Decorative Arts, PRI-SAK
People appreciate the usefulness of things like glassware and furniture, but they appreciate such objects even more when theyâre aesthetically pleasing, too. Thatâs where decorative art comes in. Explore the world of basketry, metalwork, pottery, interior design, tapestry, and more.
Decorative Arts Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Primaticcio, Francesco
Francesco Primaticcio was an Italian Mannerist painter, architect, sculptor, and leader of the first school of......
Princess style
Princess style, in dress design, style of womenâs clothing characterized by garments that are closely fitted to......
Promenade
Promenade, place for strolling, where persons walk (or, in the past, ride) at leisure for exercise, display, or......
Prouvé, Jean
Jean Prouvé was a French engineer and builder known particularly for his contributions to the art and technology......
Psykter
Psykter, ancient Greek pottery vessel with a tall, cylindrical foot, rounded body, and short neck, used for cooling......
Pucelle, Jean
Jean Pucelle was an outstanding miniature painter and manuscript illuminator. He excelled in the invention of drolleries......
Pueblo pottery
Pueblo pottery, one of the most highly developed of the American Indian arts, still produced today in a manner......
PunchâĆng pottery
PunchâĆng pottery, decorated celadon glazed ceramic, produced in Korea during the early ChosĆn period (15th and......
punto a groppo
punto a groppo, (Italian: âknotted laceâ), ancestor of bobbin lace (q.v.). It was worked in 16th-century Italy......
punto in aria
punto in aria, (Italian: âlace in airâ), the first true lace (i.e., lace not worked on a woven fabric). As reticella......
pusher lace
pusher lace, lace made in the 19th century at Nottingham, Eng., on the âpusherâ machine, patented in 1812 by S.......
Putman, Andrée
Andrée Putman was a French designer, known for her Minimalist, avant-garde furnishings and interior designs. Putman......
Puttee
Puttee, covering for the lower leg consisting of a cloth or leather legging held on by straps or laces or a cloth......
pyrope
pyrope, magnesium aluminum garnet (Mg3Al2), the transparent form of which is used as a gemstone. Its colour varies......
pĂąte-sur-pĂąte
pĂąte-sur-pĂąte, (French: âpaste on pasteâ), method of porcelain decoration in which a relief design is created on......
PĂ©nicaud family
PĂ©nicaud family, French enamelers active in Limoges during the 16th century, considered to be among the finest......
Qalamkari textile
Qalamkari textile, painted textile of a type produced during the 17th century at various centres in India, notably......
QashqÄÊŸÄ« rug
QashqÄÊŸÄ« rug, floor covering handwoven by the QashqÄÊŸÄ« people, who have the reputation of making the best rugs......
Queen Anne style
Queen Anne style, style of decorative arts that began to evolve during the rule of King William III of England,......
Quillwork
Quillwork, type of embroidery done with the quills of a porcupine, or sometimes with bird feathers. This type of......
quilting
quilting, sewing technique in which two layers of fabric, usually with an insulating interior layer, are sewn together......
Quimper faience
Quimper faience, tin-enamelled earthenware produced by a factory at Loc Maria, a suburb of Quimper in Brittany,......
Rabato
Rabato, wide, often lace-edged collar wired to stand up at the back of the head, worn by both men and women in......
raden
raden, Japanese decorative technique used for lacquerware and woodenware, in which linings of mother-of-pearl or......
Raised work
Raised work, form of embroidery practiced in England in the 17th century, characterized by biblical and mythological......
Raku ware
Raku ware, Japanese hand-molded lead-glazed earthenware, originally invented in 16th-century KyĆto by the potter......
Raphael
Raphael was a master painter and architect of the Italian High Renaissance. Raphael is best known for his Madonnas......
rapier loom
rapier loom, a shuttleless weaving loom in which the filling yarn is carried through the shed of warp yarns to......
Raqqah ware
Raqqah ware, type of Islamic lustreware produced at Al-Raqqah, Syria, between the 9th and 14th centuries. The body......
Rauschenberg, Robert
Robert Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement.......
Ravenscroft, George
George Ravenscroft was an English glassmaker, developer of lead crystal (or flint glass). It was a heavy, blown......
