Boulle’s pieces accord thoroughly with the years of pomp and splendor
of Le Grand Monarque; but even before the death of Louis a notable
change in the appearance of furniture set in. The nobility, whose
resources had been severely strained to maintain the splendor set by
the king, found it necessary to substitute smaller apartments for their
great rooms and galleries. Moreover, the heroic quality of the earlier
Louis XIV decorations was no longer suited to the growing softness
and effeminacy of the age. Smaller and more delicate furnishings were
demanded. The Louis XIV chairs had borrowed the high upholstered backs,
together with the S curves for arms and legs, from the Italians--later
on the bold _bombé_ curve appeared in the supports of the tables.
By the time of the Regency these outlines had become more slender
and refined and the reign of the curved line in furniture became
established,--a reign that lasted for fully half a century, during
which time some of the ablest masters of design that have ever lived
played and conjured with curves delicate and curves bold, now bringing
forth an outline pure and exquisite in quality, and again with amazing
inventiveness interlacing curve with curve in combinations of infinite
variety and bewildering richness.
Most Louis XV furniture develops naturally from that of Louis XIV, and
is built upon thoroughly structural lines. The reaction, however,
against severity and the increasing demand of a frivolous aristocracy
for new and more striking effects, gradually produced a style in which
decoration was often not subordinated to structure, but made an end in
itself.
[Illustration: LOUIS XV TABLE]
The rococo (from _rocaille_, rock, and _coquille_, shell) ran its
extravagant course with increasing exaggeration and license during the
first half of the reign of Louis XV; but it should not be thought of as
affecting all the furniture even of this period, for its manifestations
were mainly in the field of the carver and bronze worker, and the
outlines of furniture were very little influenced, except in the case
of the smaller and lighter pieces, such as console tables. About the
middle of the reign the limit of artistic license had been passed and
a reaction set in. The ormolu, which had reached excessive size and
had become overloaded on the surface, was withdrawn to the edges, and
made smaller and more suitable for the delicate proportions of the
pieces. In its place marquetry of beautiful colored woods, more or less
practised for over a century, was brought to a perfection never before
equaled.
[Illustration: LOUIS XV COMMODE]