and inclosed within each other when not wanted are known as quartette
and trio tables. These are used at entertainments, like the “rout
chairs,” which are “small painted chairs with rush bottoms let out by
cabinet-makers for hire for routs and other entertainments, whence their
name.”
Among Sheraton’s latest chairs there is an arm-chair with a movable
desk, having branching candle-sconces,—useful for the library; another
is a “hunting-chair,” with a square back and wings “stuffed all over
except the legs which are of mahogany and having a slide out frame in
front to make a resting-place for one that is fatigued, as hunters
usually are.” There is also a “tub easy chair,” “stuffed all over and
intended for sick persons, being both easy and warm; for the side wings
coming quite forward keep out the cold air.” Another is a _bergère_ with
a caned back and seat, supplied with loose cushions. “The stumps and
legs are turned and the frames are generally painted.”
This _bergère_ is dated 1803, when Sheraton recommends cane of “a fine
light straw colour.” He writes: “Caning cabinet work is now more in use
than it was ever known to be at any former period. About 30 years since,
it was gone quite out of fashion. But on the revival of japanning
furniture, it began to be brought gradually into use, and to a state of
improvement, so that at present it is introduced into several pieces of
furniture, which it was not a few years past, as the ends of beds framed
in mahogany, and then caned for the purpose of keeping in the bed
clothes. Sometimes the bottom of beds are caned. Small borders round the
backs of mahogany parlour chairs which look neat. Bed steps are caned.
“The commonest kind made of one skain only is called bead-work and runs
open. The best work is termed bordering and is of three skains, some of
which is done very fine and close with the skains less than a sixteenth
broad, so that it is worked as fine apparently as some canvas.”
Two of Sheraton’s original designs show the Empire influence. One is the
curricle which appears on Plate LXII., No. 12. Sheraton named these
chairs “from their being shaped like that kind of carriage. These may
claim entire originality, and are well adapted for dining-parlours,
being of a strong form easy and conveniently low affording easier access
to a dining-table than the commonest kind. The size of the front may be
two feet over all and nearly that from back to front.”
His other original design is the “Herculaneum,” “which I have so named
on account of their antique style of composition.” They are for “rooms
not only fitted up in the antique taste, but where apartments are
appropriated for the purpose of exhibiting ancient or modern
curiosities; and we particularly recommend them for the use of
music-rooms.”
He also presents “conversation chairs,” which are exactly the _voyeuse_.
(See pages 32 and 278.)
THE EMPIRE PERIOD
[Illustration]
THE EMPIRE PERIOD
We have already seen in the Louis XVI. period indications of the
approaching Empire style; and noted that Lalonde leads directly into the
models of Percier and Fontaine. There was, however, a short transitional
period covering the years 1795 to 1799, when, after the Reign of Terror,
the Directoire endeavoured to restore order in France. It was but
natural that a society that held in high reverence the memories of the
ancient republics of Greece and Rome should develop the “antique taste”
under the guidance of “philosophic artists.”
As early as 1790, a writer exclaims: “We have changed everything;
liberty, now consolidated in France, has restored the pure taste of the
antique, which must not be confounded with the old Gothic taste. Hide
yourselves, Boulle marquetry, knots of ribbon and rosettes of gilt
bronze _or moulu_, bright and shining! Hide yourselves, hide yourselves,
marvels of Bernard! Now is the hour when objects must be made to
harmonize with circumstances!” “The boudoir,—the very sanctuary of
coquetry—became a political cabinet,” says de Goncourt, who goes on to
inform us that the charming pictures of Boucher, Fragonard, Lawrence,
and Lagrenées had to give place to caricatures and revolting prints of
the hour, while pictures of the destroyed Bastille supplanted graceful
mythological subjects.
“France,” he continues, “wished to dwell in the scenery of a tragedy,
with a Spartan body, in Etruscan chairs made of mahogany whose backs
were in the form of shovels, or two trumpets and a thyrsus bound
together. After these chairs she reclined in antique arm-chairs whose
framework was coloured bronze. She heard the hours strike from that
civic clock representing the federative altar of the _Champ de Mars_
with columns of marble and gilded bronze, and attributes of liberty. She
slept in ‘patriotic beds.’ In the place of the bunches of feathers, caps
were now placed on top of the fasces of lances that formed the
bed-posts; beds represented the triumphal arch erected in the _Champ de
Mars_[26] on the day of the Confederation. She also slept in the ‘_lit à
la Fédération_,’ of four columns in the form of fasces grooved and
painted in greyish white varnished, with the stems of the fasces gilded,
as well as the axes and iron supports of the canopy.”
