Louis XV Style
Louis XV Style
This monarch has his name coupled with the most extravagant of furniture designs, known as Rococo. A style that spread throughout Europe.
The term means ornamented with shells, scrollwork, and similar patterns.
It is noticeable principally for a generous use of curved lines, and an 'unbalanced' look. Out of its elaborate setting there is no doubt that, Louis XV furniture appears very showy, but when it is seen in the rooms for which it was designed, it takes its place unobtrusively in the decorative scheme.
The French had a liking during the eighteenth century for small tables and cabinets, chests of drawers (called commodes), large writing tables with leather-covered tops with rows of drawers beneath, and upright cabinets with drop-down fronts concealing a writing space. Veneering was the usual decoration, aided by parquetry and marquetry set off with ormolu mountings. When compared with the sophisticated outside appearance, most of the pieces exhibit very rough finishing of the woodwork not usually seen, and a glance at the inside or underneath of a piece will prove this.
Many of the small tables and cabinets are supported on delicately curved cabriole legs so slight that it is a wonder they can stand without breaking. Chests of drawers always have a slab of colored marble as the top, and many other pieces are similarly finished. Chairs and settees were carved usually of beech wood, sometimes finished with gilding, and sometimes painted in pale colors. Mirror-frames were gilt, and are often very like English ones of the same date.
