Furniture - World Styles From Classical To Contemporary

THOMAS CHIPPENDALE 99 designs & styles THE MOST FAMOUS CABINET-MAKER 1700–1760 What sets Thomas Chippendale apart from other THE WORK OF CHIPPENDALE PROVIDES A cabinet-makers of the time is that so many of his SNAPSHOT OF THE FASHIONS OF THE TIME. designs have survived. This is partly due to the enduring popularity of his style, but Chippendale’s Chippendale’s furniture ranged from pieces for the place in history is also thanks to the success of The grandest reception rooms to domestic styles. For Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (often referred Harewood House in Yorkshire, he supplied a library to simply as The Director). This book was intended table, an elm chopping block for the kitchen, and a to cultivate the patronage of the aristocracy, although deal table for the laundry. Harewood still contains the instructions were meant for cabinet-makers, who one of the largest Chippendale collections in the were invited to copy the designs. The engraver world. Chippendale provided a complete interior Matthias Darly was Chippendale’s chief collaborater decoration service, supplying (and often designing) on the book. curtains, chimneypieces, and wallpaper. He also made furniture specifically for particular architects, By the time The Director was published, such as Robert Adam, to complement the style of Chippendale was a master cabinet-maker. The each room. increasing demands of running a successful business meant that Chippendale no longer actually made any This English armchair is similar to of the furniture himself, but instead he directed and the “French Chair” design in The administered his London workshop of approximately Director (above).The overall shape 40 men. He also subcontracted work to the best is Rococo, but the carved elements, suppliers for mounts and marquetry panels. The such as the guilloche motif, are Director brought financial backing that allowed Classically inspired. PAR Chippendale to expand his business and become the leading furniture-maker of the day. His success also prompted fellow cabinet-makers to produce their own pattern books (see p.138). EXOTIC INSPIRATION Chinoiserie was very popular in the 1740s and Chippendale produced a large number of designs inspired by the motifs used on traditional Chinese pieces. As the liking for Chinoiserie developed, lacquer details were no longer sufficiently exotic on their own, so Chippendale designed furniture with pagoda surmounts, little bells, galleries of fretwork, and wood carved to represent interlaced bamboo. These were, of course, flights of fancy rather than representations of authentic Oriental furniture. One of the most famous commissions of “Chinese Chippendale” was a suite of green and white japanned furniture created for actor David Garrick’s villa on the River Thames. Chippendale’s pieces were designed for the villa’s best dressing room and the Chinese bedroom. GOTHIC ELEMENTS The mid to late 18th century saw a revival in Gothic motifs and taste, inspired by the architecture and furniture of the Middle Ages, and Chippendale also published designs to satisfy this fashion revival. Gothic Chippendale furniture included decorative details such as pointed arches, finials, and panels with quatrefoil motifs. SERPENTINE COMMODE This piece has two oak-lined drawers and a mahogany-lined top drawer, with an olive, gilt-tooled, leather writing slide. Finely carved acanthus leaves, flanked by paterae and hung with bell flowers, overlay the moulded and shaped angles. c.1770. H:85cm (331⁄2in); W:135cm (531⁄4in); D:62cm (243⁄4in). PAR

100 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 britain: George II GEORGE II’S REIGN (1727–60) signalled edges, suitable for the fashionable GILTWOOD PIER TABLE eagle’s heads, hung with a festoon of oak a period of peace and prosperity in pursuit of taking tea. Small portable leaves and acorns, and has a pierced apron Britain. Trading posts established by tables were used in many rooms for The frame of this marble-topped, giltwood pier below. The cabriole legs are carved with putti, the East India Company in Calcutta and a variety of purposes, ranging from table is exuberantly carved with Palladian and terminate in scroll feet. The table is possibly Madras were expanded, so by George playing cards to sewing or drawing. motifs, including acanthus foliage and scrolls. by Matthias Lock. c.1740. H:115.5cm (451⁄2in); II’s death in 1760, England was The bearded mask in the centre is flanked by W:128cm (501⁄2in); D:68.5cm (27in). PAR