Louis XV. period is a long one. It includes: Boffrand, Le Roux, Oudry,
Brisseux, Huquier, Pineau, Mondon, Cuvilliés, Gravelot, Boucher,
Blondel, Babel, Germain, Marvye, Chedel, Jombert, Babin, Cochin,
Pillement, Peyrotte, Eisen, Demarteau and Martinet. These are the great
masters of the style. The principal smaller ones are: Aubert, Crepy,
Vassy, Bachelier, Roumier, Vervien, Caylus, Lassurance, Lange, La
Collombe, Dubois, Bouchardon, Prevost, Le Grand, Fraisse, Blanchard,
Marsenois, De La Cour, Canuc, Poulleau, Mollet, Mansart, De Jouy,
Perault, Dumont, Aveline, Cornille, Chamblin, Bellay, Vanerve,
Pelletier, Paty, Chopart, Borch, La Datte, Lamour, Girard, Ballechou,
Herisset, Hubert, Metayer, Servandoni, Sloiste, Caque, L’Hermitais, Roy,
Duval, François, Charpentier, Lebas, Radel, De Lorme, Courtelle,
Viriclix, Tessier, Lattre, De Laborde and Harpin.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX]
One of the cabinet-makers who best produced the ideas of Meissonier was
Jacques Caffieri (b. 1678), who was “_sculpteur, fondeur et ciseleur du
roi_.” Even if he did not himself manufacture, he directed the
production of splendid cabinet-work. His work is distinguished by grace
and aristocratic elegance. He executed a great quantity of bronze for
the famous cabinet-maker, Œben. Many extant works bear the mark of a C
surmounted by a _fleur-de-lis_, and these are usually attributed to this
master, but the great inequality of excellence makes many critics
doubtful. Œben was a pupil of Boulle, and devoted himself exclusively to
the branch of marquetry in cabinet-making, leaving the metal decoration
to his assistants, Caffieri and Duplessis. His work was in the greatest
favour with Madame de Pompadour, who bought it through the merchant
Duvaux, one of whose best customers was the king himself. Œben died
about 1756, and his works helped to furnish all the mansions and castles
of the _Marquise_ and King in Paris, Fontainebleau, Compiégne,
Versailles, Bellevue, Crécy, Champs, Saint-Ouen, and la Celle
Saint-Cloud. His widow married his foreman, J. Henri Riesener. The other
great cabinet-makers of this period whose works are to be found in the
Rothschild, Wallace, South Kensington, and other famous collections, are
Bernard, Boudin, Ollivier, Dubois and Cremer, who worked principally in
artificially coloured marquetry, and Gamier, Pafrat and Roubo. The
latter wrote a very valuable treatise called _L’Art du menuisier_.
The taste for Chinese and Japanese art was very insistent, but at the
same time only skin-deep. There was no true feeling for the profundity
of the wonderful art in the patient work that produced the Chinese and
Japanese lacquer. It was regarded as a toy. However, progress is
noticeable, and fashion gladly welcomed the art products of the Far
East. In _Angola_, a novel within the period, we read: “Upon my word!”
says the Count to the Countess, “you have a splendid chimney-furnishing,
and those Chinese cabinets are charming. Is this the _rue du Roule_?[16]
I am simply crazy about that little man. Everything that he sells is so
expensive and scarce.” “Oh,” says the Countess, “it is a pretty good
selection.” “Well,” replies the Marquis, “there is simply a divine taste
in everything there. There are little divinities in the most wonderful
forms. This one, for instance; this and your fool of a husband are as
like as two peas.” Another description from the same work and in the
same tone tells us a “_lit de repos_, in a niche of damask, coloured
rose and silver, looked like an altar consecrated to delight; an immense
screen surrounded it, and the rest of the furniture was in perfect
accord with it; consoles, jasper corner-shelves, China cabinets loaded
with the most rare pieces of porcelain, and the chimney-piece was
decorated with corpulent gods of the most wonderful and clownish
shapes.”
