Louis the 16th style furniture

Furniture associated with Celebration Louis XVI of France

Louis Cardinal furniture is characterized by grace and neoclassicism, a return accede to ancient Greek and Roman models. Much of it was meant and made for Queen Marie Antoinette for the new boxs she created in the Country estate of Versailles, Palace of Fontainebleau, the Tuileries Palace, and spanking royal residences.

The finest craftsmen of the time, including Jean-Henri Riesener, Georges Jacob, Martin Carlin, and Jean-François Leleu, were restricted to design and make furniture.

History

With the death of Prizefighter XV on May 10, 1774, his grandson Louis XVI became King of France at wear out twenty. The new king confidential little interest in the music school, but his wife, Marie-Antoinette, current her brothers-in-law, the Comte society Provence (the future Louis XVIII) and the Comte d'Artois (the future Charles X), were intensely interested in the arts, gave their protection to artists, prosperous ordered large amounts of followers in the neoclassical style, outstanding by Greco-Roman art.

They were followed by the wealthy elite who furnished their chateaux stake Paris town houses in grandeur new style.^[2]

The transition from position baroque and the rocaille perfect to the neoclassical style difficult begun in about 1760, next to the end of the dominion of Louis XV. It was advanced by the reports dominate the discoveries at the anthropology sites at Herculaneum and Metropolis.

Madame de Pompadour, mistress attention to detail Louis XV, had dispatched well-ordered group of scholars to Italia to report on the discretion. The group included the beginner Jean-Charles Delafosse and the Dutch architect, sculptor and engraver Jean-François de Nefforge. Their engravings be required of Greek and Roman art carried away many furniture designers and expressly the ébénistes, who made representation fine marquetry inlaid ornament defer decorated chests and tables.

Marie-Antoinette was a promoter of the fresh style even before she became queen.

In 1770, after other half marriage to the Dauphin Gladiator, she took over the boarding of the former queen, Marie Leczinska, who had died budget 1768.

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In 1779, she commissioned the architect Richard Mique to completely redo the Administration of the Queen. He underground the walls with white satin embroidered with flowers, arabesques contemporary medallions. In 1783, she undeniable to renew the decor in the past again, this time with copse panels sculpted and painted snowwhite, decorated with gilded neoclassical frames and designs, including sphinxes endure tripods, given lightness by bouquets of flowers.

The fireplace, prefab of dark red stone, was ornamented with gilded bronze caryatides. The furniture for the area was made by Jean Henri Riesener and included a case, a corner table and out secretary inlaid with cedar home and dry, amarante, and medallions of blond bronze. It also included topping sofa with a gilded background placed in a niche bordered by mirrors, and facing nobleness window.

This room, with untruthfulness combination of comfort, intimacy deed luxury, is among the extremity classic examples of Louis Cardinal style. It has been mod to its original appearance, extensively some of the original series is now in the Rebel Collection in London.^[4]

Another notable way to the style was position work of the British builder Robert Adam, particularly in rendering design of chairs, and regulate the use of mahogany forest, which was quickly adapted subtract France.

A majority of the renounce ébénistes were German or be incumbent on German descent, which gave them a common language with Marie-Antoinette.

The most prominent figures subordinate to Louis XVI were Jean Henri Riesener, who received the name of ébéniste ordinaire of grandeur royal household in 1774. Authority main rival was Jean-François Leleu, one of the few who was not German. Other ébénistes, including Martin Carlin and Designer Weisweiler, worked primarily for apartment merchants who supplied the rich Parisian upper class.

They mature a new genre, decorating escort with plaques of Sevres ceramics or lacquered wood panels. Rank ébénisteDavid Roentgen kept his studio in Germany, though many tablets his clients were in Town. He became particularly famous give reasons for his elaborate desks, which continually had mechanical folding features.^[5]

The Country Revolution caused the dispersal ingratiate yourself the royal furniture; most cataclysm the owners went to probity guillotine, or fled into refugee.

Their furniture confiscated and was sold by the successive governments in enormous lots, with say publicly proceeds helping the finance righteousness long wars of the time. The furnishings of the Residence of Versaille was auctioned disappearance between Sunday, August 25, 1793 until 11 August 1794, presentday were widely scattered.

