FURNISHING THE HOME OF GOOD TASTE
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE PERIOD STYLES IN INTERIOR DECORATION WITH
SUGGESTIONS AS TO THEIR EMPLOYMENT IN THE HOMES OF TODAY
BY
LUCY ABBOT THROOP
NEW YORK ROBERT M. MCBRIDE & CO.
1920
* * * * *
1910 THE CROWELL PUBLISHING CO.
1911, 1912, MCBRIDE, NAST & CO.
1920, ROBERT M. MCBRIDE & CO.
NEW AND REVISED EDITION
Published, September, 1920
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Trowbridge & Livingston, architects._
A principle which can be applied to both large and small
houses is shown in the beauty of the panel spacing and the adequate
support of the cornice by the pilasters.]
_Contents_
PREFACE i
EGYPT AND GREECE 1
THE RENAISSANCE IN ITALY 7
THE DEVELOPMENT OF DECORATION IN FRANCE 17
LOUIS XIV 29
THE REGENCY AND LOUIS XV 87
LOUIS XVI 47
THE EMPIRE 58
ENGLISH FURNITURE FROM GOTHIC DAYS TO THE PERIOD OF QUEEN ANNE 59
QUEEN ANNE 78
CHIPPENDALE AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN ENGLAND 79
ROBERT ADAM 91
HEPPLEWHITE 97
SHERATON 103
A GENERAL TALK 111
GEORGIAN FURNITURE 135
FURNISHING WITH FRENCH FURNITURE 149
COUNTRY HOUSES 159
THE NURSERY AND PLAY-ROOM 169
CURTAINS 175
FLOORS AND FLOOR COVERINGS 185
THE TREATMENT OF WALLS 195
ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING 209
PAINTED FURNITURE 221
SYNOPSIS OF PERIOD STYLES AS AN AID IN BUYING FURNITURE 231
_The Illustrations_
A modern dining-room _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
Italian Renaissance fireplace and overmantel, modern 8
Doorways and pilaster details, Italian Renaissance 9
Two Louis XIII chairs 22
A Gothic chair of the fifteenth century 23
A Louis XIV chair 32
Louis XIV inlaid desk-table 33
Louis XIV chair with underbracing 33
A modern French drawing-room 40
A drawing-room, old French furniture and tapestry 41
Early Louis XIV chair 44
Louis XV _bergère_ 44
Louis XVI bench 45
Louis XVI from Fontainebleau 50
American Empire bed 51
An Apostles bed of the Tudor period 60
Adaptation of the style of William and Mary to dressing table 61
Reproduction of Charles II chair 61
Living-room with reproductions of different periods 64
Original Jacobean sofa 65
Reproductions of Charles II chairs 65
Reproductions of Queen Anne period 72
Reproduction of James II chair 73
Reproduction of William and Mary chair 73
Gothic and Ribbonback types of Chippendale chairs 78
Chippendale mantel mirror showing French influence 79
Chippendale fretwork tea-table 79
Chippendale china cupboard 82
Typical chairs of the eighteenth century 83
Chippendale and Hepplewhite sofas 86
Adam mirror, block-front chest of drawers, and Hepplewhite chair 87
Two Adam mantels 92
A group of old mirrors 93
Dining-room furnished with Hepplewhite furniture 96
Old Hepplewhite sideboard 97
Reproduction of Hepplewhite settee 97
Sheraton chest of drawers 104
Sheraton desk and sewing-table 105
Dining-room in simple country house 112
Dining-room furnished with fine old furniture 113
Dorothy Quincy's bed-room 124
Two valuable old desks 125
Pembroke inlaid table 144
Sheraton sideboard 144
Four post bed 145
Doorway detail, Compiègne 152
Reproduction of a bed owned by Marie Antoinette 153
Reproduction of Louis XVI bed 153
A Georgian hallway 162
Rare block-front chest of drawers 163
A modern living-room 178
Curtain treatment for a summer home 179
Hallway showing rugs 188
Hallway showing rugs 189
Colonial bed-room 189
Dining-room with paneled walls 196
Four post bed owned by Lafayette 197
Modern dining-room 204
Four post bed 205
Reproductions of Adam painted furniture 222
Three-chair Sheraton settee 223
Reproduction of a Sheraton wing-chair 223
Slat-backed chair 223
Group of chairs and pie-crust table 232
Groups of chairs 233
Reproduction of Jacobean buffet 236
Group of mirrors 237
Reproduction of William and Mary settee 240
Adaptation of Georgian ideas to William and Mary dressing table 240
Two Adam chairs 241
Jacobean day-bed 241
Reproductions of Chippendale table and Hepplewhite desk 244
Reproduction of Sheraton chest of drawers 245
Reproduction of William and Mary chest of drawers 245
A modern sun-room 246
Sheraton sofa 247
Hepplewhite chair and nest of tables 247
Chippendale wing-chair 247
Modern paneled living-room 248
Empire bed 248
Hancock desk, and fine old highboy 249
_Preface_
To try to write a history of furniture in a fairly short space is almost
as hard as the square peg and round hole problem. No matter how one
tries, it will not fit. One has to leave out so much of importance, so
much of historic and artistic interest, so much of the life of the
people that helps to make the subject vivid, and has to take so much for
granted, that the task seems almost impossible. In spite of this I shall
try to give in the following pages a general but necessarily short
review of the field, hoping that it may help those wishing to furnish
their homes in some special period style. The average person cannot
study all the subject thoroughly, but it certainly adds interest to the
problems of one's own home to know something of how the great periods of
decoration grew one from another, how the influence of art in one
country made itself felt in the next, molding and changing taste and
educating the people to a higher sense of beauty.
