CHAIR OF PERIOD OF LOUIS XIII.CHAIR OF PERIOD OF LOUIS XIII.DESIGNED BY CRISPIN DE PASSE, 1642.
During the reign of Louis XIV., tables, armoires, and cabinets were designed on architectural principles. Under the guiding influence of Colbert, Minister of Finance, architects and cabinetmakers were selected to design furniture for the Tuileries, the Louvre, and Fontainebleau. In the early years of the reign furniture was made with severe lines, but gradually it became the practice to fashion larger pieces. Immense tables with sumptuous decoration, on gilded claw-feet, and having tops inlaid withpietra-duraintended to carry bronze groups and porphyry vases, were made at the Gobelins factory, under the direction of the celebrated Le Brun. This artist loved grandeur and gorgeousness in decoration, and in accord with the personalideas of Louis XIV., who had an inordinate love for perfect symmetry, huge pieces of furniture were built in magnificent manner to please the taste of theGrande Monarque. Men of genius were employed in the manufacture of tapestries, of furniture, and of metal mountings, and the interior decorations of the palaces were designed in harmony with the furniture intended for use therein.
The most illustrious among the cabinetmakers was André Charles Boule, who was made, in 1673, by letters patent,Premier ébéniste de la maison royale. The work of this artist in wood has attained a worldwide celebrity, and his name even has been corrupted into "buhl" to denote a particular class of work which he perfected. His most notable productions are the finely chased ormolu, in which he was an accomplished worker, and the inlay of tortoiseshell and brass, sometimes varied with ebony or silver, which have remained the wonder of succeeding generations.
Boule was born in 1642, and lived till 1732. The first Boule, termed "Le Père," he was succeeded by no less than four sons and nephews of the same name, in addition to his pupils who carried on his traditions at the Bouleatelier, and a crowd of later imitators, even up to the present day, have followed his style in lavish decoration without being possessed of his skill.
In Italy and in France marquetry of considerable delicacy and of fine effect had been produced long before the epoch of Louis XIV., but it was Boule who introduced a novelty into marquetry by his veneered work, which rapidly grew into favour till itdeveloped into cruder colouring in inlays and unbridled licence in ornamentation, to which its originator would never have given countenance.
The pieces of furniture usually associated with him are massive structures of ebony with their surfaces covered with tortoiseshell, in which are inlaid arabesques, scrolls, and foliage in thin brass or other metal. Upon the surface of this metal inlay further ornamentation was chased with the burin. This alternation of tortoiseshell and brass forms a brilliant marquetry. Into the chased designs on the metal a black enamel was introduced to heighten the effect, which was further increased by portions of the wood beneath the semi-transparent tortoiseshell being coloured black or brown or red; sometimes a bluish-green was used. Later imitators, not content with the beautiful effect of tortoiseshell, used horn in parts, which is more transparent, and they did not fear the garish effect of blue or vermilion underneath. Boule's creations, set in massive mounts and adornments of masks and bas-reliefs, cast in gilt-bronze and chased, were pieces of furniture of unsurpassed magnificence, and especially designed for the mirrored splendours of thesalonsof Versailles.
In boule-work all parts of the marquetry are held down by glue to the bed, usually of oak, the metal being occasionally fastened down by small brass pins, which are hammered flat and chased over so as to be imperceptible.
In order to economise the material, Boule, when his marquetry became in demand, employed a process which led to the use of the technical terms,bouleandcounter-boule. The brass and the tortoiseshell were cut into thin sheets. A number of sheets of brass were clamped together with the same number of sheets of tortoiseshell. The design was then cut out, the result being that each sheet of tortoiseshell had a design cut out of it, into which the same design from one of the sheets of brass would exactly fit. Similarly each sheet of brass had a design cut out of it into which a corresponding piece of tortoiseshell would fit. That in which the ground is of tortoiseshell and the inlaid portion is brass, is considered the better, and is calledboule, or thepremière partie. That in which the groundwork is brass and the design inlaid is of tortoiseshell, is calledcounter-bouleorcontre-partie. This latter is used for side panels.