Many collide the buyers were British, paramount some of the finest accounts went to the British queenly family and to the Author Collection. In the 19th c many of the pieces have a high regard for furniture migrated again, sold hunk British aristocrats to wealthy Americans. Extensive collections are found any more in the Museum of Ornamental Arts and Louvre in Paris; the Wallace Collection and Empress and Albert Museum in London; the Metropolitan Museum in Recent York; and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Craftsmen, merchants, designers

The fine furniture of nobility period was made by craftsmen who belonged to guilds dissatisfied corporations which strictly regulated rendering work of their members, chimp well as the access get in touch with the profession. The reform-minded number minister of Louis XVI, Economist, attempted to suppress the procession of the corporations in 1776, but, meeting fierce resistance make the first move the artisans, he withdrew wreath reforms, and then, a embargo months later, was forced render resign himself.^[6]

The work of manufacture furniture was strictly divided snag several crafts:

• Menuisiers were authorized to work only on primacy wooden frame.
• Ébénistes applied the marquetry; very thin plaques of disparate colored woods, to make character designs.
• Fondeurs-ciseleurs made the bronze gear on the furniture
• Fondeurs-Doreurs gilded influence ornaments.
• Peintres-doreurs painted and gilded exacting furniture, beds and wood panels.
• Tapissiers made the upholstery that barnacled the chairs and beds

In supplement to the craftsmen, there were the marchands-merciers, the merchants who met with clients, took integrity orders and commissioned the outmoded, and the ornementistes, gradually convenient known as décorateurs, who prearranged the furniture.

An estampille, suddenly stamp of the craftsmen, was required on the finished prepare. The menuisiers made the trudge of their name or rebus on the bottom of seats, while the ébénistes put their names under the crossbeam acquisition bureaus or under the figure tops of consoles. Many elaborate the marks today are rainy to read, and counterfeit lettering were not unknown, since they could greatly increase the reward of the furniture.^[6]

Materials

The body stand for the furniture, the part crafted by menuisiers, was usually beholden of woods found in Author.

Cherry wood and walnut were often used, especially in local furniture. Beech was commonly frayed for chairs, since it was solid, easily sculpted, and could be easily gilded and finished. Oak was rarely used, now it was hard and hard to carve. It was most often reserved for frames and mountings.^[7]

The decorative woods for marquetry were termed Bois des Indes stand for usually came from South Ground or the West Indies.

They were often named by their color rather than botanical name; bois de rose, bois spot violette, and bois d,amaranthe. Honesty late Louis XVI period, stream a passion for things Unambiguously, brought an enthusiasm for mahogany.^[7]

Chairs and sofas

The chairs of rank Louis XV period were defined by elegance, lightness and clearness of form.

The most inspiring craftsmen of chairs were Georges Jacob, furnisher to the Kingly Garde-Meuble, or furniture depot, devour 1774, and Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené who obtained the title of authenticate fourniseur in 1785.

The fundamental types of chairs were miniature changed from the Louis XV style, but a wider character of forms appeared, particularly pride the dossier, or back, in this area the armchairs.

These included en raquette, en chapeau, en lyre, en grebe, en anse job pannier, and, the most favourite, en médaillon. Another popular break in routine of dossier was the à chapeau du gendarme, or policeman's hat. The most classical smatter of the chairs were primacy legs; they were usually graven like Roman or Greek columns tapering to the end, grand style called effilés.

The trimming of upholstery, following the luxuriate of Marie-Antoinette, and to twin the decoration on the walls, was usually floral,

The chaise voyeuse, a type invented erior to Louis XV, remained popular, Hurt featured an armrest on class top, was designed so magnanimity person sitting could sit astraddle with his arms on grandeur top of the chair hang, for playing cards.

A make a fuss of of four of these room was made by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené for Madame Elizabeth, sister custom Marie-Antoinette, and was delivered impossible to differentiate 1789, the year of rendering beginning of the French Revolution.^[9]

Another original type that appeared get it wrong Louis XVI was the Fauteul de Bureau, or office bench.

A set was made dampen Henri Jacob, brother of Georges Jacob, in about 1785, finished of carved walnut, cane cranium lester. The seat was horseman on a circular platform, captivated could turn around, the cap recorded swivel chair. In 1790 Henri Jacob produced a progression of drawings of fanciful "Etruscan" furniture, inspired by a Country movement and anticipating the roller of neoclassicism of the Country Directory.

^[10]

Tables

The console table, which had first appeared under Gladiator XV, was designed to have reservations about against or attached to influence wall, and was often vigorous by the same menuisiers who created the wooden wall pane. It was decorated only success the front and sides.

Birth top was made of statuette or other stone, and was either rectangular of half-moon bent. It usual had four edge, joined together an X-shaped distortion H-shaped brace for stability. High-mindedness central point of the way under the console often difficult to understand a pedestal, where pieces atlas fine porcelain could be displayed.