Caffieri no longer designed the lustres and sconce-arms of _or moulu_;
the candelabra were now of porcelain, and represented Apollo and Daphne.
These figures were flesh-coloured. The body of Daphne was half covered
with the bark of the laurel, her head with green leaves, and her two
hands turning into branches supported two gilded sconces.
[Illustration: PLATE LXIV]
The geometrical panels of the new drawing-rooms were coloured that deep
brown, mingled with several other colours, which received the name
_genre étrusque_. Listen to these discords: “On the ceiling is a
reddish-brown rosette in the form of a parasol; a sky-blue frieze is
sprinkled with white cornucopiæ. On the sides of the mirror, sky-blue
pilasters are bordered with violet and white grape-leaves for ornament.
Large and small light brown panels with violet borders are ornamented
with little green parasols, and cameos with blue background with white
figures and brown and red ornaments. And in that loud chocolate colour
where some reds and greens try to recall to your mind the forsaken hues
of the past are mingled three shades of rose, amaranth, blue, lilac,
grey, emerald-green, moss-green, _aventurine_, citron, straw and
sulphur. That gentle scale that sang so sweetly on the furniture and
walls of by-gone days! that gentle scale that miserable taste has
forsaken for the tri-colour, and for wall-paper printed with the
distinctive signs of equality and liberty, from Dugoure’s Republican
Manufactory, _place du Carrousel_ at the so-called Hôtel de Longueville.
Then the taste of the Revolution runs after the factory of the _rue
Saint Nicaise, place de la Réunion_, to find some pictures with the
civic inscription ready for each citizen to place above his door bearing
these words: ‘Unity, Indivisibility of the Républic, Liberty, Fraternity
or Death.’”[27]
The Parisian hôtels that were remodeled and newly furnished for the
newly rich could not suggest the slightest reminiscence of the
aristocratic life that they had witnessed. The artists, therefore, were
forced to go to Greece and Rome for their models and motives. After
Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, the sphinx is frequent as a decoration,
although it had long been familiar. The chairs, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 on
Plate LXVIII., are from a periodical of the Directoire period 1793 and
1796; also the couch No. 2, Plate LXV. These show that the so-called
Empire style was in process of formation before Napoleon attained power.
The most important cabinet-maker of the period was Jacob Desmalter. He
was the son of Georges Jacob, who, during the reign of Louis XVI., was
famous for his furniture of gilded wood. His two sons worked together in
the _rue Meslée_; and, in 1793, got the order to make the furniture for
the Convention. This brought them into relation with Percier, who had
been commissioned to furnish the designs. About 1804, the younger Jacob
disappears from business and the elder added the name Desmalter to his
own, and soon removed his workshop to the _rue des Vinagriers_.
Desmalter’s fame became wide-spread: he made furniture for the courts of
Spain and Russia, and many pieces found their way also to England.
The famous workers in metal were Thomire, J. B. C. Odiot and Biennais.
The _Recueil de Décorations Intérieures_, composed by C. Percier and P.
F. L. Fontaine (Paris, 1812), is the recognized authority on the
_Empire_ style. The authors speak of the influence engraving has had in
extending an acquaintance with styles, and say they will make use of it
to exhibit “those of our works in the nature of furniture, which, by the
importance of the places they were destined for, or the rank of those
who ordered them, may be regarded as appropriate to attest the correct
way of seeing things, composing them and ornamenting them at the present
period. This style does not belong to us; it is entirely the property of
the ancients and as our only merit is to have understood how to conform
our inventions to it, our true aim in giving these to the public is to
do all that is within our power to prevent innovations to corrupt and
destroy the principles which others will doubtless use better than we.
“The decoration and furnishing of houses are to houses what clothes are
to people: everything of this nature becomes old, and in a very few
years seems to be superannuated and ridiculous. The industrial arts,
which concur with architecture in the embellishment of buildings,
receive the same impulse from the spirit of fashion, and no kind of
beauty or worth possessed by these articles of taste can assure them any
longer existence than the interval of time necessary to find a new taste
to replace them. To do everything according to reason in such a way that
the reason may be perceived and justifies the means used,—this is the
first principle of architecture. However, the first principle of fashion
is to do everything without reason and never to do otherwise. The form
and needs of the body give no reason for the forms of clothes; because
people do not dress to cover themselves, but to adorn themselves.