confirmed as a commercial power. Grand dining rooms were furnished with large sets of chairs, which often Giles Grendey (1693–1780) THE AGE OF MAHOGANY had carved and pierced back splats and Imported from the British colonies upholstered slip seats fitted into a seat THIS LONDON-BASED CABINET-MAKER RAN A THRIVING EXPORT BUSINESS in the West Indies and Honduras, frame. These chairs had carved claw- OVER MANY YEARS FROM HIS WORKSHOP IN ST. JOHN’S SQUARE. mahogany became the favoured wood and-ball feet, pad feet, or even, for fine cabinet-making in Britain by occasionally, scrolled feet. Grendey’s printed label noted that he ‘Makes and Sells all the early 1730s. In response to a blight Sorts of CABINET GOODS, Chairs, Tables, Glasses, etc.’ on walnut trees, the French had stopped ROCOCO INFLUENCE His workshop, employing numerous craftsmen, supplied exporting walnut in 1730 and, besides, Although the Rococo style was most both high-quality goods and well-made but simple furniture mahogany had many advantages. influential in Continental Europe, for less wealthy clients, but he was most renowned for his Cabinet-makers wanted to make the British designers of the time were export business, mostly to Spain. He famously supplied a most of the wood’s rich colour, which responsible for creating some of the suite of red japanned furniture to the Spanish Duke of combined well with gold, silver, and movement’s more extreme flights of Infantado, which comprised at least 77 pieces: the largest bronze. The hardness of the wood also fancy. The Rococo style affected the made it possible to create delicate decoration of furniture as well as the recorded suite of English furniture. A Grendey label pieces with pierced decoration and shape. Large case pieces and beds were causes great excitement among dealers and carving. This led to the creation of a decorated with carved C-scrolls and experts, but genuine Grendey pieces are British style based on mahogany, using foliage or other natural motifs, and extremely rare. less elaborate decoration than the some pieces had scrolled feet. The French Rococo. fashion for asymmetrical scrolls and curves was also evident on smaller FASHIONABLE PURSUITS furnishings, such as torchères, mirror Bureaux of all sorts were popular during frames, and tables. this time, and chests of drawers and commodes “in the French taste” – with The most famous English exponent three drawers on feet – were made for of the Rococo style was Thomas fashionable patrons. Chippendale (see p.98), although it was just one of the design styles he Tables ranged from grand, gilt pier embraced during his career. tables with marble tops, used in formal reception rooms, to mahogany tilt-top Thomas Johnson, a respected English tables with tripod bases and scalloped wood carver and furniture designer, published his engravings: Designs for Picture Frames, Candelabra, Ceilings, Side chair This beech chair, japanned in scarlet, &c (1751), and One Hundred and Fifty is overlaid with gilt Chinoiserie. The chair New Designs (1761), for small tables combines earlier design elements – the solid splat and turned stretchers – with cabriole legs and stands, wall sconces, clocks, with claw-and-ball feet, pierced crest rail, and frames, and other small decorative squared seat. c.1735. H:105.5cm (411⁄2in). PAR objects. His designs were wildly extravagant and epitomized the genre pittoresque decoration of Louis XV style (see p.78). He incorporated elements of the three most popular motifs of the time in his work: Chinese, Gothic, and Rococo. Johnson created elaborate pieces using rocaille, stalactites, foliage, birds, and other natural motifs. Some of the designs were so highly stylized that the wood was not strong enough to support the intricate carving. Tripod table Made of mahogany, this tilt-top table Armchair Made of mahogany, the shell motifs would have been called a claw table in early on the splat and the crest rail are carved rather inventories. The metal catch snaps into place when than gilt. The carving shows the large-scale the top is lowered down onto the tripod base. motifs sometimes used by Grendey. c.1740. c.1755. H:70cm (27.5in); D:68cm (263⁄4in). PAR H:101cm (393⁄4in); W:63.5cm (25in). PAR