It is the lack of general knowledge which makes it possible for
furniture built on amazingly bad lines to be sold masquerading under the
name of some great period. The customer soon becomes bewildered, and,
unless he has a decided taste of his own, is apt to get something which
will prove a white elephant on his hands. One must have some standard
of comparison, and the best and simplest way is to study the great work
of the past. To study its rise and climax rather than the decline; to
know the laws of its perfection so that one can recognize the
exaggeration which leads to degeneracy. This ebb and flow is most
interesting: the feeling the way at the beginning, ever growing surer
and surer until the high level of perfection is reached; and then the
desire to "gild the lily" leading to over-ornamentation, and so to
decline. However, the germ of good taste and the sense of truth and
beauty is never dead, and asserts itself slowly in a transition period,
and then once more one of the great periods of decoration is born.
There are several ways to study the subject, one of the pleasantest
naturally being travel, as the great museums, palaces, and private
collections of Europe offer the widest field. In this country, also, the
museums and many private collections are rich in treasures, and there
are many proud possessors of beautiful isolated pieces of furniture. If
one cannot see originals the libraries will come to the rescue with many
books showing research and a thorough knowledge and appreciation of the
beauty and importance of the subject in all its branches.
I have tried to give an outline, (which I hope the reader will care to
enlarge for himself), not from a collector's standpoint, but from the
standpoint of the modern home-maker, to help him furnish his house
consistently,--to try to spread the good word that period furnishing
does not necessitate great wealth, and that it is as easy and far more
interesting to furnish a house after good models, as to have it banal
and commonplace.
The first part of this little book is devoted to a short review of the
great periods, and the second part is an effort to help adapt them to
modern needs, with a few chapters added of general interest to the
home-maker.
A short bibliography is also added, both to express my thanks and
indebtedness to many learned and delightful writers on this subject of
house furnishing in all its branches, and also as a help to others who
may wish to go more deeply into its different divisions than is possible
within the covers of a book.
I wish to thank the Editors of _House and Garden_ and _The Woman's Home
Companion_ for kindly allowing me to reprint articles and portions of
articles which have appeared in their magazines.
I wish also to thank the owners of the different houses illustrated, and
Messrs. Trowbridge and Livingston, architects, for their kindness in
allowing me to use photographs.
Thanks are also due Messrs. Bergen & Orsenigo, Nahon & Company, Tiffany
Studios, Joseph Wild & Co. and the John Somma Co. for the use of
photographs to illustrate the reproduction of period furniture and rugs
of different types.
_Egypt and Greece_
The early history of art in all countries is naturally connected more
closely with architecture than with decoration, for architecture had to
be developed before the demand for decoration could come. But the two
have much in common. Noble architecture calls for noble decoration.
Decoration is one of the natural instincts of man, and from the earliest
records of his existence we find him striving to give expression to it,
we see it in the scratched pieces of bone and stone of the cave
dwellers, in the designs of savage tribes, and in Druidical and Celtic
remains, and in the great ruins of Yucatan. The meaning of these
monuments may be lost to us, but we understand the spirit of trying to
express the sense of beauty in the highest way possible, for it is the
spirit which is still moving the world, and is the foundation of all
worthy achievement.
Egypt and Assyria stand out against the almost impenetrable curtain of
pre-historic days in all the majesty of their so-called civilization.
Huge, massive, aloof from the world, their temples and tombs and ruins
remain. Research has given us the key to their religion, so we
understand much of the meaning of their wall-paintings and the buildings
themselves. The belief of the Egyptian that life was a short passage and
his house a mere stopping-place on the way to the tomb, which was to be
his permanent dwelling-place, explains the great care and labor spent on
the pyramids, chapels, and rock sepulchers. They embalmed the dead for
all eternity and put statues and images in the tombs to keep the mummy
company. Colossal figures of their gods and goddesses guarded the tombs
and temples, and still remain looking out over the desert with their
strange, inscrutable Egyptian eyes. The people had technical skill which
has never been surpassed, but the great size of the pyramids and temples
and sphinxes gives one the feeling of despotism rather than
civilization; of mass and permanency and the wonder of man's achievement
rather than beauty, but they personify the mystery and power of ancient
Egypt.
The columns of the temples were massive, those of Karnak being seventy
feet high, with capitals of lotus flowers and buds strictly
conventionalized. The walls were covered with hieroglyphics and
paintings. Perspective was never used, and figures were painted side
view except for the eye and shoulder. In the tombs have been found many
household belongings, beautiful gold and silver work, beside the
offerings put there to appease the gods. Chairs have been found, which,
humorous as it may sound, are certainly the ancestors of Empire chairs
made thousands of years later. This is explained by the influence of
Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, but there is something in common between
the two times so far apart, of ambition and pride, of grandeur and
colossal enterprise.