An examination of the specimens preserved in the Louvre, at the Jones Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, or in the Wallace Collection will enable the student to see more readily how this practice works out in the finished result. In the illustration (p.163) of the two pedestals the effect of the employment ofbouleandcounter-bouleis shown.
PEDESTALS SHOWING BOULE AND COUNTER-BOULE WORK.(a.)(b.)PEDESTALS SHOWING BOULE AND COUNTER-BOULE WORK.(Wallace Collection.)(a) Boule orpremière partie.(b) Counter-boule orcontre-partie.
(a.)(b.)PEDESTALS SHOWING BOULE AND COUNTER-BOULE WORK.(Wallace Collection.)(a) Boule orpremière partie.(b) Counter-boule orcontre-partie.
Associated with Boule is Jean Bérain, who had a fondness for the Italian style; his designs are more symmetrically correct, both in ornamental detail and in architectural proportion. His conceptions are remarkable for their fanciful elaboration, and their wealth of profuse scrollwork. In the French national collections at the Louvre, at Versailles, and elsewhere there are many beautiful examples of his chandeliers of magnificent carved and gilded work. The freedom of the spiral arms and complex coils he introducedinto his candelabra have never been equalled as harmonious portions of a grandly conceived scheme of magnificent interior decoration, to which, in the days of Louis XIV., so much artistic talent was devoted.
BOULE CABINET.BOULE CABINET, OR ARMOIRE.Valued at nearly £15,000.Jones Bequest.(Victoria and Albert Museum.)
With regard to the value of some of the specimens in the national collections, it is difficult to form anestimate. The Boule cabinet, probably designed by Bérain, executed by Boule for Louis XIV. (illustrated p.165) would, if put up for sale at Christie's, probably fetch £15,000. This piece is held to be grander in style than any in the galleries in France. At the Wallace Collection there are examples which would bring fabulous sums if sold. A cabinet by Boule, in the Jones Bequest, purchased by Mr. Jones for £3,000 in 1881, is now worth three times that sum.
Upon the building, decorating, and furnishing of Versailles Louis XIV. spent over five hundred million francs, in addition to which there was the army of workmen liable to statute labour. Some twenty thousand men and six thousand horses were employed in 1684 at the different parts of the château and park. In May, 1685, there were no less than thirty-six thousand employed.
The illustrious craftsmen who were employed upon the magnificent artistic interior decorations have transmitted their names to posterity. Bérain, Lepautre, Henri de Gissey, are the best known of the designers. Among the painters are the names of Audran, Baptiste, Jouvenet, Mignard, and the best known of the sculptors are Coustou and Van Clève. Of the woodcarvers, metal-chasers, locksmiths, and gilders Pierre Taupin, Ambroise Duval, Delobel, and Goy are names of specialists in their own craft who transformed Versailles from a royal hunting-box into one of the most splendid palaces in Europe.
£s.d.Commode, Louis XIV., of inlaid king-wood, with two drawers, mounted with handles and masks at the corners of chased ormolu, and surmounted by a fleur violette marble slab, 52 in. wide. Christie, January 22, 190431100Show-cabinet, of Louis XIV. design, inlaid king-wood, with glazed folding doors, ormolu mounts, chased and surmounted by vases, 73 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie, April 12, 19043090Casket, Louis XIV., black Boule, inlaid with Cupids, vases of flowers and scrolls, and fitted with four tortoiseshell and gold picqué shell-shaped snuff boxes. Christie, April 19, 190473100Commode, Louis XIV., Boule, of sarcophagus form, containing two drawers, at either corners are detached cabriole legs, the various panels are inlaid with brass and tortoiseshell, the whole is mounted with ormolu, surmounted by a slab of veined marble, 49 in. wide. Christie, May 27, 190457150
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseur, these items are reproduced from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseur, these items are reproduced from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
COMMODE, BY CRESSENT.By permission of Messrs. Foley & Eassie.COMMODE, BY CRESSENT.(From a drawing by Walter Eassie.)(Wallace Collection.)
