Plaque

Plaques as decoration for furniture became very fashionable soon after the middle of the eighteenth century. The Sevres porcelain works, which became a State enterprise in 1753, made beautifully designed porcelain plaques to embellish cabinets, tables, etc. Plaques of lacquer and of finely chased gilt bronze were also made for furniture at the time. In England, Wedgwood, who established his works at Burslem in 1771, made plaques for the furniture designed by Adam and others.

Plinth

In architecture, the slab between the pavement and the base of a column; also the extra thickening of a wall just above the ground. Heavy pieces of furniture designed by architects and others in the eighteenth century were often supported on low plinths, bases and stands, of a plain or ornamental character.

Poker-Work

A method of artistic expression on wood, by means of heated metal instruments and sand. A hot poker was originally used for the outline and sand for the shading.

Pole Screen, Banner Screen, Or Fire Screen

About the middle of the eighteenth century these screens, to protect the face from the heat of a fire, became very fashionable. The tripod stand was a favourite support for the pole which sustained the needlework screen suspended on a cross-bar or frame, which could be raised or lowered on the pole.

Polishing

Up to the middle of the sixteenth century, wood surfaces were usually treated with oil, and then with beeswax and turpentine, and hard rubbing. This treatment in time produced the bright, sleek surface or patina which is so greatly admired on old furniture. From that time varnish was used, although it did not supplant the older method. French polish and other cheap methods were not introduced until late in the eighteenth or early in the nineteenth century.

Pollard Oak And Walnut

The wood of oak and walnut trees that have been polled - that is to say, cut at the top to secure a bushier head. The process alters the grain.

John Hungerford Pollen (1820-1902)

Author of "Ancient and Modern Furniture and Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum," 1874. In 1875 an abridgment of the Introduction was issued as one of the South Kensington Handbooks, edited by William Maskell, and an illuminating revision of it edited by T. A. Lehfeldt was published in 1908.

Pompeii

In the eighteenth century the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum excited profound attention throughout Europe, and the art treasures and decorative work discovered there had a very considerable influence on design. In England the brothers Adam borrowed much material from this source.

Poplar Wood

The wood of the poplar has been rather sparingly used in furniture. It is of a very pale colour with an exceptionally fine grain. In the Stuart period rooms were sometimes panelled in poplar wood.

Porcelain Decoration

See Plaque.

Portiere

A curtain used as a cover for a door, or hung in the doorway, as a substitute for a door.

Portuguese Bulb

A knob turning of Portuguese origin, which came into use in the early years of William and Mary. Typical forms would be distinctive knobs or bulbs on the legs of a chair in place of the squares into which the stretcher was socketed, and one or two prominent bulbs on the stretcher itself.