Rayy ware
Rayy ware, in Islamic ceramics, style of pottery found at Rayy, near TehrÄn, and dating from the 12th century.......
Red-figure pottery
Red-figure pottery, type of Greek pottery that flourished from the late 6th to the late 4th century bce. During......
Redingote
Redingote, fitted outer garment. The manâs redingote, worn in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was a full-skirted,......
Regency dress
Regency dress, style of clothing prevalent in Great Britain during the Regency period (1811â20) when George, prince......
Regency style
Regency style, decorative arts produced during the regency of George, prince of Wales, and during his entire reign......
Regent diamond
Regent diamond, a brilliant-cut stone with a slight blue tinge that once was the outstanding gem of the French......
Rei miro
Rei miro, wooden gorget, or pectoral (breast ornament), once worn by high-ranking inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter......
religious dress
religious dress, any attire, accoutrements, and markings used in religious rituals that may be corporate, domestic,......
Rendsburg faience
Rendsburg faience, German tin-glazed earthenware produced between 1764 and 1772 in the town of Rendsburg at a factory......
Rennes faience
Rennes faience, French tin-glazed earthenware, produced in Rennes, distinguished by the use of manganese purple.......
repoussé
repoussé, method of decorating metals in which parts of the design are raised in relief from the back or the inside......
retable
retable, ornamental panel behind an altar and, in the more limited sense, the shelf behind an altar on which are......
Rhinegraves
Rhinegraves, wide breeches worn by men in the mid-17th century in Europe. The breeches were probably named for......
rhinestone
rhinestone, colourless, faceted glass used in jewelry; also foil-backed or silvered cut glass used to imitate diamonds.......
Richardson, Benjamin
Benjamin Richardson was the founder of one of the great English glass-manufacturing houses, who was instrumental......
Ridgway ware
Ridgway ware, type of Staffordshire pottery first produced by the brothers Job and George Ridgway in 1792 at the......
Rie, Dame Lucie
Dame Lucie Rie was an Austrian-born British studio potter. Her unique and complex slip-glaze surface treatment......
Riesener, Jean-Henri
Jean-Henri Riesener was the best-known cabinetmaker in France during the reign of Louis XVI. Riesener was the son......
Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas
Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was a Dutch architect and furniture designer notable for his application of the tenets of......
Rikka
Rikka, (Japanese: âstanding flowersâ), in classical Japanese floral art, a highly conventionalized and formal style......
Rinceau
Rinceau, in architecture, decorative border or strip, featuring stylized vines with leaves and often with fruit......
ring
ring, circular band of gold, silver, or some other precious or decorative material that is worn on the finger.......
Rocaille
Rocaille, in Western architecture and decorative arts, 18th-century ornamentation featuring elaborately stylized......
rock crystal
rock crystal, transparent variety of the silica mineral quartz that is valued for its clarity and total lack of......
Rockingham ware
Rockingham ware, English earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain made at Swinton, Yorkshire, in a factory on the......
Rococo
Rococo, style in interior design, the decorative arts, painting, architecture, and sculpture that originated in......
Rodchenko, Aleksandr Mikhailovich
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Rodchenko was a Russian painter, sculptor, designer, and photographer who was a dedicated......
Roentgen, Abraham
Abraham Roentgen was a German joiner and designer who founded what became one of Europeâs most widely renowned......
Roentgen, David
David Roentgen was a cabinetmaker to Queen Marie-Antoinette of France; under his direction the family workshop......
Rogers, Bruce
Bruce Rogers was a typographer and book designer, highly influential in fine book design in the United States during......
Rolltop desk
Rolltop desk, desk with a sliding roll top, or tambour, that encloses the working surface of the upper part and......
roman script
roman script, in calligraphy, script based upon the clear, orderly Carolingian writing that Italian humanists mistook......
Roos, S.H. de
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
rose cut, method of faceting gemstones so that the base of the stone is wide, flat, and unfaceted, whereas the......
rose quartz
rose quartz, translucent, usually turbid, very coarse-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz found in pegmatites.......
Ross, Betsy
Betsy Ross was an American seamstress who, according to family stories, fashioned and helped design the first flag......