BRITAIN: GEORGE II 101 ARMCHAIR 1700 –1760 This style of mahogany armchair is usually described as a “Gainsborough”, after the artist who often included the style in his paintings, and would have been made for a library or reception room. The seat and back have been re-upholstered in silk damask, similar to the original fabric, which would have matched that on the walls of the room. The cabriole legs are too heavy to be construed as Rococo. c.1755. H:100cm (39in); W:77.5cm (301⁄2in). PAR CHEST OF DRAWERS and there is a slide-out writing surface. The handles are typical of the period, without This mahogany chest has a serpentine front backplates or elaborate escutcheons. The with a similarly shaped top. Four graduated exquisite carving on the corners makes this a long drawers are flanked by chamfered corners very fine, rare piece. c.1755. H:86cm (34in); carved with cartouches and pendant flowers, W:112cm (44in); D:68cm (26in). PAR The fitted interior is very simple in style. The writing surface retracts when not in use. The simple ring brasses are reminiscent of the earlier William-and-Mary style. The cabriole legs are decorated with carved leaves. CARVED PINE CANDLESTAND The feet are scroll shaped. The shaped apron is decorated with brass. This stained pine and gilded candlestand is entwined with carved branches and dolphins and has iron candle WALNUT BUREAU-ON-STAND branches. The naturalistic carving and scrolled base are typically Rococo. c.1758. H:157cm (62in). TNH This bureau-on-stand is unusual for English furniture. Made of walnut instead of the more typical mahogany, it sits on a carved, Rococo base terminating in scroll feet. c.1735. H:96cm (373⁄4in); W:74cm (29in). MAL

102 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 america: queen anne QUEEN ANNE’S NAME is not only INFLUENCE OF THE HOMELAND THE CHOICE OF WOODS upholster slip seats. Queen Anne associated with British furniture, but Furniture made in the colonies did not During this time mahogany became chairs generally had balloon-shaped also describes a style of furniture made imitate court styles, but was similar to more popular, although in the middle seats and solid, vase-shaped splats. in the American colonies, after her furniture made for the middle classes colonies walnut remained the wood of The stiles were rounded and the crest death, from about 1720 to 1750, in Britain and the Low Countries, choice into the 1780s. Maple was often rails were often decorated with carved depending upon the region. because the settler communities used in New England and furniture shells. As the century progressed, consisted primarily of merchants, made in the mid 18th century often turned legs with stretchers evolved By the early 18th century, British- servants, and tradesmen, although emphasized the curved grain of into cabriole legs, but some makers trained cabinet-makers working in some high-end pieces were produced. the wood. Cherry was popular in favoured turned legs long after they Boston were producing sophisticated Connecticut, although other local had gone out of fashion. furniture for the wealthy. Newspapers By 1725, most furniture-makers woods were also used. carried advertisements announcing were new second or third generation Early chests of drawers tended to the arrival of craftsmen conversant American, who interpreted traditional FURNITURE STYLES be veneered, but by the 1750s many in the latest fashions. Furniture was designs in new ways, but the influence Seating became more comfortable, were made of solid wood. Ball or bun also imported in great quantity, and of their homelands meant that designs but textiles remained prohibitively feet favoured in the early 18th century included cane-backed chairs and varied between regions. These expensive, so upholstered furnishings were replaced by bracket, then claw- lacquered trays, and mirrors from differences were also due to the were rare. Leather was often used to and-ball feet. On high chests of Britain, the Low Countries, and Spain. woods available in the colonies. drawers, turned legs became cabriole CHEST OF DRAWERS FALL-FRONT BUREAU This chest of drawers, made in Boston, is This bureau from Boston is made of mahogany referred to as William and Mary, although it with pine secondary wood. The piece consists was made in the first quarter of the 18th of various drawers behind a fall-front, and nine century. Its burr walnut veneer imitates the lower drawers with brass escutcheons. The piece oyster veneer pattern used on British examples. sits on paw feet. c.1750. H:112cm (44in); 1700 –20. KEN W:104cm (41in); D:53cm (21in). BDL HIGH CHEST OF DRAWERS of the upper section, which gives the MAPLE DINING TABLE turned gatelegs terminate in claw-and-ball feet, appearance of two drawers instead of one long and are joined by similarly turned stretchers. This high chest, originating from Boston is drawer. The turned “cup-and-vase” legs are Made in the Boston area, this table is made of When not in use the leaves were closed and the veneered in both tiger maple and burr maple. joined with flat, shaped stretchers, and are black-painted maple. It has a scrubbed, hinged table could be placed against the wall. c.1715. The decorative pattern of the wood is enhanced typical of the work of Boston cabinet-makers. oval top, with demi-lobe leaves. The apron has H:73.5cm (29in); W:150cm (59in) open; by the use of crossbanding around each drawer c.1715. KEN a single drawer for storage. The vase-and-reel D:122cm (48in). NA

