Editing Finial (section)

=== Bed posts and curtain rods ===
Public garden or park [[guard rail|railings]] often end in finials, and wooden posts tend to have turned wood finials. Turned wood finials are used on various pieces of furniture.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dunbar|first=Mike|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fBtjDwAAQBAJ|title=Woodturning Techniques – Furniture & Cabinetmaking|date=2 March 2017|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-4403-4957-7|language=en}}</ref> While the purpose of finials on bed posts is mostly decorative,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gilbert|first1=Christopher|last2=Thornton|first2=Peter|date=1980|title=The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23404800|journal=Furniture History|volume=16|pages=i–194|jstor=23404800|issn=0016-3058}}</ref> they serve a purpose on curtain rods, providing a way to keep a curtain from slipping off the end of a straight rod.

Curtain rod finials can be seen to act much like a barometer of public taste. Many designs hark back to the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] and [[Neogothic]] of architectural finials, while other contemporary finials reflect [[Minimalism|minimalist]], [[Art Nouveau]], and other traditional styles of decor. The use of different materials is as wide as the range of designs with brass, stainless steel, various woods, and aluminum being employed with a variety of finishes such as 'satin steel' and 'antique brass'. The durability, strength, and machinability of modern alloys have lent themselves to increasingly intricate and dazzling designs.