These Chinese cabinets were principally of lacquer, more or less adapted
to French demand. Just as soon as the French taste required Oriental
goods, orders were sent abroad and the “Heathen Chinee” was quick to
supply the foreign market. The native art was gladly modified by the
merchants in accordance with the demands of foreign trade. Sometimes
even French and other goods were transported to China to have the
finishing touches added there. Of course, the time came when native
craftsmen tried to meet the demands of fashion by imitations of the
Eastern ware. The trouble was that for a long time the home workmen
could not produce the proper varnish and make a satisfactory lacquer.
Some workmen boldly used native varnishes without attempting to imitate
the Chinese and Japanese, and produced charming work of the most
delicate finish; but these, unfortunately, scarcely outlasted the
special entertainment for which they were manufactured. The undoubted
chiefs of these varnishers were the Martins. In 1744, a decree of the
Council allowed “_au Sieur Étienne Martin le cadet exclusivement à tous
autres, à l’exception du Sieur Guillaume Martin_,” the privilege of
manufacturing for twenty years all kinds of relief-work in the Japanese
and Chinese taste. In addition to the above-mentioned, we must not
forget the brothers Julien and Robert. The number of panels, carriages,
sedan-chairs, boxes and ceilings and walls that they varnished is
innumerable. The rage for their work was such that the wonderful
Boulle-work in marquetry on the walls of Versailles that Louis XIV. had
had executed for his son were destroyed and replaced by Martin
decorations on a green background. They also did a lot of work for
Madame de Pompadour at Bellevue. Their fame spread, so that Frederick
the Great summoned Robert’s son, J. A. Martin, to decorate Sans Souci.
Voltaire even thought the Martin work worth writing couplets in its
praise.
Like all fads, the _Vernis Martin_ aroused criticism and enmity.
Mirabeau indignantly denounces the “_voitures Vernis par Martin_.”
Notwithstanding jealousy and abuse, the _Vernis Martin_ held its own,
and to-day is a thing of great price. Good as it was, it could not
compare with the Japanese and Chinese lacquer, and the specimens that
have survived are relatively scarce. It may be interesting to note that
the old lacquers that sunk in the shipwreck of the _Nile_, in 1874, near
Yokohama, were found practically uninjured a year afterwards. At the
same time, the modern products of Kioto and Yeddo were entirely
destroyed.
In the Louis XV. period, the word apartment means a complete suite of
living-rooms. There are three kinds of apartments, large, medium and
small. A large apartment consists of a vestibule, a first ante-chamber,
a second ante-chamber, a principal chamber, a _salon_ or company-room
(reception-room or drawing-room), a bedroom and several cabinets
(studies), and _garde-robe_ (wardrobe rooms). The medium apartment has
fewer rooms and the small apartment still fewer. However, to be
complete, the smallest apartments must comprise four rooms,—an
ante-chamber, a chamber, a cabinet (dressing-room) and a _garde-robe_ (a
wardrobe), to which a small staircase leads. Each room has its own
especial decoration. First comes the vestibule. This is a passage
leading into the apartment. It is ornamented with columns, or pilasters,
and circular niches, in which statues are placed. The ante-chamber comes
next to the vestibule, and is destined for the servants. This room is
ornamented in simple style: the woodwork of the doors and windows gives
it its chief decoration, but mirrors and handsome paintings are often
hung on the walls, and sometimes the corners are rounded for the sake of
effect. This room frequently contains a stove, so that the cold air from
the vestibule may be tempered before it reaches the inner apartments.
Next comes the second ante-chamber, where the servants who are in direct
attendance upon the master wait. Sometimes this room is used for a
dining-room, or a drawing-room. If used as a drawing-room, the woodwork
is more or less richly carved, handsomely framing mirrors and pictures.
Console-tables with marble slabs stand underneath the mirrors,
contributing to the decoration of the room and exhibiting handsome
vases, ornaments, etc. Sometimes the walls are adorned with rich
tapestries reaching to the wainscot, which is of the same height as the
slab of the chimney-piece. When used as a dining-room, the buffet is the
chief feature. After indicating the place of the buffet, D’Aviler says:
“The buffet can be incrusted with marble or Portland stone, or
wainscotted with woodwork. This consists of a recess which occupies one
entire side of the room; here you place a table of marble or stone
supported on consoles, beneath which you may stand a small stone basin
for cooling the wine bottles. On each side of the table is a deep niche,
ornamented with aquatic attributes, such as Tritons, dolphins and
mascarons of gilded lead, which throw water into the little basins
below, from which it escapes, as well as into the basin underneath the
table. The back of the buffet is ornamented with a little gallery with
consoles, above which is hung a picture, usually representing fruits or
flowers, a concert of music, or other pleasant subjects. This one
(represented in D’Aviler’s book) represents upon a background of
foliage, grapes and birds, a bust of Comus’s God of Festivity, upon
which two little Satyrs are placing a crown of flowers and grapes.”
