Does this detail have a name?

[ChuckH]

I first saw this corner detail on the handkerchief table that Gene Landon wrote about in FWW and I saw it again on a QA dressing table in a private collection.  I've used it on a couple of my projects and I was curious it it had a name.  Mr. Landon only referred to it as the corner detail.

-Chuck

[Jack Plane]

It's called a re-entrant corner or 'baby's bum' corner. I built a table in March 2011 with re-entrant corners which shows one method of its construction. http://pegsandtails.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/a-george-i-walnut-side-table-%E2%80%93-part-two/

[Tom M]

I heard Gene refer to it as a "baby's butt".

[Jeff L Headley]

You will also see this feature added to the inside edge of the top rail and stile intersection with a molded raised panel to match this contour on door embellishments in tidewater Virginia in the 1740's and later. I posted a Virginia s table earlier with a hidden drawer front which had the two rounded contours under the drawer front. I call this table our Virginia breast table. It is utterly amazing how some architectural features keep getting repeated. Butt if you look this feature gets repeated quite often. We do need to keep a breast of all period influences, both regional and period.   

[ChuckH]

Thank you gentlemen.
Jeff, you are a hoot_ _ _ (add letters as desired) but, when asked, I think I'll go with "baby's bum (butt)".  I'll admit that I wasn't expecting "baby's bum" although that is more interesting than "re-entrant".

Jack, your example is much nicer than the one I posted, and of course now I have discovered your web site which will keep me occupied for more than a few hours.

Regards,
-Chuck

[jacon4]

A little late to this thread (has been traveling & out of pocket) but antique folks call this an "invected corner". It's kind of rare, i see it mostly in southern pieces from Charleston SC  so i always assumed it was adapted/stolen (lol) from England as 18th century Charlestonian's were all about english furniture fashions.

[HSteier]

I went to the link in JackPlane's reply above and I'm enthralled by the construction technique used. I'm interested in how well adhered is all that walnut trim that has been rubbed in place undoubtedly with hot hide glue. There are multiple joints and the mitered edge of the pine board is tangential end grain. How well does this hold up? The walnut edging can't be clamped for adhesion while it dries. The small walnut pieces are likely to bend slightly from uneven moisture. So how does the whole thing stay together?

Howard Steier

[ChuckH]

Jacon4,
Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately "invected corner" is almost as boring as "re-entrant".  I used the detail on a couple of night stands I built earlier this year and while showing them to one of my nieces, I told her that corner detail was called a re-entrant.  She just looked at me.  Then I said, "It's more commonly known as a "Baby's bum", and she said, "Ahh, how cute!".  So I'm sticking with baby's bum.

Best regards,
-Chuck   

[jacon4]

Chuck,
LOL, yeah, agrees. I looked up "invected" online and here is what i found

 In`vec?ted
a.   1.   (Her.) Having a border or outline composed of semicircles with the convexity outward; - the opposite of engrailed.

Kinda convoluted definition there, no doubt. Guesses antique people HAD to come up with something other than baby bum for pieces costing thousands of dollars. In any event, it's an interesting detail that is not found often on period pieces.

[Jack Plane]

"I went to the link in JackPlane's reply above and I'm enthralled by the construction technique used. I'm interested in how well adhered is all that walnut trim that has been rubbed in place undoubtedly with hot hide glue. There are multiple joints and the mitered edge of the pine board is tangential end grain. How well does this hold up? The walnut edging can't be clamped for adhesion while it dries. The small walnut pieces are likely to bend slightly from uneven moisture. So how does the whole thing stay together?

Howard Steier"

Clamping is not necessary; the rubbed glue joints are quite sufficient.

[Jack Plane]

Chuck,
LOL, yeah, agrees. I looked up "invected" online and here is what i found

 In`vec?ted
a.   1.   (Her.) Having a border or outline composed of semicircles with the convexity outward; - the opposite of engrailed.

Kinda convoluted definition there, no doubt. Guesses antique people HAD to come up with something other than baby bum for pieces costing thousands of dollars. In any event, it's an interesting detail that is not found often on period pieces."

In England, 'invected' and 'engrailed' are terms normally associated with heraldic devices. Is it a widely used term for furniture corners in North America?

[jacon4]

Is it a widely used term for furniture corners in North America?

Jack, I don't know if "invected" is the term used by todays cabinetmakers to describe that corner detail. It is the only term that i know of that antique dealers/ auction houses use when they describe that detail in period furniture and i suspect it's more a marketing type term.  If one is trying to sell a table with that detail for say 5-10k, you are never going to get baby bum as a description, it's gonna be invected! lol

BTW, anyone know the origin of this corner detail? I always assumed it was from England but dont really know.

[Jack Plane]

Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonham's, Phillips et al regularly use the term 're-entrant corner'. Invected would be too confusing in the UK in mind of its heraldic connotation.

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?entry=reentrant+corner&searchtype=p&searchFrom=header&searchSubmit=Search

http://www.onlinegalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/small-serpentine-chest-of-drawers/57745

http://www.johnbeazorantiques.co.uk/gallery/d/walnut-lowboy/85912

I'm guessing invected, in this context, is Ameriglish.