Greece may well be called the Mother of Beauty, for with the Greeks came
the dawn of a higher civilization, a striving for harmony of line and
proportion, an ideal clear, high and persistent. When the Dorians from
the northern part of Greece built their simple, beautiful temples to
their gods and goddesses they gave the impetus to the movement which
brought forth the highest art the world has known. Traces of Egyptian
influence are to be found in the earliest temples, but the Greeks soon
rose to their own great heights. The Doric column was thick, about six
diameters in height, fluted, growing smaller toward the top, with a
simple capital, and supported the entablature. The horizontal lines of
the architrave and cornice were more marked than the vertical lines of
the columns. The portico with its row of columns supported the pediment.
The Parthenon is the most perfect example of the Doric order, and
shattered as it is by time and man it is still one of the most beautiful
buildings in the world. It was built in the time of Pericles, from about
460 to 435 B.C., and the work was superintended by Phidias, who did much
of the work himself and left the mark of his genius on the whole.
The Ionic order of architecture was a development of the Doric, but was
lighter and more graceful. The columns were more slender and had a
greater number of flutes and the capitals formed of scrolls or volutes
were more ornamental.
The Corinthian order was more elaborate than the Ionic as the capitals
were foliated (the acanthus being used), the columns higher, and the
entablature more richly decorated. This order was copied by the Romans
more than the other two as it suited their more florid taste. All the
orders have the horizontal feeling in common (as Gothic architecture has
the vertical), and the simple plan with its perfect harmony of
proportion leaves no sense of lack of variety.
The perfection attained in architecture was also attained in sculpture,
and we see the same aspiration toward the ideal, the same wonderful
achievement. This purity of taste of the Greeks has formed a standard to
which the world has returned again and again and whose influence will
continue to be felt as long as the world lasts.
The minor arts were carried to the same state of perfection as their
greater sisters, for the artists and artisans had the same noble ideal
of beauty and the same unerring taste. We have carved gems and coins,
and wonderful gold ornaments, painted and silver vases, and terra-cotta
figurines, to show what a high point the household arts reached. No work
of the great Grecian painters remains; Apelles, Zeuxis, are only names
to us, but from the wall paintings at Pompeii where late Greek influence
was strongly felt we can imagine how charming the decorations must have
been. Egypt and Greece were the torch bearers of civilization.
_The Renaissance in Italy_
The Gothic period has been treated in later chapters on France and
England, as it is its development in these countries which most affects
us, but the Renaissance in Italy stands alone. So great was its strength
that it could supply both inspiration and leaders to other countries,
and still remain preëminent.
It was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that this great
classical revival in Italy came, this re-birth of a true sense of beauty
which is called the Renaissance. It was an age of wonders, of great
artistic creations, and was one of the great epochs of the world, one of
the turning points of human existence. It covered so large a field and
was so many-sided that only careful study can give a full realization of
the giants of intellect and power who made its greatness, and who left
behind them work that shows the very quintessence of genius.
Italy, stirring slightly in the fourteenth century, woke and rose to her
greatest heights in the fifteenth and sixteenth. The whole people
responded to the new joy of life, the love of learning, the expression
of beauty in all its forms. All notes were struck,--gay, graceful,
beautiful, grave, cruel, dignified, reverential, magnificent, but all
with an exuberance of life and power that gave to Italian art its great
place in human culture. The great names of the period speak for
themselves,--Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Leonardo da
Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, Machiavelli, Benvenuto Cellini, and a host of
others.
The inspiration of the Renaissance came largely from the later Greek
schools of art and literature, Alexandria and Rhodes and the colonies in
Sicily and Italy, rather than ancient Greece. It was also the influence
which came to ancient Rome at its most luxurious period. The importance
of the taking of Alexandria and Constantinople in 1453 must not be
underestimated, as it drove scholars from the great libraries of the
East carrying their manuscripts to the nobles and priests and merchant
princes of Italy who thus became enthusiastic patrons of learning and
art. This later type of Greek art lacked the austerity of the ancient
type, and to the models full of joy and beauty and suffering, the
Italians of the Renaissance added the touch of their own temperament and
made them theirs in the glowing, rich and astounding way which has never
been equaled and probably never will be. Perfection of line and beauty
was not sufficient, the soul with its capacity for joy and suffering,
"the soul with all its maladies" as Pater says, had become a factor. The
impression made upon Michelangelo by seeing the Laocoön disinterred is
vividly described by Longfellow--
[Illustration: An exquisite and true Renaissance feeling is shown in
the pilasters.]
[Illustration: The Italian Renaissance is still inspiring the world. In
the two doorways the use of pilasters and frieze, and the pedimented and
round over-door motifs are typical of the period.]
"Long, long years ago,
Standing one morning near the Baths of Titus,
I saw the statue of Laocöon
Rise from its grave of centuries like a ghost
Writhing in pain; and as it tore away
The knotted serpents from its limbs, I heard,
Or seemed to hear, the cry of agony
From its white parted lips. And still I marvel
At the three Rhodian artists, by whose hands
This miracle was wrought. Yet he beholds
Far nobler works who looks upon the ruins
Of temples in the Forum here in Rome.
