and is called a splayed gadroon. See Nulling.