French Furniture.
PALACE OF VERSAILLES: "Grand" and "Petit Trianon"--the three Styles of
Louis XIV., XV. and XVI.--Colbert and Lebrun--André 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 Gouthière Mountings--Sêvres 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--Gouthière'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 Musée du Louvre, in the
Jones Collection in the South Kensington Museum, and in other public and
private collections: of these several illustrations are given.
We have to recollect that the reign of Louis XIV. was the time of the
artists Berain, Lebrun, and, later in the reign, of Watteau, also of André
Charles Boule, _ciseleur et doreur du roi_, and of Colbert, that admirable
Minister of Finance, who knew so well how to second his royal master's
taste for grandeur and magnificence. The Palace of Versailles bears
throughout the stamp and impress of the majesty of _le Grande Monarque;_
and the rich architectural ornament of the interior, with moulded, gilded,
and painted ceilings, required the furnishing to be carried to an extent
which had never been attempted previously.
Louis XIV. had judgment in his taste, and he knew that, to carry out his
ideas of a royal palace, he must not only select suitable artists capable
of control, but he must centralize their efforts. In 1664 Colbert founded
the Royal Academy of Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture, to which
designs of furniture were admitted. The celebrated Gobelins tapestry
factory was also established; and it was here the King collected together
and suitably housed the different skilled producers of his furniture,
placing them all under the control of his favourite artist, Lebrun, who
was appointed director in 1667.
The most remarkable furniture artist of this time, for surely he merits
such title, was André Charles Boule, of whom but little is known. He was
born in 1642, and, therefore, was 25 years of age when Lebrun was
appointed Art-director. He appears to have originated the method of
ornamenting furniture which has since been associated with his name. This
was to veneer his cabinets, pedestals, armoires, encoignures, clocks, and
brackets with tortoiseshell, into which a cutting of brass was laid, the
latter being cut out from a design, in which were harmoniously arranged
scrolls, vases of flowers, satyrs, animals, cupids, swags of fruit and
draperies; fantastic compositions of a free Renaissance character
constituted the panels; to which bold scrolls in ormolu formed fitting
frames; while handsome mouldings of the same material gave a finish to the
extremities. These ormolu mountings were gilt by an old-fashioned
process,[14] which left upon the metal a thick deposit of gold, and were
cunningly chiselled by the skilful hands of Caffieri or his
contemporaries.
[Illustration: Boule Armoire, In the "Jones" Collection, S. Kensington
Museum. Louis XIV. Period.]
Boule subsequently learned to economise labour by adopting a similar
process to that used by the marqueterie cutter; and by glueing together
two sheets of brass, or white metal, and two of shell, and placing over
them his design, he was then able to pierce the four layers by one cut of
the handsaw; this gave four exact copies of the design. The same process
would be repeated for the reverse side, if, as with an armoire or a large
cabinet, two panels, one for each door, right and left, were required; and
then, when the brass, or white metal cutting was fitted into the shell so
that the joins were imperceptible, he would have two right and two left
panels. These would be positive and negative: in the former pair the metal
would represent the figured design with the shell as groundwork, and the
latter would have the shell as a design, with a ground of metal. The terms
positive and negative are the writer's to explain the difference, but the
technical terms are "first part" and "second part," or "Boule" and
"counter." The former would be selected for the best part of the cabinet,
for instance, the panels of the front doors, while the latter would be
used for the ends or sides. An illustration of this plan of using all four
cuttings of one design occurs in the armoire No. 1026 in the Jones
Collection, and in a great many other excellent specimens. The brass, or
the white metal in the design, was then carefully and most artistically
engraved; and the beauty of the engraving of Boule's finest productions is
a great point of excellence, giving, as it does, a character to the
design, and emphasizing its details. The mounting of the furniture in
ormolu of a rich and highly-finished character, completed the design. The
_Museé du Louvre_ is rich in examples of Boule's work; and there are some
very good pieces in the Jones Collection, at Hertford House, and at
Windsor Castle.
The illustration on p. 144 is the representation of an armoire, which was,
undoubtedly, executed by Boule from a design by Lebrun: it is one of a
pair which was sold in 1882, at the Hamilton Palace sale, by Messrs.
Christie, for £12,075. Another small cabinet, in the same collection,
realised £2,310. The pedestal cabinet illustrated on p. 148, from the
Jones Collection, is very similar to the latter, and cost Mr. Jones
£3,000. When specimens, of the genuineness of which there is no doubt, are
offered for sale, they are sure to realize very high prices. The armoire
in the Jones Collection, already alluded to (No. 1026), of which there is
an illustration, cost between £4,000 and £5,000.