If God should give me power in my old age
To build for him a temple half as grand
As those were in their glory, I should count
My age more excellent than youth itself,
And all that I have hitherto accomplished
As only vanity."
"It was an age productive in personalities, many-sided, centralized,
complete. Artists and philosophers and those whom the action of the
world had elevated and made keen, breathed a common air and caught light
and heat from each other's thoughts. It is this unity of spirit which
gives unity to all the various products of the Renaissance, and it is to
this intimate alliance with mind, this participation in the best
thoughts which that age produced, that the art of Italy in the fifteenth
century owes much of its grave dignity and influence."[A]
[A] Walter Pater: "Studies in the Renaissance."
It is to this unity of the arts we owe the fact that the art of
beautifying the home took its proper place. During the Middle Ages the
Church had absorbed the greater part of the best man had to give, and
home life was rather a hit or miss affair, the house was a fortress, the
family possessions so few that they could be packed into chests and
easily moved. During the Renaissance the home ideal grew, and, although
the Church still claimed the best, home life began to have comforts and
beauties never dreamed of before. The walls glowed with color,
tapestries and velvets added their beauties, and the noble proportions
of the marble halls made a rich background for the elaborately carved
furniture.
The doors of Italian palaces were usually inlaid with woods of light
shade, and the soft, golden tone given by the process was in beautiful,
but not too strong, contrast with the marble architrave of the doorway,
which in the fifteenth century was carved in low relief combined with
disks of colored marble, sliced, by the way, from Roman temple pillars.
Later as the classic taste became stronger the carving gave place to a
plain architrave and the over-door took the form of a pediment.
Mantels were of marble, large, beautifully carved, with the fireplace
sunk into the thickness of the wall. The overmantel usually had a carved
panel, but later, during the sixteenth century, this was sometimes
replaced by a picture. The windows of the Renaissance were a part of the
decoration of the room, and curtains were not used in our modern
manner, but served only to keep out the draughts. In those days the
better the house the simpler the curtains. There were many kinds of
ceilings used, marble, carved wood, stucco, and painting. They were
elaborate and beautiful, and always gave the impression of being
perfectly supported on the well-proportioned cornice and walls. The
floors were usually of marble. Many of the houses kept to the plan of
mediæval exteriors, great expanses of plain walls with few openings on
the outsides, but as they were built around open courts, the interiors
with their colonnades and open spaces showed the change the Renaissance
had brought. The Riccardi Palace in Florence and the Palazzo della
Cancelleria in Rome, are examples of this early type. The second phase
was represented by the great Bramante, whose theory of restraining
decoration and emphasizing the structure of the building has had such
important influence. One of his successors was Andrea Palladio, whose
work made such a deep impression on Inigo Jones. The Library of St.
Mark's at Venice is a beautiful example of this part. The third phase
was entirely dominated by Michelangelo.
The furniture, to be in keeping with buildings of this kind, was large
and richly carved. Chairs, seats, chests, cabinets, tables, and beds,
were the chief pieces used, but they were not plentiful at all in our
sense of the word. The chairs and benches had cushions to soften the
hard wooden seats. The stuffs of the time were most beautiful Genoese
velvet, cloth of gold, tapestries, and wonderful embroideries, all
lending their color to the gorgeous picture. The carved marriage chest,
or cassone, is one of the pieces of Renaissance furniture which has most
often descended to our own day, for such chests formed a very important
part of the furnishing in every household, and being large and heavy,
were not so easily broken as chairs and tables. Beds were huge, and were
architectural in form, a base and roof supported on four columns. The
classical orders were used, touched with the spirit of the time, and the
fluted columns rose from acanthus leaves set in an urn supported on
lion's feet. The tester and cornice gave scope for carving and the
panels of the tester usually had the lovely scrolls so characteristic of
the period. The headboard was often carved with a coat-of-arms and the
curtains hung from inside the cornice.
Grotesques were largely used in ornament. The name is derived from
grottoes, as the Roman tombs being excavated at the time were called,
and were in imitation of the paintings found on their walls, and while
they were fantastic, the word then had no unkindly humorous meaning as
now. Scrolls, dolphins, birds, beasts, the human figure, flowers,
everything was called into use for carving and painting by genius of the
artisans of the Renaissance. They loved their work and felt the beauty
and meaning of every line they made, and so it came about that when, in
the course of years, they traveled to neighboring countries, they spread
the influence of this great period, and it is most interesting to see
how on the Italian foundation each country built her own distinctive
style.
Like all great movements the Renaissance had its beginning, its splendid
climax, and its decline.
_The Development of Decoration in France._
When Caesar came to Gaul he did more than see and conquer; he absorbed
so thoroughly that we have almost no knowledge of how the Gauls lived,
so far as household effects were concerned. The character which
descended from this Gallo-Roman race to the later French nation was
optimistic and beauty-loving, with a strength which has carried it
through many dark days. It might be said to be responsible for the
French sense of proportion and their freedom of judgment which has
enabled them to hold their important place in the history of art and
decoration. They have always assimilated ideas freely but have worked
them over until they bore the stamp of their own individuality, often
gaining greatly in the process.