Louis XV.1715-1774Petit Trianon built at Versailles.Meissonier, Director of Royal Factories (1723-1774).Watteau (1684-1721). Pater (1695-1736).Lancret (1690-1743). Boucher (1704-1770).1751.The leading ébénistes compelled to stamp their work with their names.
Petit Trianon built at Versailles.
Meissonier, Director of Royal Factories (1723-1774).
Watteau (1684-1721). Pater (1695-1736).
Lancret (1690-1743). Boucher (1704-1770).
1751.The leading ébénistes compelled to stamp their work with their names.
Louis XIV. died in the year following the death of Queen Anne, so that it will be readily seen thatEnglish art was uninfluenced by France in the days of William and Mary, and how insular it had become under Anne. The English craftsman was not fired by new impulses from France during such an outburst of decorative splendour. The reign of Louis XV. extends from George I. down to the eleventh year of the reign of George III., which year saw the cargoes of tea flung into Boston harbour and the beginning of the war with America.
In glancing at the Louis Quinze style it will be observed how readily it departed from the studied magnificence of Louis XIV. In attempting elegance of construction and the elimination of much that was massive and cumbersome in the former style, it developed in its later days into meaningless ornament and trivial construction. At first it possessed considerable grace, but towards the end of the reign the designs ran riot in rococo details, displaying incongruous decoration.
It was the age of the elegant boudoir, and the bedroom became a place for more intimate guests than those received in the large reception-room. In the days of Louis XIV. the bed was a massive structure, but in the succeeding reign it became an elegant appendage to a room. At Versailles the splendid galleries of magnificent proportion were transformed by the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France (1715-1723) during the king's minority, into smallersalonscovered in wainscoting, painted white and ornamented with gilded statues. In like manner the Louis Quinze decorations were ruthlessly destroyed by Louis-Philippe.
LOUIS XV. PARQUETERY COMMODE.By permission of Messrs. Waring.LOUIS XV. PARQUETERY COMMODE.With chased and bronze-gilt mounts.(Formerly in the Hamilton Palace Collection.)
LOUIS XV. COMMODE.LOUIS XV. COMMODE.BY CAFFIERI.
The commode in the Wallace Collection (illustrated p.171) is of the time when Louis XV. was in his minority, and of the days of the Regency. It is by Charles Cressent (1685-1768), who was cabinetmaker to Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France. This is an especially typical specimen of the class to which it belongs as showing the transition style between Louis XIV. and the succeeding reign.
To establish Louis the Fifteenth'spetits appartementsthe gallery painted by Mignard was demolished, and later, in 1752, the Ambassadors' Staircase was destroyed, the masterpiece of the architects Levau and Dorbay, and the marvel of Louis the Fourteenth's Versailles.
It is necessary to bear these facts in mind in order to see how a new French monarch set ruthlessly new fashions in furniture and created a taste for his personal style in art. In the first part of the Louis Quinze period the metal mountings by Caffieri and Cressent are of exquisite style; they are always of excellent workmanship, but later they betrayed the tendency of the time for fantastic curves, which had affected the furniture to such an extent that no straight lines were employed, and the sides of commodes and other pieces were swelled into unwieldy proportions, and instead of symmetrical and harmonious results the florid style, known as the "rococo," choked all that was beautiful in design. Meissonier, Director of the Royal Factories (1723-1774), was mainly responsible for this unnatural development. He revelled in elaborate combinations of shellwork and impossible foliage.
In the Louis XV. commodes illustrated (pp.173,175) it will be seen how far superior is the design and treatment of the one which was formerly in the celebrated Hamilton Collection. Its chased and gilt mounts are harmoniously arranged, and though the ornamentation is superbly rich, it breaks no canons of art by overloaded detail or coarse profusion. Not so much can be said for the other commode of the rococo style, even though the mounts be by Caffieri and executed in masterly manner. There is a wanton abandonment and an offensive tone in the florid treatment which point clearly to the decline of taste in art.