In some of the best of Boule's cabinets, as, for instance, in the
Hamilton Palace armoire (illustrated), the bronze gilt ornaments stand out
in bold relief from the surface. In the Louvre there is one which has a
figure of _Le Grand Monarque_, clad in armour, with a Roman toga, and
wearing the full bottomed wig of the time, which scarcely accords with the
costume of a Roman general. The absurd combination which characterises
this affectation of the classic costume is also found in portraits of our
George II.
[Illustration: Pedestal Cabinet, By Boule, formerly in Mr. Baring's
Collection. Purchased by Mr. Jones for £3,000. (_South Kensington
Museum_)]
The masks, satyrs, and ram's heads, the scrolls and the foliage, are also
very bold in specimens of this class of Boule's work; and the "sun" (that
is, a mask surrounded with rays of light) is a very favourite ornament of
this period.
Boule had four sons and several pupils; and he may be said to have founded
a school of decorative furniture, which has its votaries and imitators
now, as it had in his own time. The word one frequently finds misspelt
"Buhl," and this has come to represent any similar mode of decorations on
furniture, no matter how meretricious or common it may be.
[Illustration: A Concert during the Reign of Louis XIV. (_From a
Miniature, dated 1696._)]
Later in the reign, as other influences were brought to bear upon the
taste and fashion of the day, this style of furniture became more ornate
and showy. Instead of the natural colour of the shell, either vermilion or
gold leaf was placed underneath the transparent shell; the gilt mounts
became less severe, and abounded with the curled endive ornament, which
afterwards became thoroughly characteristic of the fashion of the
succeeding reign; and the forms of the furniture itself conformed to a
taste for a more free and flowing treatment; and it should be mentioned,
in justice to Lebrun, that from the time of his death and the appointment
of his successor, Mignard, a distinct decline in merit can be traced.
Contemporary with Boule's work, were the richly-mounted tables, having
slabs of Egyptian porphyry, or Florentine marble mosaic; and marqueterie
cabinets, with beautiful mountings of ormolu, or gilt bronze. Commodes and
screens were ornamented with Chinese lacquer, which had been imported by
the Dutch and taken to Paris, after the French invasion of the
Netherlands.
[Illustration: Panel for a Screen. Painted by Watteau. Louis XIV. Period.]
About this time--that is, towards the end of the seventeenth century--the
resources of designers and makers of decorative furniture were reinforced
by the introduction of glass in larger plates than had been possible
previously. Mirrors of considerable size were first made in Venice; these
were engraved with figures and scrolls, and mounted in richly carved and
gilt wood frames; and soon afterwards manufactories of mirrors, and of
glass, in larger plates than before, were set up in England, near
Battersea, and in France at Tour la Ville, near Paris. This novelty not
only gave a new departure to the design of suitable frames in carved wood
(generally gilt), but also to that of Boule work and marqueterie. It also
led to a greater variety of the design for cabinets; and from this time we
may date the first appearance of the "Vitrine," or cabinet with glass
panels in the doors and sides, for the display of smaller _objets d'art._
[Illustration: Decoration of a Salon in Louis XIV. Style.]
The chairs and sofas of the latter half of the reign of Louis Quatorze are
exceedingly grand and rich. The suite of furniture for the state apartment
of a prince or wealthy nobleman comprised a _canapé_, or sofa, and six
_fauteils_, or arm chairs, the frames carved with much spirit, or with
"feeling," as it is technically termed, and richly gilt. The backs and
seats were upholstered and covered with the already famous tapestry of
Gobelins or Beauvais.[15]
Such a suite of furniture, in bad condition and requiring careful and very
expensive restoration, was sold at Christie's some time ago for about
£1,400, and it is no exaggeration to say that a really perfect suite, with
carving and gilding of the best, and the tapestry not too much worn, if
offered for public competition, would probably realise between £3,000 and
£4,000.
In the appendix will be found the names of many artists in furniture of
this time, and in the Jones Collection we have several very excellent
specimens which can easily be referred to, and compared with others of the
two succeeding reigns, whose furniture we are now going to consider.
As an example of the difference in both outline and detail which took
place in design, let the reader notice the form of the Louis Quatorze
commode vignetted for the initial letter of this chapter, and then turn to
the lighter and more fanciful cabinets of somewhat similar shape which
will be found illustrated in the "Louis Quinze" section which follows
this. In the Louis Quatorze cabinets the decorative effect, so far as the
woodwork was concerned, was obtained first by the careful choice of
suitable veneers, and then, by joining four pieces in a panel, so that the
natural figure of the wood runs from the centre, and then a banding of a
darker wood forms a frame. An instance of this will also be found in the
above-mentioned illustration.
Louis XV.
When the old King died, at the ripe age of 77, the crown devolved on his
great-grandson, then a child five years old, and therefore a Regency
became necessary; and this period of some eight years, until the death of
Philip, Duke of Orleans, in 1723, when the King was declared to have
attained his majority at the age of 13, is known as _L'Epoch de la
Regence_, and is a landmark in the history of furniture.
