Different Styles of Antique Feet on Desk Legs

Claw-and-Ball/Paw Foot

• Claw-and-ball feet, made to resemble a large bird’s talons grasping a sphere, are among the most ornate and creepiest of antique furniture feet. These feet often appear on the ends of cabriole legs with elaborately carved tops that resemble knees. Queen Anne and Chippendale popularized this originally Chinese style in the mid-1700s. In the late 18th century through the early 19th century, Federal furniture commonly used carved paw-shaped feet, styled like lion’s paws, with a carved leaf placed above. Twentieth century Colonial Revival furniture heavily used claw-and-ball feet, and Chippendale imitations are quite common.

Block Foot/Spade Foot

• Thomas Chippendale’s furniture, produced in the latter half of the 18th century, often terminated in block feet, also called Marlborough feet. The eponymous block feet typically coexisted with straight, fluted legs. Chippendale also popularized the similar spade foot, also used in Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture through the early 19th century. Spade feet are like block feet, but are tapered on the lower end and made by applying extra wood to the leg rather than carving. Spade feet occur on the ends of plain or simply carved tapered legs.

Arrow Foot/Blunt Arrow/Cylindrical Foot

• Cylindrical legs on Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture often end in arrow feet, which are narrower, cylindrical feet with a ball separating the end of the leg from the beginning of the foot. Blunt arrow feet also occur on the ends of cylindrical legs, but are shorter and more squat. This style of foot was common from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. Cylindrical feet are like arrow feet, but without the ball separating the leg from the foot.

Ball/Bun/Turnip/Onion Foot

• Ball feet and slightly flatter bun feet are round, thick feet found at the ends of thick cylindrical legs or used in the absence of legs. Some variations on these feet are turnip feet, which are ball feet with a small collar around the bottom, and onion feet, which are like ball feet cut in half. Ball feet and their variations are typical of the Queen Anne style manufactured in the 18th century’s second quarter.

Pad Foot/Dutch Foot/Club Foot

• The pad foot, also called the Dutch or club foot, is a thick, round foot shaped like a flattened ball with a slight point at the tip. The pad food style is common in William and Mary, Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture pieces made in the first half of the 1700s. Pad feet typically accompanied a curved cabriole leg.

Flared Foot/Splay Foot

• Flared feet, also called splay feet, are curved feet used in the Federal style from the late 18th century through the first quarter of the 19th century. Rectangular and as thick as the legs, flared feet are typically used to support furniture that is wider on one end than the other.