What are the Feet on a Sofa Called?

Exposed and Hidden Feet

• The feet of some sofas are hidden from view by a pleated skirt or upholstery, whereas others are exposed. Those that are hidden from view seldom are referred to as anything other than feet. In contrast, there are many names to describe styles of exposed feet. These can be grouped roughly into animal, bun and geometric shapes.

Animal Feet

• Fancy, antique sofas sometimes have cabriolet legs that curve at the ankles and transform into claw-and-ball feet. Some look like bird claws and and others like lion paws with claws bared. Buffalo, New York historian and tour guide Chuck LaChiusa identifies the popular claw-and-ball foot as originating in China where it represented a dragon's foot holding a crystal ball or jewel.

  Another more elaborate, lion-paw style is the monopodium foot, which may have an overflowing cornucopia atop the lion's paw. Sofas with claw-and-ball feet, which are more fragile, may require up to eight feet to support their weight. In contrast, monopodium feet are stout and support an entire sofa at its corners. The term monopodium, which means "one foot," comes from tables that are supported by these legs as single, central pedestals. Animal-claw feet also can be found among the most common category of sofa feet -- the bun or bunn.

Bun Feet

• Bun feet are short and often rounded like a hair bun. Some look like small, ribbed pumpkins and others like squashed globes. One style of bun foot that combines square and rounded elements is a tulip-shaped bun, which looks like an upside down tulip blossom that is partially open. Bun feet appear in Victorian davenports as well modern sofas. The Timberwolf Forest woodworking website notes that the pilgrims brought bun furniture feet to the New World in the early 1700s. It adds that bun feet are used today on furniture and cabinetry throughout the home.

Geometric Styles

• The squat bun style also falls into the category of geometric-shape sofa feet. Its angular varieties are called "square bun" feet and often look like simple, tapered blocks of wood and, sometimes, like upside-down pyramids with their points sawed off. Geometric sofa feet also include wood and metal cylinders as well as the scroll-like or nautilus-like whorled feet, which were popular on Rococo couches and sometimes are painted gold.