The chamber is the principal room in an apartment. Formerly it included
all the rooms inhabited by the master except the vestibules, salons,
peristyles and galleries.
The bedroom is the sleeping-room where the bed is placed. As a rule,
this faces the windows. The decoration cannot be too rich, but this does
not mean an overloading of ornament, as the best adornment consists of
panels, mirrors and pictures well distributed. The large mirror is hung
between the two windows opposite the bed, and below it is placed a
console-table of gilded wood with a marble slab. Each window is
furnished with a seat and has glass panes and an outside railing. On
each side of the window, in the corners of the room, are pilasters, like
those that decorate the rest of the room. Opposite the chimney-piece is
another glass, beneath which stands a rich commode. Pictures are placed
over the doors and mirrors.
The bedroom may also be hung with tapestries of silk like the hangings
of the bed. The pattern should be of large floral branches and leaves.
The _chambre de parade_ demands the handsomest kind of furniture. Here
visits of ceremony are received. A magnificent bed stands here in a rich
alcove, or is separated by a balustrade from the rest of the room. The
railing is quite high, gilded, and terminates in Corinthian columns.
Carved panels with pilasters, painted white and brightened with gold,
decorate the walls. A rich cornice, ornamented with consoles, and whose
metopes are enriched with bas-reliefs and trophies, runs around these
panels. The ceiling should be tastefully painted, and pictures, mirrors
and handsome furniture should complete the decoration.
White and gold, according to D’Aviler, is the most elegant composition,
especially if the wall behind the balustrade, where the bed is placed,
is covered with a tapestry of blue silk, and the bed hung with blue and
white curtains, ornamented with gold braid. The form of this room is
important: (1) it must be deeper than wide, so that, if the space
occupied by the bed is excepted, the room is square; (2) the windows
must be opposite the bed; (3) the chimney-piece must mark the centre of
the room and be exactly opposite the principal entrance.
As a rule, the _salon_ is rectangular. Its proportions are 4 to 3 or 2
to 1. There are square, round, oval and octagonal _salons_. Sometimes
Corinthian columns are used for decoration and to frame the mirrors and
pictures. The decoration is left largely to the taste of the owner, but
whatever is chosen must be of great richness and charm, because the
_salon_ is supposed to be “a retreat after a day spent in hunting or
after a walk.” Here the inmates and guests gather to enjoy the evening
with cards or conversation and light refreshments.
The cabinet is a little room in the apartment, consecrated to study. It
should be secluded and removed from all noise. As a rule, it is between
the ante-chamber and the bedroom. The morning hours are usually passed
in the cabinet. The servants go into the bedroom through the exits by
the bed, and the master or mistress is undisturbed in his cabinet, which
is decorated in the simplest kind of fashion so as not to take the
thought away from study. Sometimes the cabinet consists of three little
rooms, one _arrière-cabinet_ where books, etc., are kept and which is
very private (_cabinet secret_); the next is a _serre-papier_, where
titles, contracts, business papers and money are kept; while the third
is a kind of wardrobe and toilet-room, which communicates with the
bedroom, and has an exit for the servants. The name cabinet is also
given to the room where the ladies make their toilette, have their
oratory, or take their noonday rest.
The _garde-robe_ is the room where the clothes are kept and where the
body-servants sleep. Some architects like a chimney-piece here, for the
sake of an occasional fire.
Such is the arrangement and decoration of the large apartments. It will
be noticed that carved panels, with or without pilasters, and panelled
doors surmounted by paintings or panes of glass occur in nearly every
room. The wall decorations are important. D’Aviler says:
[Illustration: PLATE XXXI]
“The paintings in the spaces above the doors or other parts of the room
should, especially in the first rooms, show the qualities of the master,
or his exploits, so as to announce by these allegories the respect due
to the person who lives there.”
