Pendant

A drop or hanging ornament of any kind, such as the centering under the front rail of a chair, the framing of a table, or the base of a cabinet. When the pendent ornament occupies the whole length of the front, it is called an apron, valance, skirting-piece, front, etc.

Pentes

See Pelmet.

Miehele Angelo Pergolesi

An Italian artist who came to England with Robert Adam and spent the best part of his life in decorating ceilings and panels. He painted furniture for Adam and the other principal designers of the later years of the eighteenth century, and also designed some furniture and mantelpieces himself. It was characteristic of his work that he painted his designs on a flat tint, not as other artists, on the wood itself. Between 1771 and 1801 he published "Designs for Various Ornaments on Seventy Plates" in folio numbers without text.

Petit-Point

A silk embroidery used for the coverings of chairs, etc., sometimes called the "tent stitch" - a slanting stitch across a single thread of canvas. It was worked by ladies in Tudor times and became very fashionable in the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne.

Pianoforte

A musical instrument invented by an Italian named Cristofori, early in the eighteenth century, with a compass of about seven octaves. Unlike the harpsichord, which it superseded, and the clavichord, virginal and spinet of the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the strings to produce the notes are struck instead of being plucked. The cases for the pianoforte, usually of the "wing" form, followed the different styles of furniture of the eighteenth century. The well-known names of Broad-wood, Erard and Collard are met with towards the end of the century.

Piano Stool

A round, square, or rectangular stool for use at the piano or harmonium. The height is usually adjustable by means of a screw pivot. It dates from the late eighteenth century.

Picture-Board Dummy

A representation on wood or canvas, or canvas fastened upon wood, of a human figure, usually about one half life-size. The dummies were painted in oils and cut to outline the figure in the fashion of the later silhouette. They stood upon a foot, and when of life-size, or nearly so, created the momentary illusion of the presence of a living person. A certain number were brought into England from Holland towards the end of the seventeenth century, and since the figures are occasionally Oriental, it is possible that the idea is of Eastern origin. The figures, the favourite position for which was by the side of a fireplace, are most frequently female, and being painted in natural colours are distinctly decorative.

Picture Frame

See Frame.

Pie-Crust Tables

The name given to the tripod mahogany tables of the Chippendale period, often used as tea-tables, having rims of carved moulding made up of C-scrolls, S-scrolls, and ogees in the rococo style.

Pied De Biche (French, Hind's Foot)

A foot to a seat or light table in the shape of a cloven hoof. Of ancient origin, it was introduced into England from France in the time of Louis XIV.