One of the first authentic pieces of furniture is a _bahut_ or chest
dating from sometime in the twelfth century and belonging to the Church
of Obazine. It shows how furniture followed the lines of architecture,
and also shows that there was no carving used on it. Large spaces were
probably covered with painted canvas, glued on. Later, when panels
became smaller and the furniture designs were modified, moldings, etc.,
began to be used. These _bahuts_ or _huches_, from which the term
_huchiers_ came (meaning the Corporation of Carpenters), were nothing
more than chests standing on four feet. From all sources of information
on the subject it has been decided that they were probably the chief
pieces of furniture the people had. They served as a seat by day and,
with cushions spread upon them, as a bed by night. They were also used
as tables with large pieces of silver _dressé_ or arranged upon them in
the daytime. From this comes our word "dresser" for the kitchen shelves.
In those days of brigands and wars and sudden death, the household
belongings were as few as possible so that the trouble of speedy
transportation would be small, and everything was packed into the
chests. As the idea of comfort grew a little stronger, the number of
chests grew, and when a traveling party arrived at a stopping-place, out
came the tapestries and hangings and cushions and silver dishes, which
were arranged to make the rooms seem as cheerful as possible. The germ
of the home ideal was there, at least, but it was hard work for the
arras and the "ciel" to keep out the cold and cover the bare walls. When
life became a little more secure and people learned something of the
beauty of proportion, the rooms showed more harmony in regard to the
relation of open spaces and walls, and became a decoration in
themselves, with the tapestries and hangings enhancing their beauty of
line. It was not until some time in the fifteenth century that the
habit of traveling with all one's belongings ceased.
The year 1000 was looked forward to with abject terror, for it was
firmly believed by all that the world was then coming to an end. It cast
a gloom over all the people and paralyzed all ambition. When, however,
the fatal year was safely passed, there was a great religious
thanksgiving and everyone joined in the praise of a merciful God. The
semi-circular arch of the Romanesque style gave way to the pointed arch
of the Gothic, and wonderful cathedrals slowly lifted their beautiful
spires to the sky. The ideal was to build for the glory of God and not
only for the eyes of man, so that exquisite carving was lavished upon
all parts of the work. This deeply reverent feeling lasted through the
best period of Gothic architecture, and while household furniture was at
a standstill church furniture became more and more beautiful, for in the
midst of the religious fervor nothing seemed too much to do for the
Church. Slowly it died out, and a secular attitude crept into
decoration. One finds grotesque carvings appearing on the choir stalls
and other parts of churches and cathedrals and the standard of
excellence was lowered.
The chest, table, wooden arm-chair, bed, and bench, were as far as the
imagination had gone in domestic furniture, and although we read of
wonderful tapestries and leather hangings and clothes embroidered in
gold and jewels, there was no comfort in our sense of the word, and
those brave knights and fair ladies had need to be strong to stand the
hardships of life. Glitter and show was the ideal and it was many more
years before the standard of comfort and refinement gained a firm
foothold.
Gothic architecture and decoration declined from the perfection of the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to the over-decorated, flamboyant
Gothic of the fifteenth century, and it was in the latter period that
the transition began between the Gothic and the Renaissance epochs.
The Renaissance was at its height in Italy in the fifteenth century, and
its influence began to make itself felt a little in France at that time.
When the French under Louis XII seized Milan, the magnificence of the
court of Ludovico Sforza, the great duke of Milan, made such an
impression on them that they could not rest content with the old order,
and took home many beautiful things. Italian artisans were also
imported, and as France was ready for the change, their lessons were
learned and the French Renaissance came slowly into existence. This
transition is well shown by the Chateau de Gaillon, built by Cardinal
d'Amboise. Gothic and Renaissance decoration were placed side by side in
panels and furniture, and we also find some pure Gothic decoration as
late as the early part of the sixteenth century, but they were in parts
of France where tradition changed slowly. Styles overlap in every
transition period, so it is often difficult to place the exact date on a
piece of furniture; but the old dies out at last and gives way to the
new.
With the accession of Frances I in 1515 the Renaissance came into its
own in France. He was a great patron of art and letters, and under his
fostering care the people knew new luxuries, new beauties, and new
comforts. He invited Andrea del Sarto and Leonardo da Vinci to come to
France. The word Renaissance means simply revival and it is not
correctly used when we mean a distinct style led or inspired by one
person. It was a great epoch, with individuality as its leading spirit,
led by the inspiration of the Italian artists brought from Italy and
molded by the genius of France. This renewal of classic feeling came at
the psychological moment, for the true spirit of the great Gothic period
had died. The Renaissance movements in Italy, France, England and
Germany all drew their inspiration from the same source, but in each
case the national characteristics entered into the treatment. The
Italians and Germans both used the grotesque a great deal, but the
Germans used it in a coarser and heavier way than the Italians, who used
it esthetically. The French used more especially conventional and
beautiful floral forms, and the inborn French sense of the fitness of
things gave the treatment a wonderful charm and beauty. If one studies
the French chateaux one will feel the true beauty and spirit of the
times--Blois with its history of many centuries, and then some of the
purely Renaissance chateaux, like Chambord. Although great numbers of
Italian artists came to France, one must not think they did all the
beautiful work of the time. The French learned quickly and adapted what
they learned to their own needs, so that the delicate and graceful
decorations brought from Italy became more and more individualized until
in the reign of Henry II the Renaissance reached its high-water mark.