Rosso Fiorentino
Rosso Fiorentino was an Italian painter and decorator, an exponent of the expressive style that is often called......
Rouault, Georges
Georges Rouault was a French painter, printmaker, ceramicist, and maker of stained glass who, drawing inspiration......
Rouen ware
Rouen ware, faience (tin-glazed earthenware) and porcelain wares that made Rouen, Fr., a major pottery centre.......
round hand script
round hand script, in calligraphy, the dominant style among 18th-century English writing masters, whose copybooks......
Royal Copenhagen porcelain
Royal Copenhagen porcelain, ware produced by the Royal Porcelain Factory, Copenhagen, from 1775 to the present......
Ru kiln
Ru kiln, kiln known for creating highly prized Chinese stoneware. The Ru kiln produced ware for a short period......
Rubens, Peter Paul
Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish painter who was the greatest exponent of Baroque paintingâs dynamism, vitality,......
rubrication
rubrication, in calligraphy and typography, the use of handwriting or type of a different colour on a page, derived......
ruby
ruby, gemstone composed of transparent red corundum (q.v.), a mineral form of aluminum oxide, Al2O3. Its colour......
ruby glass
ruby glass, deep-red glass deriving its colour from gold chloride. Originally known in the ancient world, its rediscovery......
ruby spinel
ruby spinel, natural or synthetic gem-quality spinel (q.v.; magnesium aluminum oxide) that resembles ruby. The......
Ruff
Ruff, in dresswear, crimped or pleated collar or frill, usually wide and full, worn in Europe, especially from......
rug and carpet
rug and carpet, any decorative textile normally made of a thick material and now usually intended as a floor covering.......
Running-dog pattern
Running-dog pattern, in classical architecture, decorative motif consisting of a repeated stylized convoluted form,......
Rustic style
Rustic style, in decorative arts, any ruralizing influence; more precisely, a type of furniture made of wood or......
rustic ware
rustic ware, in pottery, creations of the French potter Bernard Palissy, who from about 1548 produced large earthenware......
rya rug
rya rug, floor covering handmade in Sweden and Finland using techniques resembling those employed in Oriental carpets......
Ryan, T. Claude
T. Claude Ryan was an American airline entrepreneur and aircraft manufacturer who designed the plane from which......
Rysselberghe, Théo Van
Théo Van Rysselberghe was a Belgian painter, sculptor, and designer who, together with Henry van de Velde, headed......
RĂ©gence style
RĂ©gence style, transition in the decorative arts from the massive rectilinear forms of Louis XIV furniture to those......
Römer
Römer, type of wineglass evolved in Germany, especially in the Rhineland, and the Netherlands over several centuries,......
Rörstrand faience
Rörstrand faience, first faience (tin-glazed earthenware) produced in Sweden, at the Rörstrand factory established......
rĆ-iro
rĆ-iro, in Japanese lacquerwork, technique of coating with black lacquer, involving two major methods. Hana-nuri......
Saar, Betye
Betye Saar was an American artist and educator, renowned for her assemblages that lampoon racist attitudes toward......
Saarinen, Eero
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-born American architect who was one of the leaders in a trend toward exploration and......
Sabot
Sabot, heavy work shoe worn by European peasants, especially in France and the Low Countries. There are two kinds......
Saint Johnâs Bible
Saint Johnâs Bible, illuminated English-language Bible (2011) notable for its incorporation of contemporary themes......
Saint Petersburg porcelain
Saint Petersburg porcelain, pottery ware produced from 1744 to the present day by the principal Russian factory,......
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux ware
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux ware, tin-glazed earthenware and porcelain made in the French town of that name in the 18th......
Saint-Cloud porcelain
Saint-Cloud porcelain, soft-paste porcelain made in the town of Saint-Cloud, Fr., from the last quarter of the......
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
Augustus Saint-Gaudens was generally acknowledged to be the foremost American sculptor of the late 19th century,......
Saint-Porchaire faience
Saint-Porchaire faience, lead-glazed earthenware (inaccurately called faience, or tin-glazed ware) made in the......
Sakaida family
Sakaida family, celebrated family of Japanese potters whose founder, Sakaida Kizaemon (1596â1666), was awarded......