Turned wood knobs were popular with the Shakers and others of minimalist persuasion and throughout the 19 th century the bulk of country furniture styles employed wooden knobs. Though knobs constitute the simplest of hardware items the subject can become as thorny as any other. Most are fixed and some operate latches. We stock knobs that attach by integral woodscrew, woodscrew from behind, glued tenon, machine screw, bolt and nut. Some knobs come with round backplates to protect the cabinetwork from fingernail attack, others come with decorative escutcheons and many stand alone without any kind of backplate.
Most questions relating to knobs fall into the related topics of size, quantity and positioning.
Knobs, more than any other fitting, bear physical resemblance to body parts, notably eyes and noses and their size and placing on a piece of furniture can have some rather unfortunate effects if not well considered. Other less severe furniture of the same period was commonly outfitted with comfortable larger mushroom or bun shaped knobs. The Sheraton styles of the early 19 th century popularized large decorative brass knobs, few of which survived the ravages of use and the changes of taste. By far the most common application for knobs in our day is on built-in cabinetwork, for every knob we sell to a furniture maker we probably sell fifty that will go in a kitchen. Kitchens have become such an important part of modern domestic life that a great deal of effort and expense goes into their creation.