DO YOU KNOW YOUR FRENCH ANTIQUE DESK STYLES?
Step into the world of French Furniture as we embark on a decorative arts refresher. Instead of delving into the entirety of French furniture, we’ll focus on just desks. By doing so, we can truly grasp the distinct style differences and the fascinating historical influences that shaped their designs.
Our spotlight will be on three remarkable styles – Regency, Louis XV, and Louis XVI desks, or as the French call them, “bureau plats.” Each of these styles hails from consecutive periods in French decorative history, offering us a unique glimpse into the evolution of artistic expression and design.
Many individuals find it challenging to differentiate between the Louis styles, and as a designer, it’s crucial to avoid this major faux pas. We’ll weave a rich tapestry of stories that unravel the broader context of each decorative style, effectively serving as a comprehensive glossary of decorative arts terms with juicy backstories, intricate decorative elements, and the exquisite creations that epitomize each era. Moreover, we’ll indulge in a bit of gossip about the intriguing players and shenanigans that shaped French history during these times. Believe me, French history is far from dull –
So, join us on this enthralling journey through the ages, as we explore the fascinating world of French Furniture and the stories behind some of its most iconic desks.
This Bureau Plat (writing table) was sold in a Bonhams auction.
REGENCY, aka REGENCE: 1715-1723
Philipe d’ Orleans ruled with the young Louis XV until be became of age. He was very interested in the arts and sciences. This was a period of financial panics, speculation and inflation, because Louis XIV had left the treasury bankrupt. Status/rank shifted to elevate the wealthy rather than the previous birthright-only measure.
INFLUENCES:
A reaction against constraint, against all of the Louis XIV structure. Looseness of morals after the king’s death (Louis XIV). Court life became more simple, less formal, more frivolous, romantic, soft. The Regency style is rather hard to define, as it retains certain features of the Louis XIV style and displays some of the new features of the Louis XV style. Consider it a transitional style.
CHARACTERISTICS:
The lines of the Louis XIV style persist, but lose their rigidity. Symmetry still preserved. The scale of furniture lightened, stretchers began to disappear, lots of marquetry & cross banding, natural wood finishes, exotic woods, and japanning became popular.
ELEMENTS OF DECORATION:
Pattern of checks with flowerets, espagnolettes, open work shells, cross-piece cabriole legs, short hinge-pins on furniture, on chairs the elbow rests flared out and set further back to accommodate hoop-petticoats, early Rococo style emerges
CREATIONS DURING THIS TIME:
Hinge-topped writing desks, grand-father clock, chest of drawers with cross-bow contour
CHARACTERS of NOTE:
The Wife: Françoise Marie de Bourbon was an illegitimate child of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan (XIV’s “official” mistress), and Louis XIV’s youngest child. Follow me here for a second. She married the Philippe d’Orléans at age 14 and was mother of 8 of his children including the next Duke of Orléans. What is interesting about this, you ask. Well, her husband, Philipe d’ Orleans, TOOK POWER of the throne, which Louis XIV had sloppily promised in his will to both Philippe AND XIV’s favorite son- the Duke of Maine (her brother). Phillipe had the will annulled the day after Louis XIV’s death and took the throne.
onto the next style, the next King…
This Bureau Plat was sold in a Bonhams auction
LOUIS XV: 1723-1774
INFLUENCES:
Italian Baroque Style, eastern art, the East India Company imported and created a taste for Natural History, Turkish and Chinese cabinets
CHARACTERISTICS:
Artistically, the era was marked by a softening of Louis XIV’s masculine grandiosity into a gentile, feminine style that came to be known as ROCOCO under Louis XV. Small scaled where Louis XIV had been grand, intimate where its predecessor had been forbiddingly formal, soft and greyed in colors where it had been vibrant, the Louis XV style is a harmony of flowing lines. Fantasy, asymmetry, deckle-edged contours, an abhorrence of straight lines, Watteau (painter) is one of the main creators of this elegant, original, intensely French style.
ELEMENTS OF DECORATION:
Rich marquetry, martin varnish, asymmetrical patterns, beribboned reeds, bill shaped moulding, , the cabriole leg, Chinoiserie , long hinge-pins
CREATIONS DURING THIS TIME:
The chaise longue and the bergere (both designed for the comfort of the sitter), Chests of drawers (2 drawers and no cross piece), secretaries, chiffoniers, powdering tables, liseuses, card tables, backgammon tables, and various other original small items of furniture. MAHOGANY comes into use. Cambered legs, legs with scroll-work. Long hinges with pins.
CHARACTERS of NOTE:
Not the Wife: Madame de Pompadour (the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death). A serious influencer of the time, she had the King’s full attention. She eventually subbed in talented temp-mistresses to tend to the passions of the king so she could focus on planning and building chateaux, pavilions and palaces, including the Petit Trianon in Versailles, kick starting the Sevres Porcelain Factory, foreign policy, court affairs, Decorative Arts, etc. Madame de Pompadour was a seriously powerful woman – she could – and did- make or break careers, making quite a few enemies along the way. She was all about pushing the Rococo Style- and the deep rosy pink used during that time became known as Pompadour Pink.
If Pantone’s Color of the Year had existed back then, Pompadour Pink would have been color of the year every year… if they knew what was good for them.
moving along….
This Bureau Plat was sold on 1st Dibs
LOUIS XVI: 1774-1793 Neoclassical Period
INFLUENCES:
The discovery of POMPEII and HERCULANEUM (unearthed in 1755) brings Antiquity back into vogue
CHARACTERISTICS:
Eventually, of course, everyone grew tired of those never ending curves and frills. Even before Louis XV died in 1774, French taste was tending back toward the straight line. A return to STRAIGHT LINES and a taste for nature (Trianon, Marie Antoinette), Georges Jacob founds a dynasty of cabinetmakers
ELEMENTS OF DECORATION:
Furniture legs went back to being straight and architectural. Decorative motifs were SYMMETRICAL and borrowed from the ancients: egg & dart, laurel and acanthus, lyres, festoons, etc. Toiles de Jouy, oval backed chairs (often topped with a bowknot). Revival of classical architectural orders. Canted angles, angles with reseats beads, ovolo, flutings, rural attributes, bows of ribbon, caryatids, moulding with conge, fluted legs, spindle shaped fluted legs, gain shaped, peg top legs/feet, Long hinge-pins. Wallpaper was an important feature during this time- prominent borders.
CREATIONS DURING THIS TIME:
Square shaped chests of drawers, chests of drawers with ressauts, half-moon chests of drawers, chests of drawers/sideboard combo, chests of drawers/dumb-waiter combo, Roll-top desks, secretaire/chest of drawer combo, chiffoniers, Escritoires, bouillotte tables (round), “tronchin” tables
if you know what a fan of cool desks I am, you might have had the same aha-moment that I did, about the origin of the standing desk… perhaps Louis XVI style tronchin?CHARACTERS of NOTE:
Wife: Marie Antionette – Not the most popular person in French History…her frivolous conduct and scandal helped to discredit the monarchy, Piranesi (drawings, engravings- ruins, Pompeii)
PERSPECTIVE CHECK:
The French Revolution began during Louis XVI’s reign, extending from 1789-1799, resulting in the overthrow of the monarchy in France and the establishment of the First Republic.
I could go on for days with much more detail, but I won’t. Just a enough to explain the context for the style changes. If you would like to see more of this kind of post, please message me to let me know. Specific requests are welcome. If you know any interior design students, do them a favor and share this with them, I would’ve thanked anyone a million times over for a decorative arts crib sheet while I was in design school.