The highest art of concealment was not a prominent feature in a Court which adopted its style from the caprices of Madame du Pompadour or the whims of Madame du Barry. But among the finest productions are the splendid pieces of reticent cabinetmaking by the celebrated Jean François Oeben, who came from Holland. His preference was for geometrical patterns, varied only with the sparing use of flowers, in producing his most delicate marquetry. In the pieces by Boule and others, not in tortoiseshell but in wood inlay, the wood was so displayed as to exhibit in the panels the grain radiating from the centre. Oeben did not forget this principle, and placed his bouquets of flowers, when, on occasion, he used them, in the centre of his panels, and filled up the panel with geometric design.
LOUIS XV. ESCRITOIRE À TOILETTE.LOUIS XV.ESCRITOIRE À TOILETTE.Of tulip-wood and sycamore, inlaid with landscapes in coloured woods.Formerly in the possession of Queen Marie Antoinette.(Jones Bequest: Victoria and Albert Museum.)
The well-known maker, Charles Cressent (1685-1768), used rosewood, violet, and amaranth woods in his marquetry, and at this time many new foreign woods were employed by the cabinetmakers in France and Italy. In addition to woods of a natural colour, it was the practice artificially to colour light woods, and inlay work was attempted in which trophies of war, musical instruments, or the shepherd's crookhung with ribbon, were all worked out in marquetry. Pictures, in coloured woods, in imitation of oil paintings on canvas, were foolishly attempted, and altogether the art of inlay, ingenious and wonderful in its construction, began to affect trivialities and surprising effects most unsuited to the range of its technique.
In the toilet-table illustrated (p.179), this misapplication of inlay to reproduce pictures is seen on the three front panels and on the middle panel above. The chief woods employed are tulip and sycamore, inlaid with tinted lime, holly, and cherry-woods. The mountings of the table are chased ormolu. The cylindrical front encloses drawers with inlaid fronts. Beneath this is a sliding shelf, under which is a drawer with three compartments, fitted with toilet requisites and having inlaid lids. This specimen of Louis Quinze work is in the Jones Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was formerly in the possession of Queen Marie Antoinette. It is attributed to Oeben, though from comparison with some of the chaster work known to have come from his hand it would seem to be of too fanciful marquetry for his restrained and sober style.
It is especially true of the furniture of this great French period that it requires harmonious surroundings. The slightest false touch throws everything out of balance at once. Of this fact the inventors were well aware. If Dutch furniture requires the quiet, restful art of Cuyp or Van der Neer, or Metzu or Jan Steen on the surrounding walls, the interiors of Louis Quinze demand the works of contemporary French genre-painters.
LOUIS XV. SECRÉTAIRE.LOUIS XV. SECRÉTAIRE.By Riesener, in his earlier manner.IN TRANSITIONAL STYLE, APPROACHING LOUIS SEIZE PERIOD.(Wallace Collection.)
All things worked together to produce a harmoniousensemblein this brilliant period. The royal tapestry and Sèvres porcelain factories turned out their most beautiful productions to decorate rooms, furniture, and for the table. Tapestries from Beauvais, Gobelins, and Aubusson, rich silks from the looms of Lyons, or from Lucca, Genoa, or Venice were made for wall-hangings, for chair-backs, for seats, and for sofas.
Fragonard, Natoire, and Boucher painted lunettes over chimney-fronts, or panels of ceilings. Of great cabinetmakers, Riesener and David Roentgen, princes amongébénistes, worked in wonderful manner in tulip-wood, in holly, in rosewood, purple wood, and laburnum to produce marquetry, the like of which has never been seen before nor since.
Associated with the period of Louis XV. is the love for the lacquered panel. Huygens, a Dutchman, had achieved good results in imitations of Oriental lacquer, which in France, under the hand of Martin, a carriage-painter, born about 1706, rivalled the importations from Japan. It is stated that the secret of the fine, transparent lac polish that he used was obtained from the missionaries who resided in Japan before the date of the massacres and foreign expulsion of all except the Dutch traders. Vernis-Martin, as his varnish was termed, became in general request. From 1744 for twenty years, Sieur Simon Etienne Martin was granted a monopoly to manufacture this lacquered work in the Oriental style. Although he declared that his secret would die with him, other members of his family continued the style, which was taken up by many imitators in the next reign. His varnish had a peculiar limpid transparency, and he obtained the wavy network of gold groundwork so successfully produced by Japanese and Chinese craftsmen. On this were delicately painted, by Boucher and other artists, Arcadian subjects, framed in rocaille style with gold thickly laid on, and so pure that in the bronze gilding and in the woodwork it maintains its fine lustre to the present day.
