What is "cabriole leg"

n. In furniture design, a curved leg with outcurved knee and incurved ankle. A signature design element of the Queen Anne style of furniture, the cabriole predates both 18th century England and Italy. The style originated in Italy and is a conventionalized representation of the rear leg of a leaping goat.

A cabriole leg is one of (usually) four vertical supports of a piece of furniture shaped in two curves; the upper arc is convex, while lower is concave; the upper curve always bows outward, while the lower curve bows inward; with the axes of the two curves in the same plane. This design was used by the ancient Chinese and Greeks, but emerged in Europe in the very early 18th century, when it was incorporated into the more curvilinear styles produced in France, England and Holland.

According to Bird, "nothing symbolises 18th century furniture more than the cabriole leg." The cabriole design is often associated with bun or the "ball and claw" foot design. In England, this design was characteristic of Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture. In France, the cabriole leg is associated with the Louis XV period of furniture design. The cabriole design appeared for the first time in the United States in the 18th century. The basis of its original concept was emulated upon legs of certain four-footed mammals, especially ungulates. The etymology of this term specifically derives from the French word cabrioler, meaning to leap like a goat.