| If you're an antique collector, and certainly if you're a | | | | the 18th century, taking particular account of the |
| collector of antique Victorian furniture, you've seen a | | | | French style of the court of Louis XV. The cabriole leg |
| lot of Victorian tables, Victorian chairs and other pieces | | | | of Victorian era Rococo was heavier and more |
| standing on cabriole legs. The cabriole leg is in fact | | | | ornamented than its 18th century predecessor; and an |
| such an important feature of Victorian furniture and of | | | | S-scroll toe became common. In America, Rococo |
| pieces that date to the 18th century that it deserves | | | | furniture design with cabriole legs was the hallmark of |
| not just an article but an entire book devoted to it. I'll | | | | the great cabinetmaker John Henry Belter. |
| start with the article. | | | | The ultimate inspiration for the cabriole leg, as |
| A cabriole leg is a furniture support with two curves, | | | | widespread and popular as it has been, is not a matter |
| one upper and one lower. The upper curve is convex, | | | | of agreement, however. It's commonly held that the |
| which means that it bows outward. The lower is | | | | design was inspired by the shape of an animal's leg, in |
| concave and bows inward. Unless the two curves, | | | | particular that of an ungulate (hoofed toe-walker) such |
| sometimes called arcs, bend out and then in, the shape | | | | as a horse or goat, although I've seen little elaboration |
| isn't cabriole. | | | | on the statement. I think it's correct, but here's some |
| Also, the axes of the two curves must be on the | | | | more to think about. |
| same plane. If your geometry is a little too rusty to | | | | The word cabriole is French. There is such a thing as a |
| understand that, here's another way to explain it. The | | | | cabriole leap in ballet, where one leg is tucked in |
| "leg" must resemble the leg of a living creature. The | | | | against the other leg, which is extended. The word |
| second curve cannot go off sideways. It has to remain | | | | cabriole is also associated with the stepping of horses. |
| in the "plane" of the first one, like an ankle to a knee. | | | | The earliest English usage ties the word cabriole to the |
| Just think of it as a real live leg, and the shape will | | | | leaping of horses and goats. Dictionaries today, |
| begin to make sense. | | | | whether French or English, define cabriole as cavorting |
| The ancient Chinese, Greeks, and Egyptians are all | | | | or capering, a sort of frolicking or jumping about. What |
| said to have used the cabriole design. In Europe its use | | | | are we to make of this? |
| died out prior to the Middle Ages and only reappeared | | | | In the first place, the root of the word cabriole goes |
| in France in the early 18th century. From there it spread | | | | back to the Latin word caper, which means goat, as in |
| quickly to England during the Queen Anne period. It | | | | Capricorn. Capering is jumping about like a goat, if you |
| also made its way into Holland. | | | | want to get literal. |
| As a stylistic element, the cabriole leg caught on so | | | | Now, I went online and found a video that someone |
| quickly and thoroughly that it came almost to define | | | | took of his goats jumping over bars. To my good |
| 18th century furniture. When it arrived in America in the | | | | fortune he paused the video a number of times as the |
| 18th century, it grew so prevalent that some refer to | | | | goats were in mid-jump. Guess what? Those tucked in |
| this period of American furniture design as the cabriole | | | | front legs look suspiciously similar to well-curved |
| period. | | | | cabriole legs on a piece of furniture -- the heavier |
| In England, as I mentioned, the cabriole leg found its | | | | upper part with the knee curved back and the slender |
| footing during the Queen Anne period (although some | | | | lower part with the ankle curved forward. |
| see an earlier origin in the designs of French exile | | | | Is it troubling that the knee curves back under the body |
| Daniel Marot, who lived both in England and in Holland). | | | | and the ankle points outward? Not at all. Remember, |
| When Chippendale design took over later in the | | | | the leg of a piece of furniture isn't suspended in the air. |
| century, the cabriole leg grew more delicate. Often the | | | | It's on the ground supporting the weight. The heavier |
| cabriole legs of the 18th century end with a ball and | | | | upper curve needs to go out to transfer the weight |
| claw. This is actually so typical that some people | | | | down to the ground with the least amount of stress. |
| mistakenly define cabriole as ball and claw. | | | | Putting these pieces of evidence together, I'm led to |
| During the Victorian era, as early as 1840, the cabriole | | | | suspect that the original inspiration for the cabriole leg |
| leg became a distinctive feature of the Rococo | | | | was the foreleg of a jumping goat. |
| Revival style. Rococo Revival "revived" the styles of | | | | |