[Illustration: Boule Commode, Probably made during the period of the
Regency (_Museé du Louvre._)]
There was a great change about this period of French history in the social
condition of the upper classes in France. The pomp and extravagance of the
late monarch had emptied the coffers of the noblesse, and in order to
recruit their finances, marriages became common which a decade or two
before that time would hardly have been thought possible. Nobles of
ancient lineage married the daughters of bankers and speculators, in order
to supply themselves with the means of following the extravagant fashions
of the day, and we find the wives of ministers of departments of State
using their influence and power for the purpose of making money by
gambling in stocks, and accepting bribes for concessions and contracts.
[Illustration: French Sedan Chair. (_From an Engraving in the South
Kensington Art Library._) Period: Louis XV.]
It was a time of corruption, extravagance, licentiousness, and intrigue,
and although one might ask what bearing this has upon the history of
furniture, a little reflection shows that the abandonment of the great
State receptions of the late King, and the pompous and gorgeous
entertainments of his time, gave way to a state of society in which the
boudoir became of far more importance than the salon, in the artistic
furnishing of a fashionable house. Instead of the majestic grandeur of
immense reception rooms and stately galleries, we have the elegance and
prettiness of the boudoir; and as the reign of the young King advances, we
find the structural enrichment of rooms more free, and busy with redundant
ornament; the curved endive decoration, so common in carved woodwork and
in composition of this period, is seen everywhere; in the architraves, in
the panel mouldings, in the frame of an overdoor, in the design of a
mirror frame; doves, wreaths, Arcadian fountains, flowing scrolls, Cupids,
and heads and busts of women terminating in foliage, are carved or moulded
in relief, on the walls, the doors, and the alcoved recesses of the
reception rooms, either gilded or painted white; and pictures by Watteau,
Lancret, or Boucher, and their schools, are appropriate
accompaniments.[16]
[Illustration: Part of a Salon, Decorated in the Louis Quinze style,
showing the carved and gilt Console Table and Mirror, with other
enrichments, _en suite_.]
The furniture was made to agree with this decorative treatment: couches
and easy chairs were designed in more sweeping curves and on a smaller
scale, the woodwork wholly or partially gilt and upholstered, not only
with the tapestry of Gobelins or Beauvais, but with soft colored silk
brocades and brocatelles; light occasional chairs were enriched with
mother-of-pearl or marqueterie; screens were painted with love scenes and
representations of ladies and gentlemen who look as if they passed their
entire existence in the elaboration of their toilettes or the exchange of
compliments; the stately cabinet is modified into the _bombé_ fronted
commode, the ends of which curve outwards with a graceful sweep; and the
bureau is made in a much smaller size, more highly decorated with
marqueterie, and more fancifully mounted to suit the smaller and more
effeminate apartment. The smaller and more elegant cabinets, called
_Bonheur du jour_ (a little cabinet mounted on a table); the small round
occasional table, called a _gueridon_; the _encoignure_, or corner
cabinet; the _étagère_, or ornamental hanging cabinet, with shelves; the
three-fold screen, with each leaf a different height, and with shaped top,
all date from this time. The _chaise à porteur_, or Sedan chair, on which
so much work and taste were expended, became more ornate, so as to fall in
with the prevailing fashion. Marqueterie became more fanciful.
[Illustration: Console Table, Carved and Gilt. (_Collection of M. Double,
Paris._)]
The Louis Quinze cabinets were inlaid, not only with natural woods, but
with veneers stained in different tints; and landscapes, interiors,
baskets of flowers, birds, trophies, emblems of all kinds, and quaint
fanciful conceits are pressed into the service of marqueterie decoration.
The most famous artists in this decorative woodwork were Riesener, David
Roentgen (generally spoken of as David), Pasquier. Carlin, Leleu, and
others, whose names will be found in a list in the appendix.
[Illustration: Louis XV. Carved And Gilt "Fauteui." Upholstered with
Beauvais tapestry. Subject from La Fontaine's Fables.]
During the preceding reign the Chinese lacquer ware then in use was
imported from the East, the fashion for collecting which had grown ever
since the Dutch had established a trade with China: and subsequently as
the demand arose for smaller pieces of _meubles de luxe,_ collectors had
these articles taken to pieces, and the slabs of lacquer mounted in
panels to decorate the table, or cabinet, and to display the lacquer.
_Ébenistés_, too, prepared such parts of woodwork as were desired to be
ornamented in this manner, and sent them to China to be coated with
lacquer, a process which was then only known to the Chinese; but this
delay and expense quickened the inventive genius of the European, and it
was found that a preparation of gum and other ingredients applied again
and again, and each time carefully rubbed down, produced a surface which
was almost as lustrous and suitable for decoration as the original
article. A Dutchman named Huygens was the first successful inventor of
this preparation; and, owing to the adroitness of his work, and of those
who followed him and improved his process, one can only detect European
lacquer from Chinese by trifling details in the costumes and foliage of
decoration, not strictly Oriental in character.