Furniture does not make a virtue of necessity with regard to the forms.
We pass from the straight line to the tortuous, from the simple to the
composite and _vice versâ_. This is only too well exemplified in the
history of modern architecture and its vicissitudes.”
The true inspiration of this period was David, the painter; and it has
been aptly said that Desmalter did little but “translate into furniture
the Greco-Roman dreams of the painter of the Sabines.” Prudhon was
another artist of influence. The most famous decorative artists and
designers were Percier and Fontaine.
The general characteristics of the Empire style are stiffness, severity
and coldness. The forms are cubic and rectangular, without projections
or carvings. Round tables on tripod legs, sofas and beds with
heavily-scrolled ends, secretaries and desks with secret arrangements of
drawers, etc., and a great use of metal ornamentation are among the
prominent details of this style. The decorative motives are rosettes,
allegorical figures, mahogany columns of cylindrical shafts, without
flutings and surmounted by the Doric capital (and often with a bronze
gilt bracket), fasces, sphinxes, wreaths of laurel, and the swan used
upon the arms of chairs and sofas, the sides of beds and for the feet of
tripods. No. 1 on Plate LXV. is an interesting example of the use of the
swan. The sphinx was also used for decorating the arm of a chair, as
shown on Plate LXV., No. 3, and on the double chair on Plate LXVIII. Its
use as a table leg is exhibited on Plate LXV., and as a support for
candles on Plate LXVII. Clocks and candelabra are decorated with heroes
from ancient history in preference to divinities and allegorical
figures. A little clock supported by an eagle appears on Plate LXV. This
is one of Percier and Fontaine’s designs.
[Illustration: PLATE LXV]
The greater number of the designs on Plates LXV., LXVI., LXVII., and
LXVIII. are taken from Percier and Fontaine. Plate LXIV. is a
reproduction of one of Percier and Fontaine’s bedrooms. “The ornaments
that decorate this room,” they say, “are painted in oil upon plaster;
they fill, without being of any determined subjects, various
compartments; and among them are pictures of fruit, fragments of
ordinary objects, painted in _grisaille_ on a light background.” All the
furniture—the table opposite the bed, the tripod, the toilet, the bed
and the frame over the mantel-piece—is covered with bronzes, enamelled
paintings and incrustations of various kinds of wood. The isolated
pedestal at the head of the bed is an _armoire_, which contains
conveniences for the night. On the top of the tall column is a winged
goddess under which statue the letters “_La bonne déesse_,” appear. The
bed is of the form of the large drawing that is shown on Plate LXVI. The
two chairs on either side of the mantel-piece the designers tell us were
made by Jacob. The detail No. 3, on Plate LXVII. is an enlargement of
part of the mantel-piece, the fire-back of which represents the forge of
Vulcan. The open-worked grate is copper gilt. The designs on Plates
LXVI. and LXVII. are all by Percier and Fontaine, No. 1. on Plate LXVI.,
they say, is an arm-chair to stand in front of a desk; No. 2. is a
lustre made of rock-crystal and bronze; No. 3 is a sofa-bed, and below
it is a large sofa bed that was designed for a patron who was fond of
war and sport. The hangings and the decorations of the wall behind the
bed are therefore repeated here. The frame of the mirror is of gilded
bronze. The glass swings forward. The rich commode with drawers on Plate
LXVII. is an excellent example of the Percier and Fontaine work; above
it, No. 2, is another commode and above that No. 1 the end of a bureau.
Of the secretary on the same plate, they say: “This little piece of
furniture, designed to preserve books, papers and money, has a clock in
the upper part; below are secret drawers; in the centre a rolling
cylinder and writing table. Chimæras on each side of the table support
girandoles for lights. The whole is made of different kinds of wood
ornamented with bronzes.”
The rich sofa, or “double chair,” and the sofa-bed, on Plate LXVIII. are
also by these designers. Of the tea-table on Plate LXV., they tell us:
“The design of this table was sent to Russia so that it might be
executed there in porcelain and bronze; the compartments and ornaments
that decorate the table have to be painted in colour with the background
and the parts that stand out in relief of gold. The principal subject is
the birth of Amphitrite, who is surrounded by Tritons and dolphins.”
