Claws and paws lead the new pack of good-looking legs

Published: June 5, 2008

Thousands of years after the Chinese and the Egyptians carved the feet of their furniture into the claws and paws of animals, the style is still creeping under today’s chairs and tables.

“As human beings we love animal motifs,” says Leigh Keno, a New York antiques dealer and appraiser for PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow.”

“Think about it: Most furniture is on four legs; animals are often four-legged creatures. It’s a natural transition.”

From refinished antiques to modern furniture, animal legs generally appear in two different styles – claw-and-ball or straight paws. Claw-and-ball legs are symbolic of the good dragon suppressing the black pearl of evil in Chinese mythology. The design came to America after being popular in England in the early 18th century.

Legs fashioned without the ball – just the claws – can be traced to classical Egyptian, Roman and Greek furniture. That style became especially popular during the excavations of Greek and Roman sites in the early 19th century.

Today, designers still use both of these styles as inspiration, though often with contemporary touches. The Ajax line by Berkeley, Calif.-based home-furnishings company Oly features modernistic lion’s paws beneath chairs and ottomans, while a series of tray tables by designers John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross sport sleek antelope legs.

“We’re constantly reinterpreting and distilling classical design, capturing the essence and cleaning it up for contemporary tastes,” Ross says. “We’re interested in making something timeless but contemporary.”

In this case contemporary means moving away from the fussiness and intricacy of traditional animal-leg furniture and embracing clean lines and simplified carvings. But even if the style is constantly being updated, the appeal of the animal leg won’t be walking off anytime soon.

“Most of the best furniture has kept some form of animal claw feet,” Keno says. “Even if it has faux leather, it seems appropriate to have paw feet.”

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