[Illustration: Commode. With Panels of fine old Laquer and Mountings by
Caffieri. _Jones Collection, S. Kensington Museum._ Period of Louis XV.]
About 1740-4 the Martin family had three manufactories of this peculiar
and fashionable ware, which became known as Vernis-Martin, or Martins'
Varnish; and it is singular that one of these was in the district of Paris
then and now known as Faubourg Saint Martin. By a special decree a
monopoly was granted in 1744 to Sieur Simon Etienne Martin the younger,
"To manufacture all sorts of work in relief and in the style of Japan and
China." This was to last for twenty years; and we shall see that in the
latter part of the reign of Louis XV., and in that of his successor, the
decoration was not confined to the imitation of Chinese and Japanese
subjects, but the surface was painted in the style of the decorative
artist of the day, both in monochrome and in natural colours; such
subjects as "Cupid Awakening Venus," "The Triumph of Galatea," "Nymphs and
Goddesses," "Garden Scenes," and "Fêtes Champêtres," being represented in
accordance with the taste of the period. It may be remarked in passing,
that lacquer work was also made previous to this time in England. Several
cabinets of "Old" English lac are included in the Strawberry Hill sale
catalogue; and they were richly mounted with ormolu, in the French style;
this sale took place in 1842. George Robins, so well known for his flowery
descriptions, was the auctioneer; the introduction to the catalogue was
written by Harrison Ainsworth.
[Illustration: In Parqueterie with massive Mountings of Gilt Bronze,
probably by Caffieri, (_Formerly in the Hamilton Palace Collection.
Purchased_ (_Westheims_), £6,247 ICS.) Louis XV. Period.]
The gilt bronze mountings of the furniture became less massive and much
more elaborate: the curled endive ornament was very much in vogue; the
acanthus foliage followed the curves of the commode; busts and heads of
women, cupids, satyrs terminating in foliage, suited the design and
decoration of the more fanciful shapes; and Caffieri, who is the great
master of this beautiful and highly ornate enrichment, introduced Chinese
figures and dragons into his designs. The amount of spirit imparted into
the chasing of this ormolu is simply marvellous--it has never been
equalled and could not be excelled. Time has now mellowed the colour of
the woodwork it adorns; and the tint of the gold with which it is
overlaid, improved by the lights and shadows caused by the high relief of
the work and the consequent darkening of the parts more depressed while
the more prominent ornaments have been rubbed bright from time to time,
produces an effect which is exceedingly elegant and rich. One cannot
wonder that connoisseurs are prepared to pay such large sums for genuine
specimens, or that clever imitations are exceedingly costly to produce.
Illustrations are given from some of the more notable examples of
decorative furniture of this period, which were sold in 1882 at the
celebrated Hamilton Palace sale, together with the sums they realised:
also of specimens in the South Kensington Museum in the Jones Collection.
We must also remember, in considering the _meubles de luxe_ of this time,
that in 1753 Louis XV. had made the Sêvres Porcelain Manufactory a State
enterprise; and later, as that celebrated undertaking progressed, tables
and cabinets were ornamented with plaques of the beautiful and choice
_pâte tendre_, the delicacy of which was admirably adapted to enrich the
light and frivolous furnishing of the dainty boudoir of a Madame du Barri
or a Madame Pompadour.
Another famous artist in the delicate bronze mountings of the day was
Pierre Gouthière. He commenced work some years later than Caffieri, being
born in 1740; and, like his senior fellow craftsman, did not confine his
attention to furniture, but exercised his fertility of design, and his
passion for detail, in mounting bowls and vases of jasper, of Sêvres and
of Oriental porcelain. The character of his work is less forcible than
that of Caffieri, and comes nearer to what we shall presently recognise as
the Louis Seize, or Marie Antoinette style, to which period his work more
properly belongs: in careful finish of minute details, it more resembles
the fine goldsmith's work of the Renaissance.
[Illustration: Bureau Du Roi. Made for Louis XV. by Riesener. (Collection
of "Mobilier National.") (_From a pen and ink drawing by H. Evans._)
Period: Louis XV.]
Gouthière was employed extensively by Madame du Barri; and at her
execution, in 1793, he lost the enormous balance of 756,000 francs which
was due to him, but which debt the State repudiated, and the unfortunate
man died in extreme poverty, the inmate of an almshouse.
The designs of the celebrated tapestry of Gobelins and of Beauvais, used
for the covering of the finest furniture of this time, also underwent a
change; and, instead of the representation of the chase, with a bold and
vigorous rendering, we find shepherds and shepherdesses, nymphs and
satyrs, the illustrations of La Fontaine's fables, or renderings of
Boucher's pictures.