THE "BUREAU DU ROI."By permission of Messrs. Foley & Eassie.THE "BUREAU DU ROI."THE MASTERPIECE OF RIESENER.(From a drawing by Walter Eassie.)(Wallace Collection.)
Towards the close of the reign of Louis XV. a new style set in, which reverted to simpler tastes, to which the name "À la reine" was given, in deference to the taste which is supposed to have emanated from Marie Leczinska, the queen, but is said to have been due to Madame du Pompadour.
At the Wallace Collection is a fine secrétaire, with the mounts and ornaments of gilt bronze cast and chased, which is illustrated (p.181). The central panel of marquetry shows, in life size, a cock, with the caduceus, a snake, a banner, and symbolical instruments. It is by Jean François Riesener, and in his earliest manner, made in the later years of Louis Quinze in the Transitional style approaching the Louis Seize period.
Among the wonderful creations of Riesener, probably his masterpiece is the celebrated "Bureau du Roi," begun in 1760 by Oeben, and completed in 1769 by Riesener—who married the widow of Oeben, by the way. Its bronzes are by Duplesis, Winant, and Hervieux. The design and details show the transition between the Louis Quinze and the Louis Seize styles.
The original, which is at the Louvre, is in marquetry of various coloured woods and adorned by plaques of gilt bronze, cast and chased. The copy from which our illustration is taken (p.183) is in the Wallace Collection, and is by Dasson, and follows the original in proportions, design, and technique.
£s.d.Table, Louis XV., oblong, the legs are cabriole, it contains one drawer and a writing-slide; around the sides are inlaid panels of old Japanese lacquer, each panel bordered by elaborate scrollwork of chased ormolu, signed with "B. V. R. B.," surmounted by a slab of white marble, 39 in. wide. Christie, December 18, 1903190000Writing-table, Louis XV., marquetry, with sliding top and drawer, fitted with movable writing slab, compartment for ink-vases, &c., signed "L. Doudin," Louis XV. form, with cabriole legs, the top decorated with scrolls forming panels, the centre one containing a Teniers figure subject, parquetry and inlays of flowers round the sides, corner mounts, &c., of ormolu, cast and chased, 30 in. wide. Christie, March 18, 190463000Cartonnière, Louis XV., of inlaid tulip-wood, containing a clock by Palanson, à Paris, mounted with Chinese figures, masks, foliage and scrolls of chased ormolu, 48 in. high, 36 in. wide. Christie, April 22, 1904409100Secrétaires, pair, Louis XV., small marquetry, with fall-down front, drawer above and door below, inlaid with branches of flowers, and mounted with chased ormolu, surmounted by white marble slabs, 46 in. high, 22 in. wide. Christie, April 29, 19044640Cabinet, Louis XV., parquetry, with folding doors enclosing drawers, mounted with ormolu, surmounted by a Brescia marble slab, 30 in. high, 44 in. wide. Christie, April 29, 190431100Bergères, pair of Louis XV., corner-shaped, the frames of carved and gilt wood, the seats and backs covered with old Beauvais tapestry. Christie, May 18, 190442000Settee, Louis XV., oblong, of carved and gilt-wood, covered with panels of old Beauvais tapestry, 3 ft. 8 in. wide. Christie, May 18, 190423100Canapé, Louis XV., of carved and gilt wood, the borders carved with acanthus scrolls, the seat and back covered with old Beauvais silk tapestry, decorated, 4 ft. 6 in. wide. Christie, May 18, 190442000
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
Louis XVI.1774-1793.1730-1806.Riesener,ébénisteto Marie Antoinette (born near Cologne).1789.Commencement of the French Revolution.
