A window cornice is an ornamental framework of wood or composition to which window curtains are attached by rods with
rings or hooks
The drapery hook is a hook designed for hanging drapery. It is often concealed within the drape's header tape The distinctive shape shown in the figure, with a sharp end and a blunt end, was patented by James William McGhee (1882–1968) in the ...
. Cornices are often gilded and of elaborate design, but they are less fashionable today than before it had been discovered that elaborate draperies harbor dust and microbes.
Like other pieces of furniture, they have reflected taste as it passed, and many of the carefully constructed examples of the latter part of the 18th century are still in use in the rooms for which they were made.
Chippendale provided a famous series still ''in situ'' for the gallery at
Harewood House, the valances of which are, like the cornices themselves, of carved and painted wood.
References
{{EB1911 article with no significant updates
Furniture