[Illustration: PLATE LXVI]
The cornice and lambrequin are unknown to the Directoire period; a pole
ending in an arrow, or thyrsus, supports two curtains of calico, or
silk. These curtains are relieved by a Greek border. The Empire taste
demands a little more. Satins and velvets are added to the above. The
drapery becomes very ample and beneath them are thin muslin curtains
embroidered in dots, stars and squares. Sometimes two rods are used at
each window to support the inner and outer curtains. A very fashionable
method of furnishing the window was to have two curtains of silk and two
of muslin. Decorative borders were used for these. The cornice is
restored, and consists of the palm, the thyrsus, a bow, or a laurel
wreath in gilded bronze, or painted wood. The colours of these draperies
are limited. There are but five strong hues—crimson, green, blue, yellow
and white—and there are no shades of these.
There was a tendency for patterns to become smaller; damask was
ornamented with little figures, or stripes; Gobelin tapestries were
supplanted by designs in _grisaille_ on a red, blue, or green
background. These many printed stuffs had pictures derived from Greek,
Egyptian, or Roman subjects, or mythology, and appeared as if printed on
paper.
The bed used during the Directoire was larger than the Louis XVI. bed.
Generally speaking, the beds were low; and were furnished with one or
two mattresses. Some of them had head and footboards of equal height;
others had only one headboard. During the Empire, the beds, most
frequently of mahogany, were ornamented with gilded bronze trimmings.
The frames were also painted with decorations painted in bronze effects.
Some of the beds were rounded, or scrolled at the ends, some had _pans à
bateau_ and some had pilasters supporting vases, busts and even
statuettes. The curtain was used. For some styles of beds, the curtains
were cast negligently over an arrow. Beds were also made in forms
appropriate to the calling of their owners. Some of the shapes seem to
have been inspired by the models of Du Cerceau and Bérain in the days of
Louis XIV.; for instance, the boat and shell. In 1792, we hear of a bed
shaped like a shell, with blue and white curtains. Lafayette had a bed
like this.
The beds often had ends of heavy scrolls and most of them had the
headboard and footboard of equal height. The round bolster appears at
each end, or a cushion that follows the form of the scroll, as shown in
the full drawing on Plate LXVIII. The canopy was frequently in the shape
of a crown, and from it hung the curtains. The heavy curtain was not
unfrequently accompanied with a thin diaphanous curtain that was
formally draped.
The dining-room is decorated in stucco, or painted in imitation of
marble. The furniture is mahogany. The chairs are covered with leather.
The window-curtains are of “Persian” taffeta, cloth or cotton, trimmed
with ball fringe. The dining-table is round or oval, and is often
supported on the pillar-and-claw.
The dining-room table also is round, and stands on four feet decorated
with lions’ heads or chimæras; or again it is supported by the
pillar-and-claw. The drawing-room table is frequently finished with a
marble top, or it is covered with a cloth. Upon it stands a lamp with
its shade.
A very ornate tea-table of porcelain brightened with gold and bronze
appears on Plate LXV. Above it is shown the decorative top. This is by
Percier and Fontaine. No. 6, on the same plate is another table; No. 7
is a tea-table; and No. 5 is another table. All of these are by Percier
and Fontaine. Another kind of table designed by Percier was the _table à
fleurs_, or _jardinière_. Some of his models, which were made by Jacob
Desmalters, are quite ornate. One of these is in the shape of a vase,
supported by sphinxes, and filled with growing plants. Upon this stands
another basin for growing flowers, or gold-fish, and above this again is
a decorative figure. Another design is a round basin or vase for flowers
supported by columns, on either side of which are smaller vases.
The console was a large square table decorated with sphinxes, or other
ornaments in gilded bronze. Often a mirror was placed at the back framed
by the legs.
The commode, like all the rest of the furniture, became more rigid in
form and decoration. It was made of walnut or mahogany; and during the
Directoire few were supplied with metal ornaments. Indeed, many of them
had neither rings nor handles on the drawers. The form of the commode
became still heavier during the Empire; but it was enlivened by ornate
metal trimmings. A richly decorated commode by Percier and Fontaine
appears as No. 2 on Plate LXVII. The _chiffonnière_, which had come into
fashion during the last years of the Louis XVI. period, increased in
popularity. It was generally a lady’s article containing drawers for
writing and needlework. The marble top was often surrounded by a railing
or gallery.
