French and English furniture : $b distinctive styles and periods described and illustratedSingleton, Esther
History
French and English furniture : $b distinctive styles and periods described and illustrated
Singleton, Esther
Furniture -- England; Furniture -- France
The old damask of the past used for furniture coverings now gave place
to figured and embroidered satin, the designs representing birds, vases
full of flowers, Cupids, quivers smothered with garlands of flowers, a
bouquet held by a bunch of ribbon, and, finally, stripes. The tones were
light: two colours, one of which in two or three shades, were often
employed, the favourites being pale blue, rose, yellow, lilac and grey.
The manufactories of the Gobelins, of Beauvais and Aubusson produced the
same designs and pictures in their tapestries which were in great vogue
for chairs and sofas. Garlands, shepherds and shepherdesses, subjects
from Boucher and Fragonard and trophies were reproduced most exquisitely
upon light backgrounds. Persian, Chinese and Polish subjects witness how
the decorators tried to study the designs of foreign and Oriental
countries. The stamped velvets of Utrecht had smaller patterns and very
frequently were striped. Braids were of innumerable varieties, and
tassels and ball-fringe were universally used for trimmings. Arm-chairs
were ornamented also with festoons of drapery, and were called
_fauteuils à la polonaise_, _à la turque_, _à la chinoise_, and in all
probability matched the beds and sofas of these names. Radel, De
Lalonde, Salembier, and others give many designs of the draped
arm-chair. Typical chairs are represented on Plates XLVI. and XLVIII.
The arm-chairs on Plate XLVI. are by De Lalonde. Nos. 2 and 3 are
drawings of the same chair, No. 2, showing the correct projection of the
cushion of the back, which was a subject of so much study. No. 5 is a
“_voyelle_,” also by De Lalonde. The plan of its seat appears as No. 4.
No. 2 on Plate XLVIII. is an arm-chair of walnut and gold. The
arm-chairs for the desk were made of mahogany, or painted wood. They
were of the gondola form, and were supplied with cushions for the back
and seat, which were not unfrequently of cane. The third foot placed
directly in front now seems to have been given up. The _fauteuil
bergère_ still belongs to the drawing-room, but its lines are straighter
than its parent (see Plate XXXVI., No. 1), and the elbow is more
aggressive. A typical Louis XVI. _fauteuil bergère_ is shown in No. 3 on
Plate XLVIII. This is also called _fauteuil confessional_. In this reign
the cushions of seat and back are often stuffed with hair instead of
feathers, and tufted. Like the specimen on Plate XXXVI., this _fauteuil
bergère_ is often supplied with a separate cushion for the seat, covered
like the rest of the chair.
Another typical chair was the “_voyeuse_,” the back of which was shaped
like a lyre, and reached from the seat to the top rail. The latter was
stuffed. Men sat astride the seat, and rested their arms upon the rail.
This chair was generally in the card-room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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