Decorative Art, PUT-SAP
People appreciate the usefulness of things like glassware and furniture, but they appreciate such objects even more when they’re aesthetically pleasing, too. That’s where decorative art comes in. Explore the world of basketry, metalwork, pottery, interior design, tapestry, and more.
Decorative Art Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Andrée Putman was a French designer, known for her Minimalist, avant-garde furnishings and interior designs. Putman......
puttee, covering for the lower leg consisting of a cloth or leather legging held on by straps or laces or a cloth......
pyrope, magnesium aluminum garnet (Mg3Al2), the transparent form of which is used as a gemstone. Its colour varies......
pâte-sur-pâte, (French: “paste on paste”), method of porcelain decoration in which a relief design is created on......
Pénicaud Family, French enamelers active in Limoges during the 16th century, considered to be among the finest......
qalamkārī textile, painted textile of a type produced during the 17th century at various centres in India, notably......
Qashqāʾī rug, floor covering handwoven by the Qashqāʾī people, who have the reputation of making the best rugs......
Queen Anne style, style of decorative arts that began to evolve during the rule of King William III of England,......
quillwork, type of embroidery done with the quills of a porcupine, or sometimes with bird feathers. This type of......
quilting, sewing technique in which two layers of fabric, usually with an insulating interior layer, are sewn together......
Quimper faience, tin-enamelled earthenware produced by a factory at Loc Maria, a suburb of Quimper in Brittany,......
rabato, wide, often lace-edged collar wired to stand up at the back of the head, worn by both men and women in......
raden, Japanese decorative technique used for lacquerware and woodenware, in which linings of mother-of-pearl or......
raised work, form of embroidery practiced in England in the 17th century, characterized by biblical and mythological......
raku ware, Japanese hand-molded lead-glazed earthenware, originally invented in 16th-century Kyōto by the potter......
Raphael was a master painter and architect of the Italian High Renaissance. Raphael is best known for his Madonnas......
rapier loom, a shuttleless weaving loom in which the filling yarn is carried through the shed of warp yarns to......
Raqqah ware, type of Islamic lustreware produced at Al-Raqqah, Syria, between the 9th and 14th centuries. The body......
Robert Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement.......
George Ravenscroft was an English glassmaker, developer of lead crystal (or flint glass). It was a heavy, blown......
Rayy ware, in Islamic ceramics, style of pottery found at Rayy, near Tehrān, and dating from the 12th century.......
red-figure pottery, type of Greek pottery that flourished from the late 6th to the late 4th century bce. During......
redingote, fitted outer garment. The man’s redingote, worn in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was a full-skirted,......
Regency style, decorative arts produced during the regency of George, prince of Wales, and during his entire reign......
Regent diamond, a brilliant-cut stone with a slight blue tinge that once was the outstanding gem of the French......
rei miro, wooden gorget, or pectoral (breast ornament), once worn by high-ranking inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter......
religious dress, any attire, accoutrements, and markings used in religious rituals that may be corporate, domestic,......
Rendsburg faience, German tin-glazed earthenware produced between 1764 and 1772 in the town of Rendsburg at a factory......
Rennes faience, French tin-glazed earthenware, produced in Rennes, distinguished by the use of manganese purple.......
repoussé, method of decorating metals in which parts of the design are raised in relief from the back or the inside......
retable, ornamental panel behind an altar and, in the more limited sense, the shelf behind an altar on which are......
rhinegraves, wide breeches worn by men in the mid-17th century in Europe. The breeches were probably named for......
rhinestone, colourless, faceted glass used in jewelry; also foil-backed or silvered cut glass used to imitate diamonds.......
Benjamin Richardson was the founder of one of the great English glass-manufacturing houses, who was instrumental......
Ridgway ware, type of Staffordshire pottery first produced by the brothers Job and George Ridgway in 1792 at the......
Dame Lucie Rie was an Austrian-born British studio potter. Her unique and complex slip-glaze surface treatment......
Jean-Henri Riesener was the best-known cabinetmaker in France during the reign of Louis XVI. Riesener was the son......
Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was a Dutch architect and furniture designer notable for his application of the tenets of......
rikka, (Japanese: “standing flowers”), in classical Japanese floral art, a highly conventionalized and formal style......
rinceau, in architecture, decorative border or strip, featuring stylized vines with leaves and often with fruit......
ring, circular band of gold, silver, or some other precious or decorative material that is worn on the finger.......
rocaille, in Western architecture and decorative arts, 18th-century ornamentation featuring elaborately stylized......
rock crystal, transparent variety of the silica mineral quartz that is valued for its clarity and total lack of......
Rockingham ware, English earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain made at Swinton, Yorkshire, in a factory on the......
Rococo, style in interior design, the decorative arts, painting, architecture, and sculpture that originated in......
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Rodchenko was a Russian painter, sculptor, designer, and photographer who was a dedicated......
Abraham Roentgen was a German joiner and designer who founded what became one of Europe’s most widely renowned......
David Roentgen was a cabinetmaker to Queen Marie-Antoinette of France; under his direction the family workshop......
Bruce Rogers was a typographer and book designer, highly influential in fine book design in the United States during......
rolltop desk, desk with a sliding roll top, or tambour, that encloses the working surface of the upper part and......
roman script, in calligraphy, script based upon the clear, orderly Carolingian writing that Italian humanists mistook......