During the Empire, a set of drawing-room furniture consisted of one or
two sofas, six arm-chairs, six chairs, two _bergères_ and two
_tabourets_. The sofas were placed on either side of the chimney-piece.
One of the favourite varieties of the sofa was the _canapé pommier_,
introduced during the Directoire. Its back was square and quite low, and
was extended around the sides to take the place of arms. Sometimes the
seat was garnished with fringe, and sometimes the wood was left plain.
The many varieties of the draped sofa disappeared. The Directoire and
the Empire demanded that the forms of the settee, sofa, and _chaise
longue_ should be severe to accord with the arm-chairs. The back of the
sofa was stuffed, but not the sides or wings. At each end was placed a
feather pillow covered with the same material as the sofa. The most
popular sofa had a square back that was carried around the seat, forming
wings at each side instead of the elbow or arm. The new sofas were
called _Méridienne_ and _canapé pommier_. Tapestry, figured satin,
worsted damask or printed cloth, put on with braid, were used for
coverings. At the end of the Empire period, the divan was introduced.
This seat was suggested by the Eastern travellers.
The _banquette_ was covered with velvet trimmed with gold or silk braid
and fringe. The most fashionable _chaise longue_ was of the kind upon
which Madame Récamier is lounging in David’s celebrated portrait. Both
ends of this piece were alike. One end of a similar piece of furniture
appears as No. 2 on Plate LXV. The _bergère en gondole_ was also
popular. Its back was lower and more rounded than that of the _bergère_
on Plate XLVIII., No. 3. Gondola-shaped chairs and bar-backed chairs and
the heavy scrolled arm-chair were the favourites, also the double
arm-chair.
[Illustration: PLATE LXVII]
The framework of chairs was generally mahogany, or painted and bronzed,
and, for very rich homes, gilded wood. The square form was preferred,
especially for the arm-chair, which rarely had cushions. Sometimes the
front feet were in the sabre, or glaive shape. The shield shape too was
used for the back and was ornamented with military trophies and laurel
wreaths. The back and seat were stuffed, and braids and borders framed
the cushions. The material used for covering was generally of a solid
colour with a design printed on it. Silk velvet, damask, or satin was
used. The design was often golden yellow. Sometimes back and seat were
sprinkled with rosettes or stars. Braids were used to hide the nails.
Printed cottons and worsted damasks were also used for cheaper
upholstery work. Ball fringe was much used to go around the back.
Desk chairs kept somewhat to the rounded and gondola form. The seats
were often a half circle, the feet turned or in the console shape.
Sometimes they were even carved in the shape of chimæra or lions whose
heads came up to the level of the arms. The back, too, was frequently
curved in the shape of a half circle. The top rail was sometimes covered
like the seat,—in leather. Some of these turning up in the centre of the
back like a cocked hat gave to them the name _fauteuils Bonaparte_.
Mahogany was chiefly used for the frames, though oak and walnut were
sometimes employed.
During the Directoire, the legs of the arm-chair were often X-shaped and
the arms ended in a lion’s head. The open-backed chair was very popular.
The one on Plate LXVIII., No. 2, is dated 1793; and Nos. 1, 3, and 5 are
of the year 1796. The “Trafalgar” that persisted for so long was a
development of No. 1. The chairs No. 1 and 3 on Plate LXV. are by Ch.
Normand (b. 1765; d. 1830), who also designed the _chaise longue_, No.
2, on the same plate. Normand’s earlier work bridges the gulf between
the styles Louis XVI. and the Empire.
-----
Footnote 26:
_Journal de la Mode_, 1790.
Footnote 27:
De Goncourt, _La Société Française pendant la Révolution_. Paris,
1854.
THE END
[Illustration: PLATE LXVIII]
INDEX
[Illustration]
INDEX
_A_
Adam, James, 289, 292
——, Robert, 289, 292
——, James and Robert, apartments planned by, 299–303
——, colours used by, 294
——, decorations at Osterley Park, 304–305
——, decorations at Sion House, 301–303
——, dislike of Gothic, 294
——, furniture at Sion House, 297
——, opinion of British architects, 294–296
——, ornaments of the, 298
——, social position of, 291, 292
——, taste of, 294–296
Adam style, the, 289, 291, 293–294
——, designers in the, 289–290
Adam, William, 292
Addison, quotations from, 116–117
Æsop’s Fables, 205, 225, 244, 245
Ahasuerus, beds of King, 67
Alcove, the, 90–91, 154, 353–354