Qing Dynasty Porcelain refers to Chinese porcelain produced between 1644 and 1912, spanning imperial wares of exceptional refinement under emperors such as Kangxi and Qianlong through to the export wares that flooded Western markets.
A Quadrant is an early navigational and astronomical instrument used to measure angles, typically a graduated quarter-circle of brass or wood fitted with sighting vanes, an important precursor to the sextant.
Quaker Furniture describes plain, unadorned furniture made within Quaker communities, reflecting their belief in simplicity over ornament, characterised by clean lines, honest joinery and minimal decoration, closely related in spirit to Shaker furniture.
A Quarry Tile is an unglazed, dense clay floor tile, traditionally reddish-brown, widely used in kitchens, larders and hallways of period English houses for its durability and practicality.
A Quarter Repeating Clock is a clock fitted with a mechanism that chimes the nearest quarter hour when a cord or button is activated, a sophisticated complication valued in fine 18th and 19th-century bracket and pocket clocks.
Quarter-Sawn Oak is oak timber cut radially from the log rather than tangentially, producing a distinctive flecked figure (medullary rays) and greater dimensional stability, widely used in Arts and Crafts furniture for its decorative grain.
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral occurring in numerous varieties and colours, carved since antiquity into seals, vessels and ornaments, and, in its clear form, historically prized as "rock crystal" for fine glassware and decorative objects.
A Quatrefoil is a four-lobed decorative motif resembling a four-petalled flower, widely used in Gothic architecture, tracery and furniture carving, and later revived in Gothic Revival design of the 19th century.
Queen Anne Revival is a late 19th-century architectural and furnishing style that reinterpreted early 18th-century Queen Anne motifs with a more eclectic, decorative sensibility, popular in Britain and America for domestic architecture and furniture alike.
Queen Anne Style is an English furniture style of the early 18th century (c.1702-1714), marked by a shift toward elegant simplicity, with curving cabriole legs, walnut veneers, restrained carving and a new emphasis on comfort and proportion over Baroque ornament.
Queen's Ware is a cream-coloured earthenware developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1760s, named after Queen Charlotte who favoured it, prized for its durability and fine finish and instrumental in establishing Wedgwood's commercial success.
A Quill Holder is a small desk accessory designed to hold writing quills upright, made in materials from porcelain to silver, often forming part of a larger inkstand set before the widespread adoption of steel pens.
Quilting is a needlework technique of stitching together layers of fabric and padding to create a raised, patterned surface, used for bedspreads, garments and decorative panels, with antique quilts collected for their craftsmanship and folk-art designs.
Quimper Pottery is French faience produced in Quimper, Brittany, since the 17th century, instantly recognisable for its hand-painted decoration of Breton peasant figures in traditional dress against a floral border.
A Quoin is a dressed stone or brick forming the visible external corner of a building, often laid in a distinctive alternating pattern for both structural strength and decorative emphasis in period architecture.
