CABRIOLE - Curved shape that resembles the leg of an animal, such as a goat ("cabriole" in Spanish). Its double curve turns in at the "knee" and flares out at the foot. It came into widespread use in the late seventeenth century.
 

CAMEL BACK - Triple-curved chairback frame with a raised central curve. A pierced-shield design, such as honeysuckle or anthemion, spans the back from the seat to the high curve.
 

CAMPAIGN FURNITURE - Portable furniture that folds, collapses, or is made of flat components that can be assembled or disassembled. It also often has handles. Initiated for military use, it is most associated with colonialism.
 

CARD TABLE - Folding table that originated in late-17th-century England to accommodate the nobility's passion for gambling.
 

CHAISE LONGUE - Literally, "long chair," a sofa or daybed with an upholstered back, designed for reclining. Today it is usually a single piece, but early versions encompassed a bergère with a large stool or two armchairs and a center stool.
 

CHANNEL BACK - A chair back with grooves or fluting as decoration.
 

CHESTERFIELD - Overstuffed couch or sofa with upholstered ends and no exposed wood. Back and arms are usually of one continuous curve.
 

CHEST-ON-CHEST - Chests of drawers in two sections, one on top of the other.
 

CHINA CABINET - Cabinet with glass fronts, created to display and store fine china. The sides may or may not be of glass.
 

CHIPPENDALE - English rococo style of the mid-18th century, named after Thomas Chippendale. The graceful proportions and delicate decoration of this furniture were refined adaptations from late Baroque, rococo, Louis XV, and Georgian periods. Two variations, Chippendale Gothic and Chinese Chippendale, attest to the famous cabinetmaker's influence and ability to borrow styles.
 

COLONIAL - In America this style dominated from the earliest settlements to the Revolution of 1776. Here as elsewhere it represents styles that are rooted in mother countries but adapted to the materials and uses of the colonies, primarily Africa, India, the Americas, and the Caribbean.
 

COMMODE - Initially a French chest of drawers on legs; now loosely defined as any type of low chest containing doors or drawers.
 

CONSOLE - Term originally applied to a bracket that supported cornices or shelves and later used to describe tables that were affixed to a wall and supported with legs only at the front. Today it describes all types of tables used along a wall.