Vertical support of a piece of furniture, shaped in two curves
"Cabriole" redirects here. For dance step, see Glossary_of_ballet § Cabriole.
Cabriole legged marble topped table.
A cabriole leg is one of (usually) four vertical supports of a piece of furniture shaped in two curves; the upper arc is convex, while lower is concave; the upper curve always bows outward, while the lower curve bows inward; with the axes of the two curves in the same plane. This design was used by the ancient Chinese and Greeks, but emerged in Europe in the very early 18th century, when it was incorporated into the more curvilinear styles produced in France, England and Holland.[1]
Cabriole legged table Herculaneum Italy in the first century
According to Bird, "nothing symbolises 18th century furniture more than the cabriole leg."[2] The cabriole design is often associated with bun or the "ball and claw" foot design. In England, this design was characteristic of Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture.[citation needed] In France, the cabriole leg is associated with the Louis XV period of furniture design.[3] The cabriole design appeared for the first time in the United States in the 18th century.[4] The basis of its original concept was emulated upon legs of certain four-footed mammals, especially ungulates. The etymology of this term specifically derives from the French word cabrioler, meaning to leap like a goat.[5]
^Encyclopædia Britannica – Cabriole Leg
^Bird, Lonnie. Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Period Furniture Details. Taunton Press, 2003, pp. 24–26.
^French Accents: Fine Continental Antiques – Cabriole
^Greene, Jeffrey P. American Furniture of the 18th Century. Taunton Press, 1996.
^Ernest Joyce and Alan Peters. Encyclopedia of Furniture Making. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 1987, pp. 208–221.
A cabrioleleg is one of (usually) four vertical supports of a piece of furniture shaped in two curves; the upper arc is convex, while lower is concave;...
predecessors," and examples in common use include "curving shapes, the cabrioleleg, cushioned seats, wing-back chairs, and practical secretary desk-bookcase...
more rectangular, with a solid, more or less fiddle-shaped splat and a cabrioleleg with pad feet. The more ornamental examples had cane seats and ill-proportioned...
for furniture ornament, used as an arm rest support or to decorate a cabrioleleg. Occasionally, a lion's paw or pelt appears alongside the mask. Lions...
monarchs Persecution of Huguenots under Louis XV Kingdom of Navarre Cabrioleleg Étienne François, Duc de Choiseul Suppression of the Jesuits Louis heel...
century in a shape of bureau on top of shallow drawers supported by the cabriolelegs with toilet mirror above the bureau. By the middle of the 18th century...
raised on slender cabriolelegs; under the influence of neoclassicism, examples made after about 1775 had straight, tapering legs. The marchand-mercier...
Features typically associated with French Provincial furniture include cabriolelegs, and simple scalloped carving. Dining chairs often have a wheat pattern...
arranged in a way that one corner, sometimes rounded, frequently with a cabrioleleg, is positioned in front while the rounded or angled backrest is aligned...
front of the desk stands on thick legs or pillars which are often highly carved, somewhat exaggerated, thick cabriolelegs, but these are not essential. Davenport...
woman appears (illustrated within the work) in a lyre shaped chair by a cabrioleleg desk at work while her husband minds the couple's child. In a further...
fruitwoods or walnut. Armchairs and couches had several cartouches and cabriolelegs as in French designs, but usually looked more like joined-together seats...
in the Queen Anne, early Georgian, and Chippendale styles often have cabriolelegs, carved knees, and slipper or claw-and-ball feet. The fronts of some...
leg, sending it higher. The landing is then made on the underneath leg. Cabriole may be done devant, derrière and à la seconde in any given position...
very delicate figures carved in low relief. This little box stands on cabriolelegs 3/4 of an inch long with claw feet, quite Louis Quinze in character...
classical in style, and rather than having cabriolelegs usually had elegantly decorated straight, demi-lune at most, legs. Armachairs made in Italy were based...
Lancaster also stated that French furniture, much of it gilt and with cabriolelegs, which was such a large part of 17th-, 18th-, and early 20th-century...
were hung in the room, and 42 rosewood balloon-back side chairs with cabriolelegs and a heart-shaped crest were purchased. They were upholstered in purple...
with a circumferential braid or pair of braids. The chair legs were frequently of a cabriole style or a straight-legged spindle design. More modern nursing...
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