Without doubt, the most important example of _meubles de luxe_ of this
reign is the famous "Bureau du Roi," made for Louis XV. in 1769, and which
appears fully described in the inventory of the "Garde Meuble" in the year
1775, under No. 2541. This description is very minute, and is fully quoted
by M. Williamson in his valuable work, "Les Meubles d'Art du Mobilier
National," and occupies no less than thirty-seven lines of printed matter.
Its size is five-and-a-half feet long and three feet deep; the lines are
the perfection of grace and symmetry; the marqueterie is in Riesner's best
manner; the mountings are magnificent--reclining figures, foliage, laurel
wreaths, and swags, chased with rare skill; the back of this famous bureau
is as fully decorated as the front: it is signed "Riesener, f.e., 1769, à
l'arsenal de Paris." Riesener is said to have received the order for this
bureau from the King in 1767, upon the occasion of the marriage of this
favourite Court _ébeniste_ with the widow of his former master Oeben. Its
production therefore would seem to have taken about two years.
This celebrated chef d'oeuvre was in the Tuileries in 1807, and was
included in the inventory found in the cabinet of Napoleon I. It was moved
by Napoleon III. to the Palace of St. Cloud, and only saved from capture
by the Germans by its removal to its present home in the Louvre, in
August, 1870. It is said that it would probably realise, if offered for
sale, between fifteen and twenty thousand pounds. A full-page illustration
of this famous piece of furniture is given.
A similar bureau is in the Hertford (Wallace) collection, which was made
to the order of Stanilaus, King of Poland; a copy executed by Zwiener, a
very clever _ébeniste_ of the present day in Paris, at a cost of some
three thousand pounds, is in the same collection.
Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette.
[Illustration: Boudoir Furnished in the Taste of the Louis XVI. Period.]
It is probable that for some little time previous to the death of Louis
XV., the influence of the beautiful daughter of Maria Theresa on the
fashions of the day was manifested in furniture and its accessories. We
know that Marie Antoinette disliked the pomp and ceremony of Court
functions, and preferred a simpler way of living at the favourite farm
house which was given to her husband as a residence on his marriage, four
years before his accession to the throne; and here she delighted to mix
with the bourgeoise on the terrace at Versailles, or, donning a simple
dress of white muslin, would busy herself in the garden or dairy. There
was, doubtless, something of the affectation of a woman spoiled by
admiration, in thus playing the rustic; still, one can understand that the
best French society, weary of the domination of the late King's
mistresses, with their intrigues, their extravagances, and their
creatures, looked forward, at the death of Louis, with hope and
anticipation to the accession of his grandson and the beautiful young
queen.
[Illustration: Part of a Salon. Decorated and furnished in the Louis XVI.
Style.]
Gradually, under the new regime, architecture became more simple; broken
scrolls are replaced by straight lines, curves and arches only occur when
justifiable, and columns and pilasters reappear in the ornamental façades
of public buildings. Interior decoration necessarily followed suit;
instead of the curled endive scrolls enclosing the irregular panel, and
the superabundant foliage in ornament, we have rectangular panels formed
by simpler mouldings, with broken corners, having a patera or rosette in
each, and between the upright panels there is a pilaster of refined
Renaissance design. In the oval medallions supported by cupids, is found a
domestic scene by a Fragonard or a Chardin; and the portraits of innocent
children by Greuze replace the courting shepherds and mythological
goddesses of Boucher and Lancret. Sculpture, too, becomes more refined and
decorous in its representations.
As with architecture, decoration, painting, and sculpture, so also with
furniture. The designs became more simple, but were relieved from severity
by the amount of ornament, which, except in some cases where it is
over-elaborate, was properly subordinate to the design and did not control
it.
Mr. Hungerford Pollen attributes this revival of classic taste to the
discoveries of ancient treasures in Herculaneum and Pompeii, but as these
occurred in the former city so long before the time we are discussing as
the year 1711, and in the latter in 1750, these can scarcely be the
immediate cause; the reason most probably is that a reversion to simpler
and purer lines came as a relief and reaction from the over-ornamentation
of the previous period. There are not wanting, however, in some of the
decorated ornaments of the time, distinct signs of the influence of these
discoveries. Drawings and reproductions from frescoes, found in these old
Italian cities, were in the possession of the draughtsmen and designers of
the time; and an instance in point of their adaptation is to be seen in
the small boudoir of the Marquise de Serilly, one of the maids of honour
to Marie Antoinette. The decorative woodwork of this boudoir is fitted up
in the Kensington Museum.