AMERICA: QUEEN ANNE 103 and cornice drawers disappeared. colonies. This had a round or square REGIONAL VARIATIONS New York, where the wardrobe or 1700 –1760 Bonnet-top pediments became more top and was easily moved for dining, While less wealthy areas favoured chest-on-chest was preferred. Boston fashionable (although flat tops cards, or writing. Turned-leg dining indigenous woods, New England and cabinet-makers used block-front remained popular) and an extra tables with folding side flaps, known the southern colonies followed British façades on bureaux and chests of drawer appeared in the upper section. as gateleg tables, were a staple item fashions, and New York was influenced drawers. This distinctive feature may in most households. These tables by the Low Countries. New York chair- have originated from Indo-colonial Dressing tables also served as writing remained popular until the 1750s makers preferred square claw-and-ball furniture from Goa and Madeira, tables in bedchambers. They were and are often difficult to date. feet and rarely used medial stretchers. which would have been familiar to often made en suite with high chests The high chest was unfashionable in New England merchants. and were one of the most expensive As in Europe, tea tables were popular. objects in a household. The tripod The finest versions were made of base snap table – so called because mahogany and had elegant cabriole the metal catch under the top snapped legs terminating in pad feet, and later, into place – was made in all the claw-and-ball feet. The crest rail is elaborately carved and pierced. The back splat is of a solid vase form. MAPLE ARMCHAIR SIDE CHAIR The seat is made of rush. This armchair, in the style of the School of This side chair was made in Philadelphia. It has John Gaines, was made in Portsmouth, New a mixture of Queen Anne and Chippendale Hampshire. The pierced scrolled crest with features. The back splat is solid, in the Queen moulded shoulders and a vase-form splat are Anne style, but its stiles and seat are shaped, typical features of furniture made in this area. and the chair has cabriole front legs, following 1730 – 40. NA the Chippendale style. FRE TRAY-TOP TEA TABLE DRESSING TABLE The front stretcher is double baluster-turned. This tea table is made of mahogany. The This dressing table comes from Salem. The moulded edge of the table top is designed to case is decorated with walnut veneer and QUEEN ANNE SIDE CHAIR keep expensive implements used during tea the piece has William-and-Mary style features drinking from falling on the floor. The piece has in the form of turned legs and flat stretchers. Thought to be designed by John Gaines, an important early slender cabriole legs, terminating in pad feet. 1710 –30. H:76cm (30in); W:86cm (34in); cabinet-maker from Massachusetts, this maple chair’s design 1740 –60. KEN D:56cm (22in). NA is influenced by high-backed London chairs. It has a rush panel and seat, a new solid vase-shaped splat, turned stretchers, and “Spanish” feet. Early 18th century. NA

104 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 american chippendale The description “Chippendale”, when fashionable Philadelphian furniture expensive versions were made in New flowing foliage, and terminated in pad applied to American furniture, refers was made by immigrants such as England and in the South, but the or claw-and-ball feet. Most had four to stylistic features, rather than Scottish-born Thomas Affleck. frames were not as finely carved and legs with the rear two legs swinging indicating that a piece was made by the legs were stocky. Dining tables, outwards to support the top leaf, but Chippendale. American Chippendale PREDOMINANT FASHIONS with or without drop leaves, were five legs were favoured in New York. furniture was made from around 1745 Interior fashions popular in Europe, popular throughout the colonies. to 1775, primarily in Philadelphia. such as placing pairs of pier tables These were made