Upholder

A term frequently used in the eighteenth century instead of Upholsterer, and not yet quite extinct.

Uprights

The outer rails or stiles which extend upwards from the back legs of a chair and support the back. The uprights are braced together by the straight or curved top rail. The space within these members and the seat rail is filled with a panel of wood, cane, upholstery, etc., or with some feature such as a splat or slat. The uprights were straight and in stile form in the wainscot and panelled-back chairs of the Tudor and Jacobean periods ; turned and in spiral form in the last half of the seventeenth century; straight and in broken S-curve form in the Queen Anne period; and straight and with a slight curve outward till well past the middle of the eighteenth century. Then the uprights became somewhat lost in the round, oval, shield and heart-shaped backs of Adam and Hepplewhite, but were again found in the rectangular backs of Sheraton.

Urn

In furniture the word is associated with the large wooden vase-like vessel, usually standing on the pedestal at each end of a side-table, fitted to contain various articles such as hot or iced water, cutlery, table silver, etc. If not the invention of the brothers Adam, the urn was very characteristic of their style. It disappeared when Shearer and Hepplewhite invented and perfected what in present times is known as a sideboard.

Urn Stands Or Tables

These small tables, introduced in the Chippendale period, were of sufficient size to hold the silver or Sheffield-plate urns which had then become fashionable, and were often provided with a pull-out slide in the framing, large enough to hold the tea or coffee pot. The contour and decoration followed the style of the furniture in vogue when they were made.

Valance

The drapery at the head of a window, or the hangings on the tester of a bed, etc. Draperies were sometimes carved in wood and so painted as to deceive the onlooker, notable examples of which are the window valances by Chippendale in the gallery of Harewood House. See Pelmet.

Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726)

A famous architect to whom we owe such monumental work as Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. His name is usually included in the list of architect-designers of furniture of the eighteenth century.

Varnish

A medium used by cabinet-makers to give a transparent glossy surface to their woodwork. In early times, oil and wax were probably used to preserve and improve the wood surface. In Tudor times and during the seventeenth century an oil varnish was used which sank into the woodwork; afterwards wax and friction were applied. Early in the eighteenth century a surface varnish was made with lac dissolved in spirits of wine, and a few years afterwards Martin of Paris produced his celebrated "Vernis-Martin" for which he enjoyed a monopoly in France from 1730, and for which he and his family were renowned throughout Europe. See Martin.

Vase

A very favourite design both in the flat and round, used by the architect-designers of the eighteenth century, and especially by Adam. The wooden vessels or vase-shaped urns on the pedestals of his side-tables are well-known examples. A fiddle-back splat of a chair is sometimes spoken of as a vase-shaped splat.