The furniture of the time did not show much change or become more varied
or comfortable. It was large and solid and the chairs had the
satisfactory effect of good proportion, while the general squareness of
outline added to the feeling of solidity. Oak was used, and later
walnut. The chair legs were straight, and often elaborately turned, and
usually had strainers or under framing. Cushions were simply tied on at
first, but the knowledge of upholstering was gaining ground, and by the
time of Louis XIII was well understood. Cabinets had an architectural
effect in their design. The style of the decorative motive changed, but
it is chiefly in architecture and the decorative treatment of it that
one sees the true spirit of the Renaissance. Two men who had great
influence on the style of furniture of the time were Androuet du Cerceau
and Hugues Sambin. They published books of plates that were eagerly
copied in all parts of France. Sambin's influence can be traced in the
later style of Louis XIV.
[Illustration: Louis XIII chair now in the Cluny Museum showing the
Flemish influence.]
[Illustration: A typical Louis XIII chair, many of which were covered
with velvet or tapestry.]
[Illustration: _By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art_
This Gothic chair of the 16th century shows the beautiful linen-fold
design in the carving on the lower panels, and also the keyhole which
made the chest safe when traveling.]
The marriage of Henry II and Catherine de Medici naturally continued the
strong Italian influence. The portion of the Renaissance called after
Henry II lasted about seventy-five years, and corresponds with the
Elizabethan period in England.
During the regency of Marie de Medici, Flemish influence became very
strong, as she invited Rubens to Paris to decorate the Luxembourg. There
were also many Italians called to do the work, and as Rubens had studied
in Italy, Italian influence was not lacking.
Degeneracy began during the reign of Henry IV, as ornament became
meaningless and consistency of decoration was lost in a maze of
superfluous design.
It was in the reign of Louis XIII that furniture for the first time
became really comfortable, and if one examines the engravings of Abraham
Bosse one will see that the rooms have an air of homelikeness as well as
richness. The characteristic chair of the period was short in the back
and square in shape--it was usually covered with leather or tapestry,
fastened to the chair with large brass nails, and the back and seat
often had a fringe. A set of chairs usually consisted of arm-chairs,
plain chairs, folding stools and a _lit-de-repos_. Many of the
arm-chairs were entirely covered with velvet or tapestry, or, if the
woodwork showed, it was stained to harmonize with the covering on the
seat and back.
The twisted columns used in chairs, bedposts, etc., were borrowed from
Italy and were very popular. Another shape often used for chair legs was
the X that shows Flemish influence. The _lit-de-repos_, or
_chaise-longue_, was a seat about six feet long, sometimes with arms and
sometimes not, and with a mattress and bolster. The beds were very
elaborate and very important in the scheme of decoration, as the ladies
of the time held receptions in their bedrooms and the king and nobles
gave audiences to their subjects while in bed. These latter were
therefore necessarily furnished with splendor. The woodwork was usually
covered with the same material as the curtains, or stained to harmonize.
The canopy never reached to the ceiling but was, from floor to top,
about 7 ft. 3 in. high, and the bed was 6-1/2 ft. square. The curtains
were arranged on rods and pulleys, and when closed this "_lit en
housse_" looked like a huge square box. The counterpane, or "_coverture
de parade_," was of the curtain material. The four corners of the canopy
were decorated with bunches of plumes or panache, or with a carved
wooden ornament called pomme, or with a "_bouquet_" of silk. The beds
were covered with rich stuffs, like tapestry, silk, satin, velvet,
cloth-of-gold and silver, etc., all of which were embroidered or trimmed
with gold or silver lace. One of the features of a Louis XIII room was
the tapestry and hangings. A certain look of dignity was given to the
rooms by the general square and heavy outlines of the furniture and the
huge chimney-pieces.
The taste for cabinets kept up and the cabinets and presses were large,
sometimes divided into two parts, sometimes with doors, sometimes with
open frame underneath. The tables were richly carved and gilded, often
ornamented with bronze and copper. The cartouche was used a great deal
in decoration, with a curved surface. This rounded form appears in the
posts used in various kinds of furniture. When rectangles were used they
were always broader than high. The garlands of fruit were heavy, the
cornucopias were slender, with an astonishing amount of fruit pouring
from them, and the work was done in rather low relief. Carved and gilded
mirrors were introduced by the Italians as were also sconces and glass
chandeliers. It was a time of great magnificence, and shadowed forth the
coming glory of Louis XIV. It seems a style well suited to large
dining-rooms and libraries in modern houses of importance.
