bombé » Bombay

Chiefly in:   Bombay chest

Classification: English – cross-language

Spotted in the wild:

  • Because Trust is a commodity. Very, very expensive. Not like a plasma TV screen, or a Hummer. But like a great-grandmother’s Bombay chest, or a Civil War journal. (link)
  • These guys are in my opinion on par with the masters in furniture making from the past. […] Randy O’Donnell (what a great Bombay chest he makes) (woodworkersedge.blogspot.com)
  • This is a French Bombay Chest with a cream and cocoa beveled marble top (classified ad)
  • Absolutely gorgeous! The chest is created from solid wood and MDF and features resin legs. This hand painted design gives this Bombay chest the perfect touch of detail that your room needs. (shopnbc.com)

Analyzed or reported by:

A page on interior decoration at About.com explains:

> “Bombé Chest”
>Definition: A bombé chest is a cabinet with a bulge or serpentine front (and sometimes sides), usually with drawers.
>Pronunciation: bom-bay’
> Common Misspellings: Bombay Chest

The French word _bombé_, which can of course be spelled _bombe_ in English, means “curved outward”.

| link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2005/07/18 |

Commentaries

  1. 1

    Commentary by Ruth Brisbin , 2005/07/27 at 1:13 am

    I think you are joining together two different furniture adjectives, bombe which Chris Waigl defined so well, and Bombay, which refers to a class of furniture originally made in Bombay, Surat and Ahmedabad in India. (if you google define: Bombay Furniture it will give you this and more information).

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