Are you one who enjoys adding trivia to your bank of knowledge? Is Jeopardy your favorite TV show? Then perhaps you are facinated by learning and love to expand your mind.
Working in home furnishings has opened up a whole new vocabulary of terms, which constantly drives me to the dictionary. At Maitland-Smith, we were fortunate to have our own historian, Howard Shattuck, working with us for over 20 years. Howard had a wealth of knowledge and could expound on the history of furnishings and entertain for hours on end. He often held seminars in our various dealer locations where he was popular with sales personel and consumers as well. Howard recently retired, but his legacy lives on here at Maitland-Smith.
It was from Howard that I first heard many new words including "rhyton, singerie, and borne." If you are curious, please read on.
A rhyton is any of various ornate drinking vessels of ancient times typically shaped in part like an animal or animal's head.
This Maitland-Smith rhyton is a faux steer's horn with finely cast brass accents. It can be used as a decorative accessory or vase.
Another word new to me is "singerie," which is a humorous picture of monkeys, fashionably attired, copying human behavior. These anthropomorphic monkeys were painted by several French painters in the 18th century. The Encyclopedia of Furniture defines singerie as "Rococo decoration of monkeys at play." Maitland-Smith is known for the many monkeys in our line. See the blog dated, April 22, "I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle."
Here we have a monkey artist at his easel, wearing a top hat and coat. This wall panel is hand-painted coromandel.
Lastly, the definition of "borne" from The Encyclopedia of Furniture, is a "French type of sofa, oval or round with a pillar in the center." This Maitland-Smith borne has an antique mahogany finish and tufted leather. It is customizable using our ONE, Singularly Crafted for You program and our Design Express upholstery program.
My experience has been that as soon as I learn a new word, I see or hear it. Who knows, one of these words may be an answer for a question on Jeopardy. If so, you will amaze your family with your knowledge.
Stay tuned for more home furnishings trivia. There are lots more interesting words to explore, for example, coromandel, which is used to describe the singerie wall panel above and Rococo, part of the definition.
Perhaps you can send me to the dictionary with one of your home furnishings trivia words. Nevertheless, it's fun to learn, even if only for personal enjoyment.
Elegant and distinctive pieces for your home today, with quality and style to last a lifetime.... Do you have a Maitland-Smith treasure? www.maitland-smith.com
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