Occasional Table

A small light, portable table, used for ladies' work, flowers, ornaments, and a variety of other purposes. It originated in the middle of the eighteenth century, but the generic name is modern. The shape and adornment of tables of this character are infinitely various.

Jean Francois Oeben (Ob. Circa 1765)

A prominent ebonist in the time of Louis XV. He is best known as the master of Riesener, and as the designer of the magnificent Bureau du Roi now in the Louvre, a fine copy of which is found in the Wallace Collection. The order for the bureau was given by Louis XV. in 1760, and it was partly finished when Oeben died in 1765. It was completed in 1769 by Riesener, who in 1767 had married Oeben's widow.

Ogee (French Ogive, Pointed)

A term applied to both a moulding and a pointed arch. The moulding in section consists of a double curve, convex above and concave below, or the cyma reversa or ogee. The arch consists of two opposed ogee curves meeting in a point at the top. It was much used in England for openings in the "Decorated' period of architecture, for the tracery of the glass doors of cabinets, and panelling in the Gothic period of furniture in the middle of the eighteenth century.

Oil Or Wax Polishing

See Polishing.

Olive

An evergreen tree much cultivated in the South of Europe. The wood is yellow with dark veins, and takes a high polish. The size of the tree caused the wood to be used mostly for small articles, such as mirror frames, and it was so employed, for example, in the time of William and Mary. It was sometimes used as a veneer.

Ombre Table

A table for the game of Ombre, which was played by three players and forty cards in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, after which a variation was played called Quadrille, and then, long afterwards, Whist.

Onion Foot

A turned foot, of the shape indicated by the name, not much used after the time of William and Mary.

Opus Anglicanum, Or Opus Anglicum

See Needlework.

Organ-Case

Most organ-cases were intended for private houses and follow the lines of contemporary fashion. They have often been converted to purposes of interior adornment.

Ormolu

An alloy consisting of copper, zinc and tin, made to imitate gold, for use as mounts on the best kinds of furniture. Bronze gilt mounts are also so named.

Ornament

Almost all the arts and crafts have been utilized in the embellishment of furniture, among them being painting, carving, engraving, metal casting and chasing, moulding, piercing, fret-cutting, veneering, inlay and marquetry, lacquering, turning, gilding, needlework, tapestry, the weaving of silk and other stuffs, etc.

Ottoman

A word of Arab derivation, denoting a long stuffed seat, couch or divan, without back or arms. Ottomans were not in vogue in England until the end of the eighteenth century.

Jean Baptiste Oudry

A French artist who exercised considerable influence on tapestry designs as Director of the Gobelin Works, to which office he was appointed in 1736.

Overmantel

See Chimney Piece.

Ovolo Moulding

A convex moulding, usually describing a quarter of a circle in section.