1730-1806.Riesener,ébénisteto Marie Antoinette (born near Cologne).
1789.Commencement of the French Revolution.
The so-called Louis Seize period embraces much that is good from the later days of the previous reign. The same designers were employed with the addition of a few younger men. Caffieri and Riesener were producing excellent work, and above all was Gouthière, whose renown as a founder and chaser of gilded bronze ornaments is unrivalled. Elegance and simplicity are again the prevailing notes. Straight lines took the place of the twisted contortions of the rococo style. Thin scrolls, garlands, ribbons and knots, classical cameo-shaped panels, and Sèvres plaques form the characteristic ornamentation.
The acanthus-leaf, distorted into unnatural proportions in the middle Louis Quinze period, returned to its normal shape, the egg-and-tongue mouldingcame into use, and the delicacy of the laurel-leaf was employed in design in Louis Seize decorations.
In the jewel cabinet illustrated (p.193), the new style is shown at its best. The cabinet is inlaid in rosewood and sycamore, and bears the name of "J. H. Riesener" stamped on it. The chased ormolu mounts are by Gouthière. The geometrical inlay is a tradition which Oeben left to his successors. The upper portion has a rising lid with internal trays. In the lower part is a drawer and a shelf. This piece is at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Jones Bequest, and it is well worth detailed examination as being a representative specimen of the most artistic work produced at this period.
Pierre Gouthière had a complete mastery over his technique. The estimation with which his work is regarded has made furniture which he mounted bring extraordinary prices. In 1882, at the dispersal of the celebrated Hamilton Palace Collection, three specimens with his workmanship realised £30,000.
The Vernis-Martin panels were decorated by Watteau and Pater. The age of artificialities with itsfêtes-galantesin the royal gardens of the Luxembourg and in the pleasure parks of the Court, with the ill-starred Marie Antoinette playing at shepherds and shepherdesses, had its influence upon art. Watteau employed his brush to daintily paint the attitudes ofLe Lorgneurupon a fan-mount, or to depict elegantly dressed noblemen and ladies of the Court dancing elaborate minuets in satin shoes, or feasting from exquisite Sèvres porcelain dishes in the damp corner of some park or old château.
LOUIS XVI. JEWEL CABINET.LOUIS XVI. JEWEL CABINET.Inlaid in rose and sycamore woods. Stamped "J. H. Riesener." Chased Ormolu mountings by Gouthière.(Jones Bequest. Victoria and Albert Museum.)
The artificial pretence at Arcadian simplicity adopted by the Queen, in the intervals between her attendance at publicbals-masqué, when she almost wantonly outraged the susceptibilities of the French people by her frivolities, found a more permanent form in interior decorations. Riesener and David designed a great deal of furniture for her. Dainty work-tables and writing-tables and other furniture of an elegant description are preserved in the national collection in the Louvre and at Fontainebleau, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Jones Bequest, and in the Wallace Collection. Tables of this nature are most eagerly sought after. A small table with plaques of porcelain in the side panels, which is said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette, was sold at Christie's for £6,000 (Hamilton Collection). There is a similar writing-table in the Jones Collection, given by Marie Antoinette to Mrs. Eden, afterwards Lady Auckland.
During the period under Louis Seize, when Fragonard and Natoire deftly painted the panels of rooms and filled ceilings with flying cupids and chains of roses, when Boucher was Director of the Academy, the interior of rooms assumed a boudoir-like appearance. The walls were decorated in a scheme of colour. Handsome fluted pillars with fine classic feeling were the framework of panelling painted in delicate and subdued tones. Oval mirrors, avoiding all massive construction, lightened the effect, and mantelpieces of white marble, and furniture evidently designed for use, completed the interiors of the homes of thegrandsseigneurs. Sometimes the walls were painted, giving a lustrous appearance resembling silk, and this style is the forerunner of the modern abomination known as wall-paper.
