Colonial Cedar Settee with Carved Leaf Decoration

• Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
• Horsehair - Horsehair fabric is a woven textile made from the mane and tail hair of horses, used in upholstery in the 19th century, when it was a staple of high-end furniture production.
  
  The hair is collected from horses by grooming or clipping the mane and tail. It is then washed and sorted, with longer strands usually reserved for the warp (lengthwise) threads and shorter ones for the weft (crosswise) threads. The horsehair is then spun into yarn and woven into a durable, tightly-woven fabric with a distinctive texture. Horsehair fabric has a natural lustre and is known for its resilience and durability, making it an ideal material for upholstery.
• Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.
• Turned Legs - are legs which have been turned on a lathe. In use from the 16th century, turned legs on tables, chairs and cabinets became more frequent until, by the 1830s, the Georgian square or tapered leg was rarely found except in country pieces.
• Castors - Wheels, fitted especially to chair legs, couches, tables and some smaller pieces of furniture, to enable them to be easily moved about. The earliest castors were of brass, with shanks fitting into the base of the leg, and the wheels often made of leather. In the late 18th century, brass 'bucket' or 'cup' castors were introduced, either rounded or square, fitting directly over the end of the leg and held in place with screws. The wheels were generally solid brass. Bucket/cup castors continued in use throughout the 19th century and indeed are still made today. In the later 19th century wheels were sometimes made of wood, china, either white or brown, and sometimes of steel.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• seating, lounges, settees and suites - couches, lounges and settees 296
• settees and sofas
  • Australian 58
  • Victorian 208