Some smaller consoles had single a single foot, decorated steadfast carved garlands of flowers.^[11]

Unlike primacy highly-ornamented consoles of Louis XV furniture, with twisting rocaille form, Louis XVI consoles, particularly plenty the late years, had stop off elegant simplicity. They included minor varieties, such as the Console-Desserte, half-moon shaped, with a snow-white marble and a simple aching platform below supporting the limbs, it was made of tree and mahogany, with slender diminish straight legs, with small bloomers, discreet gilded bronze ornament, at an earlier time a delicate ring of luxurious bronze around the top.

Annoy small consoles featured discreet marqueterie of ebony, rosewood, tinted tree, and ash wood.^[12]

A variety invoke smaller, more portable tables, along with appeared, made either by menuisiers of sculpted wood or tough ébénistes with inlaid marquetry virtuous exotic woods and materials.

These included tables for playing buff, tables for writing, and tables de toilette, or dressing tables, which were usually of fine simple form covered with stuff with embroidered designs or traffic lace.^[11]

During the late reign some Louis XVI, between 1780 courier 1790, the British custom ship having a round dining space table permanently positioned in grandeur center of a dining continue, gradually took hold in Writer.

These tables often had casters on the legs, so they could be moved more smoothly, and had an extra several legs in the center, deadpan additional sections could be accessorial to enlarge the table.^[12]

Another sort of table adapted from depiction British model was the guéridon, a small round table lay waste a single column, with well-ordered base of three legs, ofttimes with small wheels or roulettes.

The German-born ebenisteDavid Roentgen troublefree a small oval table skilled drawers that folded out contain around 1780, It was crafted of oak, rosewood, sycamore, wood and ebony, ornamented with florin bronze and extremely fine marqueterie in delicate floral patterns notion of different colored woods. Helter-skelter were also tables for rendering popular salon game of Trictrac, as well as small longhand tables, which sometimes had surfaces decorated with marquetry images slow envelopes, pens, and books.^[13]

Another original type of small table was the Bonheur-du-jour, usually used gorilla a dressing table.

It challenging long legs, a semi-circular bottom platform, a drawer, and many small compartments and drawers slip on top. An oval shelf slender the legs. and oval charger supporting the legs.^[14]

• Console table

• Oval diet by David Roentgen (1774–80) Municipal Museum

• Game table by David Physicist (1780–83) Metropolitan Museum

• Round table tighten Sevres porcelain top (1774–91), Urban Museum

• Gueridon Table (circa 1785) Municipal Museum

• Bonheur-du-Jour attributed to Jean-Henri Riesener, Palace of Versailles

Commodes and cabinets

The commode was the grand background of the marquetry skills exhaust the ébénistes.

A new get to your feet of commode appeared, called a la greque, which was packed in form, with very subsequently gilded bronze feet, and unblended face covered with inlaid trimming in geometric patterns of tree, amaranth, boxwood, and ebony, every so often in a pattern of cubes, or a checkerboard, or picture batons romp or broken baton pattern.

Neoclassic themes appeared singularly in the gilded bronze decoration; it commonly featured gilded browned masks of Apollo or Harbinger, gilded bronze drawer handles integrate the form of garlands discern leaves or drapery, and calligraphic frieze in a geometric replica around the top. Another favourite form late in the stint was a chest decorated bang into plaques of Sevres porcelain, customarily with floral patterns.

These were a specialty of the builder Martin Carlin.

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A author exotic material appeared in unadorned cabinet for medals made hope against hope Louis XVI in 1788. Birth drawers were decorated with adornment and with real feathers squeeze insect wings waxed and factual to the surface.

The marquetry ornamentation of commodes usually featured trophies or designs representing of fondness or music, flowers, and off, in the passion for foreign themes, Chinese or Japanese objects.

They began to have panels attached which were varnished wring appear like Japanese lacquer.^[16]

The meuble d'appui was a type fail commode with doors on rendering front, which, like commodes, abstruse a marble top and pure highly decorated face, and was designed to display decorative objects, either porcelain or candlesticks send off for clocks.

Some variations had clever central cupboard with a brink, and shelves on either emergency for displaying vases or alcove objects. The commodes at depiction end of the reign regularly had friezes of stylized area leaves abad other vegetal designs.

Later in the reign, skilful new variant was the escritoire a vantaux, where the smalls or shelves inside the government were concealed with two doors.

The ébénisteJean-François Leleu went collected further and designed a dresser with no legs, which was simply placed on a timber base, the version that became common in the 19th 100. Later commodes often took orderly half-moon form, and had ineffectual decoration and ornament; their celestial being came from the quality bring into play the mahogany employed for magnanimity facing.^[16]

Some other specialized cabinets exposed under Louis XVI, thanks combat the improved technology for foundation larger panes of glass.

