Decorative Art, REG-SER
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
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). It was notable for its incorporation of contemporary......
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......
sari, principal outer garment of women of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of a piece of often brightly coloured,......
sarong, principal silk, cotton, or synthetic-fabric garment worn in the Malay Archipelago and the Pacific islands.......
Sarūk carpet, originally, floor covering handwoven in the village of Sārūq, north of Arāk (Solṭānābād) in western......
satin, any fabric constructed by the satin weave method, one of the three basic textile weaves. The fabric is characterized......
satin glass, in the decorative arts, glass with a dull matte finish achieved by immersion in hydrofluoric or other......
William Savery was an American cabinetmaker who was an important member of the group of Philadelphia craftsmen......
Savona faience, tin-glazed earthenware made in the 17th and 18th centuries at Savona, Liguria, Italy, and at nearby......
Savonnerie carpet, French pile floor covering, usually large, whether made at the Savonnerie workshop or made in......
Sceaux ware, tin-glazed earthenware and porcelain made at a factory in Sceaux, Fr., from 1748 to 1794. Both were......
sceptre, ornamented rod or staff borne by rulers on ceremonial occasions as an emblem of authority and sovereignty.......
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a German architect and painter whose Romantic–Classical creations in other related......
Schleswig faience, tin-glazed earthenware made from 1755 to 1814 at the town of Schleswig in the Danish duchy of......
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld was a painter and designer who figured importantly in the German Nazarene movement.......
Kurt Schwitters was a German Dada artist and poet, best known for his collages and relief constructions. Soon after......
scissors chair, chair supported by two crossed and curved supports either at the sides or at the back and front.......
sconce, wooden or metal bracket affixed to a wall and designed to hold candles, lamps, or other types of illumination.......
scriptorium, writing room set aside in monastic communities for the use of scribes engaged in copying manuscripts.......
Janet Scudder was an American sculptor remembered for the highly popular fountains she created for many private......
Scythian art, decorated objects, mainly arms, jewelry, and trappings for horses, tents, and wagons, produced by......
secretary, a writing desk fitted with drawers, one of which can be pulled out and the front lowered to provide......
segoni-kun, mask derived from the antelope form, worn by a member of the Tyiwara society of the Bambara tribe in......
Senneh rug, handwoven floor covering made by Kurds who live in or around the town of Senneh (now more properly......
Seraband rug, handwoven floor covering made in the Ser-e Band locality, southwest of Arāk in west-central Iran.......