One of the favourite ways of arranging the bedroom, particularly for the
small apartment, was to place the bed in a niche, from which
circumstance the room received the name of _chambre en niche_. D’Aviler
describes it as follows:
“As for the _chambre en niche_, the bed is viewed from the front; an
arm-chair may stand on either side, the alcove being ten to eleven feet
wide. If it is smaller, the bed must be turned sideways, and the width
of the alcove must not be more than the length of the bed, its depth
also being restricted to the breadth of the bed. (See Plate XXIX.) This
will cause it to be called a niche, and the room will also receive the
same name. In this case, for the sake of symmetry, a false bolster is
placed at the foot of the bed, which has caused it to be called the
two-bolster bed (_lit à deux chevets_). These rooms are usually covered
with carpentry, all the mouldings and ornaments of which are gilded.
Sometimes people content themselves with varnish.”
D’Aviler, however, greatly prefers the _chambre en alcove_ to the
_chambre en niche_, and goes on to explain that the alcove is the part
of the bedroom in which the bed is placed. “Usually the top of it is
formed by a parallel headpiece of carpentry work, accompanied by two
other panels vertical or perpendicular to it. Sometimes, also, it is
separated from the rest of the room by an _estrade_, or by several
columns or other architectural ornaments. This makes quite a fine
effect, and it is susceptible of great decoration. Besides the
magnificence in sculpture, painting and gilding, of which the panels are
susceptible, the back of the alcoves may also be adorned with mirrors;
which light up the room and do away with the deep shadows which a bed
almost always produces in a room. This kind of strengthening has a
peculiar usefulness when it is well placed or arranged in a room; there
is then enough space remaining on both sides for small wardrobes, or at
least entrances into other wardrobes. The alcove is thus accompanied by
two doors with glass in them to admit light into these little wardrobes,
and they may be very richly decorated.”
In Blondel’s _Maisons de plaisance_ (1734), he gives us a very clear
insight into the arrangement and furnishing of a fashionable, though
somewhat modest, house of the period. We cannot do better than
paraphrase his recommendations.
As the building is intended to receive only a few people at a time, all
the rooms, with the exception of the _Salon_, in case of a reception,
are not very large.
“The vestibule is graceful in form; in the four angles are niches with
statues. The four doors are symmetrically arranged. The outside door
faces that leading to the _Salon_. This room is high in proportion to
its size. The decoration is of woodwork, painted white, without gilding,
because it is so situated as to serve as a passage to the outer rooms
around it. However, the servants having the vestibule for retirement and
the _Salon_ being then able to be occupied by the masters, it is
therefore adorned with pictures, sculpture and mirrors. In cold weather,
there is a fire here for those who want to warm themselves after their
different amusements, the apartments to the right and left being
reserved for the relaxation of the masters of the house.
“On the right of the _Salon_ is a room for play. Opposite the windows
that light it, is a niche for a sofa, and in the two angles are recesses
for cabinets for holding the chess, tric-trac, counters, etc. Opposite
the chimney-piece, the wall is panelled and carved, the ornaments being
varnished and gilded.
“All these small rooms being intended for recreation of the mind,
nothing should be neglected to render the decoration fine and gay. It is
here that genius may soar and abandon itself to the vivacity of its
caprices, whilst in the _apartments de parade_ it must restrict itself
to the most rigid rules of conduct and good taste, and not fall into the
unrestrained liberties of the carving of to-day, which should be
banished with all the more reason that true architects scarcely tolerate
them in the rooms we are now describing.
“This play-room leads into another one where coffee is served. Here
Indian and Chinese plants and figures have full licence to take part in
the decoration: here they are naturally befitting; and, in my opinion,
this is the sole place where they should be admitted.
“Next we enter a _cabinet en niche_, oval in form, which is lighted by a
glass door that leads into a little bosquet, which serves as a private
promenade for this chamber. Opposite this door is a chimney-piece in an
arcade which matches the arcade in which the _lit en niche_ is
contained, and opposite which another of the same form is imitated, or
the door leading into this room. In this doorway is a staircase leading
up to the _entresols_ that are over this room and a little room behind
it, which are intended for the servants’ sleeping-rooms.