_Louis XIV_
It is often a really difficult matter to decide the exact boundary lines
between one period and another, for the new style shows its beginnings
before the old one is passed, and the old style still appears during the
early years of the new one. It is an overlapping process and the years
of transition are ones of great interest. As one period follows another
it usually shows a reaction from the previous one; a somber period is
followed by a gay one; the excess of ornament in one is followed by
restraint in the next. It is the same law that makes us want cake when
we have had too much bread and butter.
The world has changed so much since the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries that it seems almost impossible that we should ever again have
great periods of decoration like those of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis
XVI. Then the monarch was supreme. "_L'état c'est moi_," said Louis XIV,
and it was true. He established the great Gobelin works on a basis that
made France the authority of the world and firmly imposed his taste and
his will on the country. Now that this absolute power of one man is a
thing of the past, we have the influence of many men forming and molding
something that may turn into a beautiful epoch of decoration, one that
will have in it some of the feeling that brought the French Renaissance
to its height, though not like it, for we have the same respect for
individuality working within the laws of beauty that they had.
The style that takes its name from Louis XIV was one of great
magnificence and beauty with dignity and a certain solidity in its
splendor. It was really the foundation of the styles that followed, and
a great many people look upon the periods of Louis XIV, the Regency,
Louis XV and Louis XVI as one great period with variations, or ups and
downs--the complete swing and return of the pendulum.
Louis XIV was a man with a will of iron and made it absolute law during
his long reign of seventy-two years. His ideal was splendor, and he
encouraged great men in the intellectual and artistic world to do their
work, and shed their glory on the time. Condé, Turenne, Colbert,
Molière, Corneille, La Fontaine, Racine, Fénélon, Boulle, Le Brun, are a
few among the long and wonderful list. He was indeed Louis the
Magnificent, the Sun King.
One of the great elements toward achieving the stupendous results of
this reign was the establishment of the "Manufacture des Meubles de la
Couronne," or, as it is usually called, "Manufacture des Gobelins."
Artists of all kinds were gathered together and given apartments in the
Louvre and the wonderfully gifted and versatile Le Brun was put at the
head. Tapestry, goldsmiths' work, furniture, jewelry, etc., were made,
and with the royal protection and interest France rose to the position
of world-wide supremacy in the arts. Le Brun had the same taste and love
of magnificence as Louis, and had also extraordinary executive ability
and an almost unlimited capacity for work, combined with the power of
gathering about him the most eminent artists of the time. André Charles
Boulle was one, and his beautiful cabinets, commodes, tables, clocks,
etc., are now almost priceless. He carried the inlay of metals,
tortoise-shell, ivory and beautiful woods to its highest expression, and
the mingling of colors with the exquisite workmanship gave most
wonderful effects. Sheets of white metal or brass were glued together
and the pattern was then cut out. When taken apart the brass scrolls
could be fitted exactly into the shell background, and the shell scrolls
into the brass background, thus making two decorations. The shell
background was the more highly prized. The designs usually had a
Renaissance feeling. The metal was softened in outline by engraving, and
then ormolu mounts were added. Ormolu or gilt bronze mounts, formed one
of the great decorations of furniture. The most exquisite workmanship
was lavished on them, and after they had been cast they were cut and
carved and polished until they became worthy ornaments for beautiful
inlaid tables and cabinets. The taste for elaborately carved and gilded
frames to chairs, tables, mirrors, etc., developed rapidly. Mirrors
were made by the Gobelins works and were much less expensive than the
Venetian ones of the previous reign. Walls were painted and covered with
gold with a lavish hand. Tapestries were truly magnificent with gold and
silver threads adding richness to their beauty of color, and were used
purely as a decoration as well as in the old utilitarian way of keeping
out the cold. The Gobelins works made at this time some of the most
beautiful tapestries the world has known. The massive chimney-pieces
were superseded by the "_petite-cheminée_" and had great mirrors over
them or elaborate over-mantels. The whole air of furnishing and
decoration changed to one of greater lightness and brilliancy. The ideal
was that everything, no matter how small, must be beautiful, and we find
the most exquisite workmanship lavished on window-locks and door-knobs.
[Illustration: One of a set of three rare Louis XIV chairs, beautifully
carved and gilded, and said to have belonged to the great Louis himself.]
In the early style of Louis XIV, we find many trophies of war and
mythological subjects used in the decorative schemes. The second style
of this period was a softening and refining of the earlier one, becoming
more and more delicate until it merged into the time of the Regency. It
was during the reign of Louis XIV that the craze for Chinese decoration
first appeared. _La Chinoiserie_ it was called, and it has daintiness
and a curious fascination about it, but many inappropriate things were
done in its name. The furniture of the time was firmly placed upon the
ground, the arm-chairs had strong straining-rails, square or curved
backs, scroll arms carved and partly upholstered and stuffed seats
and backs. The legs of chairs were usually tapering in form and
ornamented with gilding, or marquetry, or richly carved, and later the
feet ended in a carved leaf design. Some of the straining-rails were in
the shape of the letter X, with an ornament at the intersection, and
often there was a wooden molding below the seat in place of fringe. Many
carved and gilded chairs had gold fringe and braid and were covered with
velvet, tapestry or damask.
