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 Ébenistes--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."
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,[12] 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 even 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 their 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 Château 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. Several illustrations of these examples will be found
in this chapter.
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, into which
designs of furniture were admitted. The celebrated Gobelins tapestry
factory was also established; and it was here that 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 Andre Charles Boulle, generally spelt Boule. 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 tortoise-shell, 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,[13] 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.
PERIOD: LOUIS XIV.]
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 bandsaw; 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-hand
and two left-hand 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 _Musée 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 page 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 page 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 Mr. Jones 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 characterizes 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 rams' heads, the scrolls of the foliage, are also
very bold in specimens of this class of Boule's work; and the "sun" (that
is, a mask with rays of light radiating from it) 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 had its votaries and imitators
now, as it had in its own time. The word one frequently finds misspelt
"Buhl," and the term has come to represent any similar mode of decoration
of 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 of Louis XIV., 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 color 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
followed the 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: BOUDOIR FURNISHED IN THE TASTE THE 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. 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
_fauteuils_, 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. A short account of these factories will be found in
the Appendix.
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 at the best, and the tapestry not too much worn, if
offered for public competition, would probably realize between £3,000 and
£4,000.[14]
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 be easily 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 is 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 vignette.
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
Régence_, and is a landmark in the history of furniture.
[Illustration: BOULE COMMODE.
Probably made during the period of the Regency.
(_Musée 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.]
[Illustration: PANEL FOR A SCREEN.
Painted by Watteau. PERIOD OF THE REGENCY.]
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 its imitation in "compo." 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.[15]
[Illustration: CONSOLE TABLE, CARVED AND GILT.
(_Collection of M. Double, Paris._)]
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, Beauvais, and Aubusson, 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 elegant cabinet, called
_Bouheur du jour_ (a little cabinet mounted on a table); the small round
occasional table, called a _guéridon;_ 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.
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 "FAUTEUIL."
Upholstered with Beauvais tapestry. Subject from La Fontaine's Fables.]
During the preceding reign, the Chinese lacquer-work then in use was
imported from the East, the fashion for collecting which had set in 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.
_Ébenistes_, too, prepared such parts of woodwork as were desired to be
ornamented in this manlier, 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 noting certain trifling details in the costumes
and foliage of decoration, not strictly Oriental in character.
[Illustration: COMMODE.
With Panels of fine old Lacquer 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 work, which became known as Vernis-Martin, or Martins'
Varnish; and it is a singular coincidence 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 colors; 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: COMMODE.
In Parqueterie, with massive mountings of Gilt Bronze, probably by
Caffieri.
(_Formerly in the Hamilton Palace Collection. Purchased (Wertheimer)
£6,247 10s._)
LOUIS XV. PERIOD.]
[Illustration: PART OF A SALON.
Decorated in the Louis Quinze style, shewing the carved and gilt Console
Table and Mirror, with other enrichments, _en suite_.]
The gilt bronze mountings of the furniture of this time 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 color 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 extremely costly
to produce.
[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.]
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 XI. 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
_páte 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.
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. The arm chair, or _fauteuil_, with upholstered instead
of open sides, was introduced into the suite of tapestry furniture, and
the term by which it is known, "_chaise bergère_," seems to be a sign of
the fashion of the day.
Without doubt, the most important examples of _meubles de luxe_ of this
reign is the famous "Bureau du Roi," made for Louis XV. in 1769, and which
is fully described in the inventory of the "Garde Meuble" in the year
1775, under No. 2541. The description is very minute, and is fully quoted
by M. Williamson in his valuable work, "Les Meubles d'Art du Mobilier
National," occupying in space 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
Riesener'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, á l'arsenal de Paris." Riesener is said to have
received the order for this celebrated piece of furniture--of which a
full-page illustration is given--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
occupied about two years.
This celebrated chef d'œuvre 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 was 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 now offered
for sale, between fifteen and twenty thousand pounds.
A similar bureau is in the Hertford Wallace collection, which was made
to the order of Stanilaus, King of Poland; and a copy of it, 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. Between the
publishing of the third and fourth editions of this book, this valuable
collection, under the will of the late Lady Wallace, passed into the
possession of the English nation, and the fine specimens of furniture
which it contains are now available for reference.
