Furniture Leg Styles

Cabriole

• The cabriole style, from Italy, resembles the rear leg of an animal with its S-shaped curve. Popular in the early 18th century, a cabriole leg has a knee, where the leg meets the seat, that curves out while the ankle curves inward. Its inherent strength allows the legs to bear weight without a support stretcher bar connecting the legs. Queen Anne and Chippendale styles commonly used cabriole legs.

Marlborough

• While a Marlborough leg is straight, heavy and usually unadorned, it can have a flute or groove design for decoration. A Marlborough leg, designed in the mid 1700s by the Duke of Marlborough, rest on a block foot. American furniture maker Thomas Chippendale used it with many of his pieces because of its simple clean lines.

Spiral

• Fashionable during the Restoration period of the 17th century, a spiral leg looks like a piece of rope and provides elegant support. Its spinning design, created on a lathe, made the spiral leg common on William and Mary furniture. It originated in India and gained distinction through the trade routes in Europe and America.

Saber

• First used on the Greek klismos chair in the 4th century, the saber leg took its curve shape and name from the saber. The front legs curve forward while the back legs curve outward, giving the legs a slender appearance. The design of the saber legs distributes weight evenly, making a chair sturdy. Saber legs became prominent in furniture made by Thomas Sheraton and cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe during the Greek revival in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Tapered

• The slim and graceful tapered leg was a distinctive feature on Hepplewhite furniture in the 18th century. A tapered leg is straight, either round or square, then narrows at the ankle to rest on feet that turn outward. This leg style commonly had classical carvings of nature images such as flowers or husks.