“From the coffee-room you enter a gallery that terminates the right side
of this building. This gallery is symmetrically decorated, and the
spaces between the windows are enriched with mirrors and consoles on
which are placed various curios, such as bronzes, crystals, porcelains,
etc.
“From this gallery you enter the garden.
“To the right of the _Salon_ is a billiard room of a shape appropriate
to its use. Ornaments, mirrors and pictures rarely form part of the
decoration of this kind of a room on account of the accidents incidental
to this game; and the walls are simply covered with large panelling.
“This billiard room leads into a room which in turn leads into a
_chambre en niche_; it may be ornamented with tapestries above a
wainscot. As for the _chambre en niche_, its walls should be covered
with carpentry work all the way up. This will preserve it from the
humidity it might have, being on the ground floor, and which always
attacks apartments that are not constantly occupied. The decoration is
perfectly symmetrical. To combine pleasure and convenience, I have
arranged close to it a small _garde-robe_ that is lighted from and opens
into a little court. On each side of the niche that contains the bed,
there is a door; one serves as a passage into the _garde-robe_, and the
other opens into a recess for keeping the linen in and keeping under key
whatever the master desires.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXII]
“The little court communicates with the kitchens.
“The dining-room on the right of the vestibule is of an irregular form.
The chimney-piece faces the two windows; the angles of the superfices on
which it is placed are rounded, and in them I have placed niches for
marble tables, on which can be set the silver, crystal and dessert,
during the repast, and afterwards be put away in the closet next to this
room.
“On the other side of the vestibule, is the common room in which the
servants dine. Next to it come the kitchens.”
When the dining-room is separate from the suite, it is usually situated
on the ground floor, near the large stairway. The architects of the day
insisted that it should be well lighted, and, if possible, open upon a
garden. The floor was of parquetry, and the walls wainscotted in oak and
sometimes carved; yet it was not unusual to have the panels carved,
painted white and gilded. The buffet with its fountain and wine-cooler
was the centre of attraction. The curtains were of silk, the chairs were
upholstered and the floor warmed by a carpet or rugs laid. On the
mantel-piece stood a clock and candelabra, and sconces and chandelier
holding many candles brightly illuminated the rooms.
One of the changes of this reign was the appearance of the _petit salon_
and _boudoir_, smaller rooms beautifully and comfortably furnished,
which were more adapted for intimate social life.
“In order to find useful furniture,” says Jacquemart, “we must pass to
the reign of Louis XV., the king who deserted the state apartments for
by-places with secret doors and back staircases.”
The Palais Soubise in Paris, the ancient home of the Guises, and the
home of the Prince de Soubise, a favourite of Louis XV. and a devoted
friend of Madame de Pompadour, is happily extant. The Prince de Soubise
took for his second wife, his cousin, Anne Julie Charbot de Rohan, so
celebrated for her beauty and her intrigues. The embellishments at the
Hôtel de Soubise were begun by them in 1704 and continued by their son,
the Duc de Rohan, who died in 1749, and the decorations of this mansion
are considered among the triumphs of the “_élégances raffinées_” of the
Eighteenth Century. Germain Boffrand, a pupil of Mansart, is responsible
for the interior architecture.
The two floors in which the Prince and Princess had their apartments
were laid out identically. The Prince occupied the _rez-de-chaussée_, or
ground-floor, consisting of a bedroom, a _Salon oval_ and ante-chambers,
etc.
The bedroom communicated directly with the _Salon oval_ and the many
windows and glass doors of the latter opened upon a formal French
garden. The decorations of these rooms were in the pale grey tone known
as _gris de lin_. There were no bright colours and no mythological
pictures of love and gallantry. The panels were laden with beautiful
wood carvings, and in the upper part between the archivolts of the doors
and windows were eight allegorical groups representing the arts and
sciences. Music, Justice, Painting and Poetry, History and Fame were
painted by Lambert Sigisbert Adam; and Astronomy, Architecture, Comedy
and the Drama by Jean Baptiste Lemoine.