Before leaving this period of French furniture, when so much marquetry work was done of unsurpassed beauty and of unrivalled technique, a word may be said as to the number of woods used. Oeben and Riesener and their contemporaries used many foreign woods, of which the names are unfamiliar. Mr. Pollen, in his "South Kensington Museum Handbook to Furniture and Woodwork," has given the names of some of them, which are interesting as showing the number of woods especially selected for this artistic cabinetmaking. Tulip-wood is the variety known asLiriodendron tulipifera. Rosewood was extensively used, and holly (ilex aquifolium), maple (acer campestre), laburnum (cytisus Alpinus), and purple wood (copaifera pubiflora). Snake-wood was frequently used, and other kinds of light-brown wood in which the natural grain is waved or curled, presenting a pleasant appearance, and obviating the use of marquetry (see"Woods used," p.29).
In the great collections to which reference has been made, in well-known pieces made by Riesener his name is found stamped on the panel itself, or sometimes on the oak lining. The large bureau in the Wallace Collection (Gallery xvi., No. 66) is both signed and dated "20th February, 1769." This piece, it is said, was ordered by Stanislas Leczinski, King of Poland, and was once one of the possessions of the Crown of France.
LOUIS XVI. RIESENER COMMODE.By permission of Messrs. Waring.LOUIS XVI. RIESENER COMMODE.
With regard to the cost of pieces of furniture by the great masterébénistes, it is on record that a secrétaire which was exhibited at Gore House in 1853, and made originally for Beaumarchais by Riesener, cost 85,000 francs, a sum not much less than £4,000. Celebrated copies have been made from these old models. The famous cabinet with mounts by Gouthière, now in the possession of the King, was copied about twenty-five years ago for the Marquis of Hertford, by permission of Queen Victoria. The piece took years to complete, and it is interesting to have the evidence of its copyists that the most difficult parts to imitate were the metal mounts. This replica cost some £3,000, and is now in the Wallace Collection. The copy of the famous bureau or escritoire in the Louvre,known as the "Bureau de St. Cloud," was made by permission of the Emperor Napoleon III., and cost £2,000. Another copy of the same piece exhibited at the French International Exhibition was sold for £3,500 to an English peeress. Many fine copies of Riesener's work exist, and in the illustration (p.197) a copy is given of a handsome commode, which exhibits his best style under the influence of his master, Oeben.
£s.d.Cabinets, pair of Louis XVI., dwarf ebony, the panels inlaid with black and gold lacquer, decorated with birds and trees in the Chinese taste, mounted with foliage borders of chased ormolu, and surmounted by veined black marble slabs, 45 in. high, 35 in. wide. Christie, November 20, 190339180Suite of Louis XVI. furniture, with fluted borders and legs, painted white and pale green, the seats, backs, and arms covered with old Beauvais tapestry, with vases and festoons of flowers and conventional arabesques in poly-chrome, on white ground in pale green borders, consisting of an oblong settee, 72 in. wide, eight fauteuils. Christie, December 18, 1903147000}Secrétaire, Louis XVI., upright marquetry, with fall-down front, drawer above, and folding doors below, inlaid with hunting trophies on trellis-pattern ground, mounted with foliage, friezes, and corner mounts of chased ormolu, and surmounted by a Breccia marble slab, stamped "J. Stumpff. Me.," 56 in. high, 40 in. wide. Christie, February 12, 190431500Commode,en suite, with five drawers, 58 in. wide. Christie, February 12, 1904Work-table, Louis XVI., oval, in two tiers, upon a tripod stand, with double candle branches above; the top tier is composed of a Sèvres plaque, painted with sprays of roses; around this is a gallery of chased ormolu; the second tier is of parquetry, this has also a balcony; the tripod base is of mahogany, with mounts of ormolu, cast and chased; the nozzles for the two candles above are similar in material and decoration, width of top tier, 13 in. Christie, March 18, 190471400Table, Louis XVI., marquetry, signed "N. Petit," top inlaid with musical trophy, &c., mounts, &c., of ormolu, cast and chased, 30 in. wide. Christie, March 18, 190499150Fauteuils, pair, Louis XVI. (stamped "J. Leglartier"), tapered oblong backs and curved arms, turned legs, white and gilt, covered with Beauvais tapestry, with subjects from "Fables de la Fontaine," and other designs. Flashman & Co., Dover, April 26, 19047500Console-table, Louis XVI., carved and painted wood, with fluted legs and stretchers, and open frieze in front, surmounted by a slab of white marble, 5 ft. 4 in. wide. Christie, May 6, 19044600Commode, Louis XVI., containing three drawers, in front it is divided into three rectangular sunk panels of parquetry, each bordered with mahogany, with ormolu mounts, surmounted by a slab of fleur-de-pêche marble, 57 in. wide. Christie, May 27, 190435700Commode, Louis XVI., stamped with the name of "J. H. Reisener," with tambour panels in front and drawers at the top; it is chiefly composed of mahogany, the central panel inlaid in a coloured marquetry; on either side, and at the ends, are panels of tulip-wood parquetery, the whole is mounted with ormolu, surmounted by a slab of veined marble, 34 in. wide. Christie, May 27, 1904315000
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
[1]By the kindness of the proprietors of theConnoisseurthese items are given from their useful monthly publication,Auction Sale Prices.