in various woods By about 1745, side or dining chairs against the wall with mirrors positioned including mahogany, walnut, and usually had pierced backs, rather than From the 1730s, Philadelphia above them, were scaled down to suit maple. In less grand houses tavern the solid splats common in Queen welcomed immigrant craftsmen who smaller colonial homes. tables were common. These stood on Anne furniture. Chippendale chairs brought with them new ideas and cabriole legs and one or two pieces of generally had a squared seat with European fashions, which resulted Slab tables with marble tops were wood were attached to the frame by an upholstered slip seat that fitted in a more exuberant style than New highly prized, using expensive materials wooden pegs: the top overhung the into the frame. The most expensive England furniture. Some of the most and elaborate carving. In general less frame. Card and gaming tables were versions were upholstered over the frame. Side chairs were often made extremely popular. These also in sets, sometimes with armchairs. generally had cabriole legs, Upholstered easy chairs offered greater the knees carved with shells or comfort, but the expense of textiles The top is made of A carved Chinoiserie The cabriole legs are imported marble, figure sits within elaborately carved which is shaped an asymmetrical with C-scrolls. to fit the frame. cartouche. PHILADELPHIA SLAB TABLE Intricate scroll feet CARD TABLE support the piece. This mahogany slab table was probably made by a foreign-born This New England mahogany table has a central drawer cabinet-maker. The backboard is made of yellow pine and the to hold playing materials. When opened, square corners, corner braces are of walnut. The elaborate decoration would have hollowed out to hold a candlestick next to each player, are been designed to order for a wealthy client. c.1770. H:82cm revealed. The piece rests on cabriole legs with carved knees (321⁄4in); W:122.5cm (481⁄4in); D:59cm (231⁄4in). and ball-and-claw feet. c.1760. W:82.5cm (321⁄2in). NA SLANT-FRONT DESK SLANT-FRONT DESK WING ARMCHAIR This mahogany desk from the Boston area has 12 traditional, This mahogany desk has brass handles at the sides for carrying. This mahogany armchair was made in Massachusetts. It has a square, blocked drawers. However, it also has fashionable elements, The wooden drawer pulls may be replacements. This classic desk serpentine crest, canted back, shaped wings, and rolled arms, such as the claw-and-ball feet and Chinese Chippendale brasses. shape was produced by the Newport cabinet-maker John Townsend. and is upholstered in velvet, although it would originally have The central shell motif is echoed in the carved pendant on the Its carved block and shell, used in the interior, is unique to furniture been a woolen textile. The turned front stretcher is recessed, front rail. c.1770. W:102cm (40in). Pook from Newport. 18th century. H:107cm (42in). NA and the front legs terminate in claw-and-ball feet. c.1765. NA

AMERICAN CHIPPENDALE 105 meant that only the very wealthy could DECORATIVE STYLES Woods, carving techniques, and the WOODS 1700 –1760 afford them. Wing armchairs protected Decoration tended to be similar to style of furniture all help to identify Mahogany was favoured by urban the occupants from draughts. that used on European furniture, with where a piece was made. In Newport, cabinet-makers, although maple and carved shells, foliage, and trailing Rhode Island, the Goddard-Townsend cherry were popular in New England. OTHER FURNITURE husks. However, colonial furniture school of cabinet-makers produced Walnut, from Pennsylvania and The chest of drawers and the high chest, tended to be less ornate. Gilt furniture shell-carved, blocked bureaux and Virginia, was still used after the often with a matching dressing table, was not found in the colonies, with secretary bookcases that are introduction of mahogany. Secondary remained popular. However, by the the exception of mirrors, although gilt immediately identifiable. Newport woods tended to be indigenous: white 1760s, these had been superseded by highlights were sometimes applied cabinet-makers also favoured claw- pine, birch, tulipwood, cedar, yellow the clothes or linen press, a fashionable to interior carving, finials, and claw- and-ball feet hollowed out under the pine, and sycamore. Wood was English form. Chests of drawers usually and-ball feet. Painted furniture was claw tenons. New York cabinet- plentiful in the colonies, so veneers had four graduated drawers and stood popular outside the