LOUIS XVI. AND MARIE ANTOINETTE.
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 _bourgeoisie_ 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 régime, architecture became more simple. Broken
scrolls were replaced by straight lines, curves and arches were introduced
when justified, and columns and pilasters reappeared in the ornamental
façade 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 find 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 Fragonard or Chardin; and portraits of innocent children
by Greuze replaced the courting shepherds and mythological goddesses of
Boucher and Lancret. Sculpture, too, became 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 was
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 as 1750, they can scarcely be the
immediate cause; the reason most probably is that a return 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 fluting plain and without ornament.
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 were generally fluted, as noted above,
tapering towards the feet, and were 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 3ft. 6in. 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 having on each side a
scroll with a head and foliage (the only ornament characteristic of Louis
Quinze style) connecting leg and frieze. It was made for the Trianon, and
the date is just one year after Marie Antoinette's marriage. M. Williamson
quotes verbatim the memorandum of which it was the subject:--"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.
An illustration of this table precedes this page.
The maker of this piece of furniture was the same Riesener whose
masterpiece is the magnificent _Bureau du Roi_ in the Louvre, to which we
have already alluded. 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 shew much variety, 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 was 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'œuvres_, and 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 almost impossible to represent 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, then 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._)]
The fine work of Riesener required to be mounted by an artist of equal
merit, and in Gouthière he was most fortunate. There is a famous clock
case in the Hertford or Wallace collection, fully signed "Gouthière,
ciseleur et doreur du roi à Paris Quai Pelletier, á la Boucle d'or, 1771."
Gouthière worked, however, chiefly in conjunction with Riesener and David
Roentgen for the adornment of their marqueterie.
[Illustration: BEDSTEAD OF MARIE ANTOINETTE.
From Fontainebleau. Collection "Mobilier National."
(_From a pen and ink drawing by H. Evans._)
PERIOD: LOUIS XVI.]
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
may be regarded as the _chef d'œuvre_ 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, to which the more jewel-like
mounting of this time is better adapted than the rococo style which was in
vogue during the preceding reign.
[Illustration: ARM CHAIR OF LOUIS XVI. STYLE.]
The upholstered furniture became simpler in design; the sofas and chairs
have generally, but not invariably, straight fluted tapering legs, which
sometimes have the flutings spiral instead of perpendicular: 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. The legs of small occasional pieces, like
those of the chairs, are occasionally carved. 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, as an almost invariable
rule, he adopted, 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. Collection "Mobilier National."
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 David, 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 handi-craftsmen 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 for a period dating 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 influence in a great many examples of the work
of Flemish, German, English, and Spanish cabinet makers. Some of these
are worthy of mention, and will repay a careful examination. One of them
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 also, which, with the specimens just described, may
be seen in the Bethnal Green Museum, all manifest the influence of the
French school, when the bombé-fronted commodes and the curved lines of
chairs and tables 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 designed and made
by some of the English craftsmen of the latter half of the eighteenth
century. Of Italy it may be observed generally that the Renaissance of
Raffaelle, 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 just 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,
proving 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;
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, are characteristic of the country. The
design of the chairs in the preceding illustration 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 Norway.
[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 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.
The money value alone of this collection of furniture, porcelain, bronzes,
and _articles de vertû_, 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. _See Appendix, p. 266._]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 12: The present decorations of the Palace of Versailles were
carried out about 1830, under Louis Phillipe. "Versailles Galeries
Historiques," par C. Gavard, is a work of 13 vols. devoted to the
illustration of the pictures, portraits, statues, busts, and various
decorative contents of the Palace.]
[Footnote 13: For description of method of gilding the mounts of
furniture, see Appendix.]
[Footnote 14: NOTE.--Since the first edition of this book was published
in 1892, the value of really fine old French furniture has considerably
risen, and the above-named estimate of the auction price of such a suite
of furniture as is described would have to be doubled.]
[Footnote 15: Watteau, 1684-1721. Lancret, _b._ 1690, _d._ 1743. Boucher,
_b._ 1703, _d._ 1770.]