PORTRAIT OF MADAME RÉCAMIER.PORTRAIT OF MADAME RÉCAMIER.(After David.)Showing Empire settee and footstool.(In the Louvre.)
1789.Commencement of French Revolution.1798.Napoleon's campaign in Egypt.1805.Napoleon prepares to invade England; Battle of Trafalgar; French naval power destroyed.1806.Napoleon issued Berlin Decree to destroy trade of England.1812.Napoleon invaded Russia, with disastrous retreat from Moscow.1814.Napoleon abdicated.1815.Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
1789.Commencement of French Revolution.
1798.Napoleon's campaign in Egypt.
1805.Napoleon prepares to invade England; Battle of Trafalgar; French naval power destroyed.
1806.Napoleon issued Berlin Decree to destroy trade of England.
1812.Napoleon invaded Russia, with disastrous retreat from Moscow.
1814.Napoleon abdicated.
1815.Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
When Louis XVI. called together the States-General in 1789, which had not met since 1614, the first stone was laid of the French Republic.After the king was beheaded in 1793, the Reign of Terror followed, during which the wildest licence prevailed. Under the Directory, for four years from 1795, the country settled down until the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who took the government in his own hands with the title of Consul, and in 1804 called himself Emperor of the French.
During the Reign of Terror the ruthless fury of a nation under mob-law did not spare the most beautiful objects of art which were associated with a hated aristocracy. Furniture especially suffered, and it is a matter for wonderment that so much escaped destruction. Most of the furniture of the royal palaces was consigned to the spoliation of "the Black Committee," who trafficked in works of great price, and sold to foreign dealers the gems of French art for less than a quarter of their real value. So wanton had become the destruction of magnificent furniture that the Convention, with an eye on the possibilities of raising money in the future, ordered the furniture to be safely stored in the museums of Paris.
After so great a social upheaval, art in her turn was subjected to revolutionary notions. Men cast about to find something new. Art, more than ever, attempted to absorb the old classic spirit. The Revolution was the deathblow to Rococo ornament. With the classic influences came ideas from Egypt, and the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii provided a further source of design. A detail of a portion of a tripod table found at Pompeii shows the nature of the beautiful furniture discovered.
As early as 1763, Grimm wrote: "For some years past we are beginning to inquire for antique ornaments and forms. The interior and exterior decorations of houses, furniture, materials of dress, work of the goldsmiths, all bear alike the stamp of the Greeks. The fashion passes from architecture to millinery; our ladies have their hair dressedà la Grecque." A French translation of Winckelmann appeared in 1765, and Diderot lent his powerful aid in heralding the dawn of the revival of the antique long before the curtain went up on the events of 1789.
Paris in Revolution days assumed the atmosphere of ancient Rome. Children were given Greek and Roman names. Classical things got rather mixed. People called themselves "Romans." Others had Athenian notions. Madame Vigée-Lebrun gavesoupers à la Grecque. Madame Lebrun was Aspasia, and M. l'Abbé Barthélemy, in a Greek dress with a laurel wreath on his head, recited a Greek poem.