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cabinetmaker

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Also known as ébéniste, cabinet-maker, cabinet maker, ebeniste, shriner, woodworker, ebonist

An ébéniste () is a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony. The term is a loanword from French and translates to "ebonist".

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

8 sections
Contents
  • Etymology and ambiguities
  • History
  • Some 17th- and 18th-century Parisian ''ébénistes''
  • Later French ''ébénistes''
  • German Ebenists, or Kunstschreiner
  • ''Ébénistes'' outside France
  • See also
  • References

An ébéniste () is a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony. The term is a loanword from French and translates to "ebonist".

==Etymology and ambiguities== As opposed to ébéniste, the term menuisier denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker in French. The English equivalent for ébéniste, "ebonist", is not commonly used. Originally, an ébéniste was one who worked with ebony, a favoured luxury wood for mid-17th century Parisian cabinets, originating in imitation of elite furniture being made in Antwerp. The word is 17th-century in origin. Early Parisian ébénistes often came from the Low Countries themselves; an outstanding example is Pierre Gole, who worked at the Gobelins manufactory making cabinets and table tops veneered with marquetry, the traditional enrichment of ébénisterie, or "cabinet-work".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “cabinetmaker” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.