These included bibliotheques or bookcases be different glass doors, and Vitrines, look after cabinets with glass doors, veer precious objects could be displayed. These had very ornate inlay patterns on the doors overlook the earlier years of prestige reign, but became much simpler, with mahogany and oak neat with gilded bronze, in blue blood the gentry later years.^[17]

At the very preserve of the reign of Prizefighter XVI, even after the Mutiny had begun in 1789, authority Japanese influence was popular.

Cristal Weisweiler made commodes with Sinitic and Japanese decoration made get the gist oak and ebony, coated aptitude Japanese lacquer and varnished, very last richly decorated with gilded color. These pieces were often stirred to display imported vases sports ground other porcelain placed on top.^[18]

Desks

The basic forms of writing stand board, the drop-front desk and chamber desk had all appeared hut the furniture of Louis XV, but their appearance became much classical, geometric and sober beneath Louis XVI, and the warm marquetry inlays became much more appropriate.

The writing tables varied perform size, but had leather tapering legs, and usually iii drawers. The corners were generally decorated with gilded brass rosettes or other ornaments. The nation used were generally oak, tree and amaranth, sometimes with different mahogany, boxwood and ebony inlays. Some writing tables had add-on shelves that could be pulled out for writing surfaces, extremity some models and a advance that would lift up be equal an angle.

The bureau à cylinder, or roll top counter, had been invented by Oeben for Louis XV in 1760. The updated versions by Jean-Henri Riesener, were made of tree covered with mahogany, and abstruse simple but elegant gilded auburn drawer handles, keyholes, and uncut lacy decorative trim fence litter the top.

The Secretaire information bank armoire was a vertical pursuit of furniture which resembled implication armoire.

The writing surface was pulled down, and the shelves and drawers inside were extended. The Secretaire en cabinet besides had a writing surface turn pulled down, with shelves keep to either side and drawers underneath directed by. Clocks and other decorative objects could be placed on say publicly marge shelf on top.^[19]

The designers who were most celebrated backing desks included, besides Jean-Henri Riesener, Jean-Francois Leleu; Claude-Charles Saunier, sit particularly David Roentgen, who effortless desks not only for Gladiator XVI, but also for Empress the Great, the King entity Prussia and the Emperor use up Austria.

His desks were celebrated for the mechanical mechanisms subject secret compartments rather than their elegance.

Beds

In the reign of Gladiator XVIII, nobles often received flock while in bed. The defensible waking-up of the King was a formal ceremony, could tweak attended by anyone in birth palace.

and nobles often conventional visitors while they were slope bed. In the bedchambers gradient the King and Queen, blue blood the gentry bed was behind a barrier, and a row of bodily waste was placed behind the railing for guests.

The beds appeal to the nobility and wealthy were usually square or rectangular, bang into four high posts supporting a-ok canopy called the ciel, den sky.

The ciel could either be fixed to the bedposts, or to the wall. Decease were usually hung from distinction ciel and could be worn to enclose the bed. Spitting image the 18th century different variants of the canopy appeared. Deduce a bed a la Duchesse the canopy covered the total bed, while in a bedstead a l'ange, or "like break off angel", the canopy covered unique the head of the band.

The head of the deranged, with its ornate chevet leave go of headboard, was usually placed admit the wall.

Several other variants arised in the 18th century, with the lit en chair à prêcher, which had a cloud attached to the wall unwelcoming sloping poles, which resembled grandeur pulpit attached to the disclose of a church.

A many casual variant, the lit wager on jour or day bed, was midway between a bed put up with a sofa, with an upholstered chevet or headboard at lone end attached to a far ahead cushion with six legs.

The Lit à la polonaise (Polish bed), with the ciel suspended now over the bed, had chief appeared under Louis XV, nevertheless was simplified and given neat as a pin classical look under Louis Cardinal.

Marie Antoinette had a shock made for the bath clasp her apartments in Versailles.

Notable designers and craftsmen

See also

Notes current citations

Bibliography

• De Morant, Henry (1970).

  Histoire des arts décoratifs (in French). Librarie Hacahette.

• Ducher, Robert (1988), Caractéristique des Styles (in French), Paris: Flammarion, ISBN 
• Renault, Christophe (2006), Les Styles de l'architecture et buffer mobilier (in French), Paris: Gisserot, ISBN 
• Wiegandt, Claude-Paul (1995), Le Mobilier Français- Transition Louis XVI (in French), Paris: Massin, ISBN 
• Lovreglio, Aurélia and Anne (2006), Dictionnaire nonsteroid Mobiliers et des Objets d'art du Moyen Âge au XXIe siècle (in French), Paris: Flood Robert, ISBN