A notable feature in the ornament of woodwork and in metal mountings of
this time, is a fluted pilaster with quills or husks filling the flutings
some distance from the base, or starting from both base and top and
leaving an interval of the hollow fluting plain and free. An example of
this will be seen in the next woodcut of a cabinet in the Jones
collection, which has also the familiar "Louis Seize" riband surmounting
the two oval Sêvres china plaques. When the flutings are in oak, in rich
mahogany, or painted white, these husks are gilt, and the effect is chaste
and pleasing. Variation was introduced into the gilding of frames by
mixing silver with some portion of the gold so as to produce two tints,
red gold and green gold; the latter would be used for wreaths and
accessories, while the former, or ordinary gilding, was applied to the
general surface. The legs of tables are generally fluted, as noticed
above, tapering towards the feet, and are relieved from a stilted
appearance by being connected by a stretcher.
[Illustration: Marqueterie Cabinet. With Plaques of Sêvres China (_In the
Jones Collection, South Kensington Museum._)]
[Illustration: Writing Table. Made by Riesener for Marie Antoinette.
Collection "Mobilier National." (_From a-pen and ink drawing by H.
Evans._) Period: Late Louis XV.]
There occurs in M. Williamson's valuable contribution to the literature
of our subject ("_Les Meubles d'Art du Mobilier National_,") an
interesting illustration of the gradual alterations which we are noticing
as having taken place in the design of furniture. This is a small writing
table, some 3 ft. 6 in. long, made during the reign of Louis XV., but
quite in the Marie Antoinette style, the legs tapering and fluted, the
frieze having in the centre a plaque of _bronze doré_, the subject being a
group of cupids, representing the triumph of Poetry, and on each side a
scroll with a head and foliage (the only ornament characteristic of Louis
Quinze style) connecting leg and frieze. M. Williamson quotes verbatim the
memorandum of which this was the subject. It was made for the Trianon and
the date is just one year after Marie Antoinette's marriage:--"Memoire des
ouvrages faits et livrés, par les ordres de Monsieur le Chevalier de
Fontanieu, pour le garde meuble du Roy par Riesener, ébeniste a l'arsenal
Paris," savoir Sept. 21, 1771; and then follows a fully detailed
description of the table, with its price, which was 6,000 francs, or £240.
There is a full page illustration of this table.
The maker of this piece of furniture was the same Riesener whose
masterpiece is the magnificent _Bureau du Roi_ which we have already
alluded to in the Louvre. This celebrated _ébeniste_ continued to work for
Marie Antoinette for about twenty years, until she quitted Versailles, and
he probably lived quite to the end of the century, for during the
Revolution we find that he served on the Special Commission appointed by
the National Convention to decide which works of Art should be retained
and which should be sold, out of the mass of treasure confiscated after
the deposition and execution of the King.
Riesener's designs do not show much fertility, but his work is highly
finished and elaborate. His method was generally to make the centre panel
of a commode front, or the frieze of a table, a _tour de force_, the
marqueterie picture being wonderfully delicate. The subject was generally
a vase with fruits and flowers; the surface of the side panels inlaid with
diamond-shaped lozenges, or a small diaper pattern in marqueterie; and
then a framework of rich ormolu would separate the panels. The centre
panel had sometimes a richer frame. His famous commode, made for the
Château of Fontainebleau, which cost a million francs (£4,000)--an
enormous sum in those days--is one of his _chefs d'oeuvre_, and this is an
excellent example of his style. A similar commode was sold in the Hamilton
Palace sale for £4,305. An upright secretaire, _en suite_ with the
commode, was also sold at the same time for £4,620, and the writing table
for £6,000. An illustration of the latter is on the following page, but
the details of this elaborate gem of cabinet maker's work, and of
Gouthière's skill in mounting, are impossible to reproduce in a woodcut.
It is described as follows in Christie's catalogue:--
"Lot 303. An oblong writing table, _en suite_, with drawer fitted with
inkstand, writing slide and shelf beneath; an oval medallion of a trophy
and flowers on the top, and trophies with four medallions round the sides:
stamped T. Riesener and branded underneath with cypher of Marie
Antoinette, and _Garde Meuble de la Reine_." There is no date on the
table, but the secretaire is stamped 1790, and the commode 1791. If we
assume that the table was produced in 1792, these three specimens, which
have always been regarded as amongst the most beautiful work of the reign,
were almost the last which the unfortunate Queen lived to see completed.
[Illustration: The "Marie Antoinette" Writing Table. (_Formerly in the
Hamilton Palace Collection._)]
[Illustration: Bedstead of Marie Antoinette, From Fontainebleau.
Collection "Mobilier National." (_From a pen and ink drawing by H.
Evans._) Period: Louis XVI.]
The fine work of Riesener required the mounting of an artist of quite
equal merit, and in Gouthière he was most fortunate. There is a famous
clock case in the Hertford collection, fully signed "Gouthière, ciseleur
et doreur du roi à Paris Quai Pelletier, à la Boucle d'or, 1771." He
worked, however, chiefly in conjunction with Riesener and David Roentgen
for the decoration of their marqueterie.
