[Illustration: Shaped Panel of Saracenic Work
in Carved Bone or Ivory.]
[Illustration: Boule Armoire. Designed by
Le Brun, formerly in the “Hamilton Palace”
Collection and purchased (Wertheimer) for L12,075 the
pair. Period: Louis XIV.]
French Furniture.
PALACE OF VERSAILLES: “Grand”
and “Petit Trianon”—the three
Styles of Louis XIV., XV. and XVI.—Colbert
and Lebrun—Andre Charles Boule and his
Work—Carved and Gilt Furniture—The
Regency and its Influence—Alteration
in Condition of French Society—Watteau,
Lancret, and Boucher. Louis XV. FURNITURE:
Famous Ebenistes—Vernis Martin Furniture—Caffieri
and Gouthiere Mountings—Sevres Porcelain
introduced into Cabinets—Gobelins Tapestry—The
“Bureau du Roi.” Louis XVI.
AND MARIE ANTOINETTE: The Queen’s Influence—The
Painters Chardin and Greuze—More simple
Designs—Characteristic Ornaments of Louis
XVI. Furniture—Riesener’s
Work—Gouthiere’s Mountings—Specimens
in the Louvre—The Hamilton Palace Sale—French
influence upon the design of Furniture in other
countries—The Jones Collection—Extract
from the “Times.”
[Illustration]
There is something so distinct in the development
of taste in furniture, marked out by the three styles
to which the three monarchs have given the names of
“Louis Quatorze,” “Louis Quinze,”
and “Louis Seize,” that it affords a fitting
point for a new departure.
This will be evident to anyone who will visit, first
the Palace of Versailles,[13] then the Grand Trianon,
and afterwards the Petit Trianon. By the help
of a few illustrations, such a visit in the order given
would greatly interest anyone having a smattering
of knowledge of the characteristic ornaments of these
different periods. A careful examination would
demonstrate how the one style gradually merged into
that of its successor. Thus the massiveness and
grandeur of the best Louis Quatorze meubles de
luxe, became, in its later development, too ornate
and effeminate, with an elaboration of enrichment,
culminating in the rococo style of Louis Quinze.
Then we find, in the “Petit Trianon,”
and also in the Chateau of Fontainebleau, the purer
taste of Marie Antoinette dominating the Art productions
of her time, which reached their zenith, with regard
to furniture, in the production of such elegant and
costly examples as have been preserved to us in the
beautiful work-table and secretaire—sold
some years since at the dispersion of the Hamilton
Palace collection—and in some other specimens,
which may be seen in the Musee du Louvre, in the Jones
Collection in the South Kensington Museum, and in other
public and private collections: of these several
illustrations are given.