S.H. de Roos was a book and type designer who was an important figure in the private-press movement in the Netherlands.......
rose cut, method of faceting gemstones so that the base of the stone is wide, flat, and unfaceted, whereas the......
rose quartz, translucent, usually turbid, very coarse-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz found in pegmatites.......
Betsy Ross was an American seamstress who, according to family stories, fashioned and helped design the first flag......
Rosso Fiorentino was an Italian painter and decorator, an exponent of the expressive style that is often called......
Georges Rouault was a French painter, printmaker, ceramicist, and maker of stained glass who, drawing inspiration......
Rouen ware, faience (tin-glazed earthenware) and porcelain wares that made Rouen, Fr., a major pottery centre.......
round hand script, in calligraphy, the dominant style among 18th-century English writing masters, whose copybooks......
Royal Copenhagen porcelain, ware produced by the Royal Porcelain Factory, Copenhagen, from 1775 to the present......
Ru kiln, kiln known for creating highly prized Chinese stoneware. The Ru kiln produced ware for a short period......
Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish painter who was the greatest exponent of Baroque painting’s dynamism, vitality,......
rubrication, in calligraphy and typography, the use of handwriting or type of a different colour on a page, derived......
ruby, gemstone composed of transparent red corundum (q.v.), a mineral form of aluminum oxide, Al2O3. Its colour......
ruby glass, deep-red glass deriving its colour from gold chloride. Originally known in the ancient world, its rediscovery......
ruby spinel, natural or synthetic gem-quality spinel (q.v.; magnesium aluminum oxide) that resembles ruby. The......
ruff, in dresswear, crimped or pleated collar or frill, usually wide and full, worn in Europe, especially from......
rug and carpet, any decorative textile normally made of a thick material and now usually intended as a floor covering.......
running-dog pattern, in classical architecture, decorative motif consisting of a repeated stylized convoluted form,......
rustic style, in decorative arts, any ruralizing influence; more precisely, a type of furniture made of wood or......
rustic ware, in pottery, creations of the French potter Bernard Palissy, who from about 1548 produced large earthenware......
rya rug, floor covering handmade in Sweden and Finland using techniques resembling those employed in Oriental carpets......
T. Claude Ryan was an American airline entrepreneur and aircraft manufacturer who designed the plane from which......
Théo Van Rysselberghe was a Belgian painter, sculptor, and designer who, together with Henry van de Velde, headed......
Régence style, transition in the decorative arts from the massive rectilinear forms of Louis XIV furniture to those......
Römer, type of wineglass evolved in Germany, especially in the Rhineland, and the Netherlands over several centuries,......
Rörstrand faience, first faience (tin-glazed earthenware) produced in Sweden, at the Rörstrand factory established......
rō-iro, in Japanese lacquerwork, technique of coating with black lacquer, involving two major methods. Hana-nuri......
Betye Saar is an American artist and educator, renowned for her assemblages that lampoon racist attitudes about......
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-born American architect who was one of the leaders in a trend toward exploration and......
sabot, heavy work shoe worn by European peasants, especially in France and the Low Countries. There are two kinds......
Saint John’s Bible, illuminated English-language Bible (2011) notable for its incorporation of contemporary themes......
Saint Petersburg porcelain, pottery ware produced from 1744 to the present day by the principal Russian factory,......
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux ware, tin-glazed earthenware and porcelain made in the French town of that name in the 18th......
Saint-Cloud porcelain, soft-paste porcelain made in the town of Saint-Cloud, Fr., from the last quarter of the......
Augustus Saint-Gaudens was generally acknowledged to be the foremost American sculptor of the late 19th century,......
Saint-Porchaire faience, lead-glazed earthenware (inaccurately called faience, or tin-glazed ware) made in the......
Sakaida family, celebrated family of Japanese potters whose founder, Sakaida Kizaemon (1596–1666), was awarded......
Salor rug, floor covering handmade by the Salor Turkmen of Turkmenistan. Most consistent in design are the main......
salt glaze, in ceramics, a glaze having the texture of orange peel, formed on stoneware by throwing common salt......
Antonio Salviati was an Italian glass manufacturer who helped reestablish Murano as a centre of Italian glassworking......
Samadet faience, tin-glazed earthenware made in the 18th century in Samadet, Landes, France, at a factory founded......
Samarkand rug, handwoven floor covering that was once marketed through the ancient city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan......
Samarkand ware, in Islāmic ceramics, style originating in Samarkand province (now in Uzbekistan) that was at its......
sampler, embroidered panel of linen on which various types of stitches are demonstrated. The earliest extant European......
Sancy diamond, fiery stone of Indian origin that is shaped like a peach pit and weighs 55 carats. It has a long......
sandal, type of footwear consisting of a sole secured to the foot by straps over the instep, toes, or ankle. The......
Sandwich glass, glass made by the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company at the village of Sandwich, Mass., 1825–88.......
sang de boeuf, a glossy, rich, bloodred glaze often slashed with streaks of purple or turquoise used to decorate......
sapphire, transparent to translucent, natural or synthetic variety of corundum (q.v.; aluminum oxide, Al2O3) that......