In the Louvre are some beautiful examples of this co-operative work; and
also of cabinets in which plaques of very fine black and gold lacquer take
the place of marqueterie; the centre panel being a finely chased oval
medallion of Gouthière's gilt bronze, with caryatides figures of the same
material at the ends supporting the cornice.
[Illustration: Cylinder Secretaire, In Marqueterie, with Bronze Gilt
Mountings, by Gouthière. (_Mr. Alfred de Rothschild's Collection._)
Period: Louis XVI.]
A specimen of this kind of work (an upright secretaire, of which we have
not been able to obtain a satisfactory representation) formed part of the
Hamilton Palace collection, and realised £9,450, the highest price which
the writer has ever seen a single piece of furniture bring by auction; it
must be regarded as the _chef d'oeuvre_ of Gouthière.
In the Jones Collection, at South Kensington, there are also several
charming examples of Louis Seize _meubles de luxe_. Some of these are
enriched with plaques of Sêvres porcelain, which treatment is better
adapted to the more jewel-like mounting of this time than to the rococo
style in vogue during the preceding reign.
[Illustration: Arm Chair In Louis XVI. Style.]
The upholstered furniture became simpler in design; the sofas and chairs
have generally, but not invariably, straight fluted tapering legs, but
these sometimes have the flutings spiral instead of perpendicular, and the
backs are either oval or rectangular, and ornamented with a carved riband
which is represented as tied at the top in a lover's knot. Gobelins,
Beauvais, and Aubusson tapestry are used for covering, the subjects being
in harmony with the taste of the time. A sofa in this style, with settees
at the ends, the frame elaborately carved with trophies of arrows and
flowers in high relief, and covered with fine old Gobelins tapestry, was
sold at the Hamilton Palace sale for £1,176. This was formerly at
Versailles. Beautiful silks and brocades were also extensively used both
for chairs and for the screens, which at this period were varied in design
and extremely pretty. Small two-tier tables of tulip wood with delicate
mountings were quite the rage, and small occasional pieces, the legs of
which, like those of the chairs, are occasionally curved. An excellent
example of a piece with cabriole legs is the charming little Marie
Antoinette cylinder-fronted marqueterie escritoire in the Jones Collection
(illustrated below). The marqueterie is attributed to Riesener, but, from
its treatment being so different from that which he adopted as an almost
invariable rule, it is more probably the work of David.
[Illustration: Carved and Gilt Causeuse or Settee, and Fauteuil or Arm
Chair, Covered with Beauvais tapestry. (Collection "Mobilier National.")
(_From a pen and ink drawing by H. Evans._) Period: End of Louis XVI.]
[Illustration: Carved and Gilt Canapé or Sofa. Covered with Beauvais
tapestry. (Colection "Mobilier Natioanal.") Period: End of Louis XVI.]
Another fine specimen illustrated on page 170 is the small cabinet made
of kingwood, with fine ormolu mounts, and some beautiful Sêvres plaques.
[Illustration: Marqueterie Escritoire. By Davis, said to have belonged to
Marie Antoinette. (_Jones Collection, South Kensington Museum._)]
The influence exercised by the splendour of the Court of Louis Quatorze,
and by the bringing together of artists and skilled handicraftsmen for the
adornment of the palaces of France, which we have seen took place during
the latter half of the seventeenth century, was not without its effect
upon the Industrial Arts of other countries. Macaulay mentions the "bales
of tapestry" and other accessories which were sent to Holland to fit up
the camp quarters of Louis le Grand when he went there to take the
command of his army against William III., and he also tells us of the
sumptuous furnishing of the apartments at St. Germains when James II.,
during his exile, was the guest of Louis. The grandeur of the French King
impressed itself upon his contemporaries, and war with Germany, as well as
with Holland and England, helped to spread this influence. We have noticed
how Wren designed the additions to Hampton Court Palace in imitation of
Versailles; and in the chapter which follows this, it will be seen that
the designs of Chippendale were really reproductions of French furniture
of the time of Louis Quinze. The King of Sweden, Charles XII., "the Madman
of the North," as he was called, imitated his great French contemporary,
and in the Palace at Stockholm there are still to be seen traces of the
Louis Quatorze style in decoration and in furniture; such adornments are
out of keeping with the simplicity of the habits of the present Royal
family of Sweden.
A Bourbon Prince, too, succeeded to the throne of Spain in 1700, and there
are still in the palaces and picture galleries of Madrid some fine
specimens of French furniture of the three reigns which have just been
discussed. It may be taken, therefore, that from the latter part of the
seventeenth century the dominant influence upon the design of decorative
furniture was of French origin.
There is evidence of this in a great many examples of the work of Flemish,
German, English, and Spanish cabinet makers, and there are one or two
which may be easily referred to which it is worth while to mention.