[Illustration: _By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art_
Inlaid desk with beautifully chiselled ormolu mounts.]
[Illustration: Rare Louis XIV chair, showing the characteristic
underbracing.]
There were many new and elaborate styles of beds that came into fashion
at this time. There was the _lit d'ange_, which had a canopy that did
not extend over the entire bed, and had no pillars at the foot, the
curtains were drawn back at the head and the counterpane went over the
foot of the bed. There was the _lit d'alcove_, the _lit de bout_, _lit
clos_, _lit de glace_, with a mirror framed in the ceiling, and many
others. A _lit de parade_ was like the great bed of Louis XIV at
Versailles.
Both the tall and bracket clocks showed this same love of ornament and
they were carved and gilded and enriched with chased brass and wonderful
inlay by Boulle. The dials also were beautifully designed. Consoles,
tables, cabinets, etc., were all treated in this elaborate way. Many of
the ceilings were painted by great artists, and those at Versailles,
painted by Le Brun and others, are good examples. There was always a
combination of the straight line and the curve, a strong feeling of
balance, and a profusion of ornament in the way of scrolls, garlands,
shells, the acanthus, anthemion, etc. The moldings were wide and
sometimes a torus of laurel leaves was used, but in spite of the great
amount of ornament lavished on everything, there is the feeling of
balance and symmetry and strength that gives dignity and beauty.
Louis was indeed fortunate in having the great Colbert for one of his
ministers. He was a man of gigantic intellect, capable of originating
and executing vast schemes. It was to his policy of state patronage,
wisely directed, and energetically and lavishly carried out, that we owe
the magnificent achievements of this period.
Everywhere the impression is given of brilliancy and splendor--gold on
the walls, gold on the furniture, rich velvets and damasks and
tapestries, marbles and marquetry and painting, furniture worth a king's
ransom. It all formed a beautiful and fitting background for the proud
king, who could do no wrong, and the dazzling, care-free people who
played their brilliant, selfish parts in the midst of its splendor. They
never gave a thought to the great mass of the common people who were
over-burdened with taxation; they never heard the first faint mutterings
of discontent which were to grow, ever louder and louder, until the
blood and horror of the Revolution paid the debt.
_The Regency and Louis XV_
When Louis XIV died in 1715, his great-grandson, Louis XV, was but five
years old, so Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, became Regent. During the last
years of Louis XIV's life the court had resented more or less the gloom
cast over it by the influence of Madame de Maintenon, and turned with
avidity to the new ruler. He was a vain and selfish man, feeling none of
the responsibilities of his position, and living chiefly for pleasure.
The change in decoration had been foreshadowed in the closing years of
the previous reign, and it is often hard to say whether a piece of
furniture is late Louis XIV or Regency.
The new gained rapidly over the old, and the magnificent and stately
extravagance of Louis XIV turned into the daintier but no less
extravagant and rich decoration of the Regency and Louis XV. One of the
noticeable changes was that rooms were smaller, and the reign of the
boudoir began. It has been truly said that after the death of Louis XIV
"came the substitution of the finery of coquetry for the worship of the
great in style." There was greater variety in the designs of furniture
and a greater use of carved metal ornament and gilt bronze, beautifully
chased. The ornaments took many shapes, such as shells, shaped foliage,
roses, seaweed, strings of pearls, etc., and at its best there was
great beauty in the treatment.
It was during the Regency that the great artist and sculptor in metal,
Charles Cressant, flourished. He was made _ébeniste_ of the Regent, and
his influence was always to keep up the traditions when the reaction
against the severe might easily have led to degeneration. There are
beautiful examples of his work in many of the great collections of
furniture, notably the wonderful commode in the Wallace collection. The
dragon mounts of ormolu on it show the strong influence the Orient had
at the time. He often used the figures of women with great delicacy on
the corners of his furniture, and he also used tortoise-shell and many
colored woods in marquetry, but his most wonderful work was done in
brass and gilded bronze.
In 1723, when Louis was thirteen years old, he was declared of age and
became king. The influence of the Regent was, naturally, still strong,
and unfortunately did much to form the character of the young king.
Selfishness, pleasure, and low ideals, were the order of court life, and
paved the way for the debased taste for rococo ornament which was one
marked phase of the style of Louis XV.
The great influence of the Orient at this time is very noticeable. There
had been a beginning of it in the previous reign, but during the Regency
and the reign of Louis XV it became very marked. "_Singerie_" and
"_Chinoiserie_" were the rage, and gay little monkeys clambered and
climbed over walls and furniture with a careless abandon that had a
certain fascination and charm in spite of their being monkeys. The
"_Salon des Singes_" in the Chateau de Chantilly gives one a good idea
of this. The style was easily overdone and did not last a great while.
During this time of Oriental influence lacquer was much used and
beautiful lacquer panels became one of the great features of French
furniture. Pieces of furniture were sent to China and Japan to be
lacquered and this, combined with the expense of importing it, led many
men in France to try to find out the Oriental secret. Le Sieur Dagly was
supposed to have imported the secret and was established at the Gobelins
works where he made what was called "_vernis de Gobelins_."