One of these is a corner cupboard of rosewood, inlaid with engraved
silver, part of the design being a shield with the arms of an Elector of
Cologne; there is also a pair of somewhat similar cabinets from the
Bishop's Palace at Salzburg. These are of German work, early eighteenth
century, and have evidently been designed after Boule's productions. The
shape and the gilt mounts of a secretaire of walnutwood with inlay of
ebony and ivory, and some other furniture which, with the other specimens
just described, may be seen in the Bethnal Green Museum, all manifest the
influence of the French school, when the bombe-fronted commodes and curved
lines of chair and table came into fashion.
Having described somewhat in detail the styles which prevailed and some of
the changes which occurred in France, from the time of Louis XIV. until
the Revolution, it is unnecessary for the purposes of this sketch, to do
more than briefly refer to the work of those countries which may be said
to have adopted, to a greater or less extent, French designs. For reasons
already stated, an exception is made in the case of our own country; and
the following chapter will be devoted to the furniture of some of the
English designers and makers of the latter half of the eighteenth century.
Of Italy it may be observed generally that the Renaissance of Raffaele,
Leonardo da Vinci, and Michael Angelo, which we have seen became
degenerate towards the end of the sixteenth century, relapsed still
further during the period which we have been discussing, and although the
freedom and grace of the Italian carving, and the elaboration of inlaid
arabesques, must always have some merit of their own, the work of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Italy will compare very
unfavourably with that of the earlier period of the Renaissance.
[Illustration: A Norse Interior, Shewing Chairs of Dutch Design. Period:
Late XVII. or Early XVIII. Century.]
There are many other museum specimens which might be referred to to prove
the influence of French design of the seventeenth and subsequent centuries
on that of other countries. The above illustration of a Norse interior
shews that this influence penetrated as far as Scandinavia; for while the
old-fashioned box-like bedsteads which the Norwegians had retained from
early times, and which in a ruder form are still to be found in the
cottages of many Scottish counties, especially of those where the
Scandinavian connection existed, is a characteristic mark of the country,
the design of the two chairs is an evidence of the innovations which had
been made upon native fashions. These chairs are in style thoroughly
Dutch, of about the end of the seventeenth or early in the eighteenth
century; the cabriole legs and shell ornaments were probably the direct
result of the influence of the French on the Dutch. The woodcut is from a
drawing of an old house in Norwav.
[Illustration: Secretaire, In King and Tulip Wood, with Sêvres Plaques and
Ormolu Mountings. Period: Early Louis XVI.]
It would be unfitting to close this chapter on French furniture without
paying a tribute to the munificence and public spirit of Mr. John Jones,
whose bequest to the South Kensington Museum constitutes in itself a
representative Museum of this class of decorative furniture. Several of
the illustrations in this chapter have been taken from this collection.
In money value alone, the collection of furniture, porcelain, bronzes,
and _articles de vertú,_ mostly of the period embraced within the limits
of this chapter, amounts to about £400,000, and exceeds the value of any
bequest the nation has ever had. Perhaps the references contained in these
few pages to the French furniture of this time may stimulate the interest
of the public in, and its appreciation of, this valuable national
property.
[Illustration: Clock, By Robin, in Marqueterie Case, with Mountings of
Gilt Bronze, (_Jones Collection. South Kensington Museum._) Louis XVI.
Period.]
Soon after this generous bequest was placed in the South Kensington
Museum, for the benefit of the public, a leading article appeared in the
_Times_, from which the following extract will very appropriately conclude
this chapter:--"As the visitor passes by the cases where these curious
objects are displayed, he asks himself what is to be said on behalf of the
art of which they are such notable examples." Tables, chairs, commodes,
secretaires, wardrobes, porcelain vases, marble statuettes, they represent
in a singularly complete way the mind and the work of the _ancien régime_.
Like Eisen's vignettes, or the _contes_ of innumerable story-tellers, they
bring back to us the grace, the luxury, the prettiness, the frivolity of
that Court which believed itself, till the rude awakening came, to contain
all that was precious in the life of France. A piece of furniture like the
little Sêvres-inlaid writing table of Marie Antoinette is, to employ a
figure of Balzac's, a document which reveals as much to the social
historian as the skeleton of an ichthyosaurus reveals to the
palæontologist. It sums up an epoch. A whole world can be inferred from
it. Pretty, elegant, irrational, and entirely useless, this exquisite and
costly toy might stand as a symbol for the life which the Revolution swept
away.
[Illustration: Harpsichord, from the Permanent Collection belonging to
South Kensington Museum. Date: About 1750.]
[Illustration: Italian Sedan Chair. Used at the Baptism of the Grand
Ducal Family of Tuscany, now in the South Kensington Museum. Period:
Latter Half of XVIII. Century.]