port towns and makers carved squared, claw-and- on bracket or claw-and-ball feet, but reflected the styles of the craftsmen’s ball feet with deeper were not common. Solid woods the commode was rarely seen. New home countries. The Pennsylvania webbing over the ball. were also less susceptible forms furnished fashionable abodes, German community produced highly to changes in climate. including basin stands, candlestands decorative, painted furniture, and kettle stands. particularly dowry chests. PHILADELPHIA CANDLESTAND PHILADELPHIA LOWBOY This mahogany candlestand has a tilt-top, This carved mahogany lowboy has inset fluted birdcage mechanism. The turned support quarter columns on the case. Shell, vine, and extends to a compressed ball and a tripartite, foliate carving decorates the centre drawer, cabriole base, terminating in slipper feet. apron, and cabriole legs. 1796. H:77.5cm Early 18th century. H:51.5cm (201⁄4in). FRE (31in); W:90cm (36in); D:53.75cm (211⁄2in). NA SIDE CHAIR SIDE CHAIR PHILADELPHIA HIGH CHEST influence. The pediment follows the design of a desk and bookcase illustrated in This walnut chair is similar to the Queen Anne This mahogany chair, attributed to Thomas This mahogany high chest is clearly derived Chippendale’s Director, while the carving style. The solid vase splat and trifid feet are Affleck, has a carved crest rail, fluted stiles and from the Chippendale pattern books, although on the central lower drawer is taken from typical of Philadelphia Queen Anne chairs. The knees, and a pierced splat. The front legs have the date of the piece is towards the end of the a chimneypiece tablet design by Thomas projecting ears, cabriole legs, and squared seat scrolls under the seat and terminate in claw- period. The gilt-brass escutcheons and the Johnson. 1762–75. H:233cm (913⁄4in); reflect the Chippendale style. c.1745. NA and-ball feet. c.1765. H:94cm (37in). BDL quality of the carving indicate the Chippendale W:113.5cm (451⁄2in); D:62.5cm (25in).

106 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 America: Southern states THE SOUTHERN STATES of Maryland, NEW FORMS card tables, to dining tables and flanking a central long drawer. The legs North and South Carolina, and Virginia As in New England, types of furniture sideboard or slab tables. The tended to have pad, rather than claw- were British colonies along the eastern developed in pace with changes sideboard table usually had a marble and-ball, feet. seaboard of America, whose societies in housing and with the growth of top making it suitable for use in the were centred on large plantations. the middle class. In larger houses, dining room. If made with a wooden Chairs varied from simple side rooms were now designated for top, it also had a cover to protect it chairs with turned stretchers and The largest southern city in the specific purposes, such as parlours from wet objects. These tables were backs, and rush seats, to sumptuous early 18th century was Charles for dining, libraries, steward’s based on British furniture and were wing armchairs with claw-and-ball Town (known as Charleston) in South rooms, and bedrooms. copied from imports or drawings. feet. Corner chairs, known as smoking Carolina, a port where rich merchants chairs, were made for gentlemen in aspired to recreate British fashions. The clothes press, which usually Dressing tables, which were also Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. The wealthy plantation owners traded had drawers at the bottom, was related used for writing or reading, were These had curved backs, which were with their compatriots in Britain and to the European armoire and was closely related to British examples sometimes upholstered in leather. employed native craftsmen to build common, while the high chest of and rarely had the same arrangement their houses in the latest style. drawers – so popular in the north – of drawers as those originating from The Chippendale-style chair Imported furniture, pattern books, was rarely seen in the southern states. New England. The southern versions was made by both rural and urban and immigrants all introduced new either had one long drawer at the top styles of furniture to the area. Tables ranged from round and square of the table, or two square drawers WALNUT ARMCHAIR tilt-top tables, breakfast tables, and This Maryland chair is inspired by Chippendale, tea tables or similar pattern books. It has a serpentine crest with scrolled ears, a pierced back splat, carved THE FASHION FOR TAKING TEA CREATED A MARKET shell details, and cabriole legs. 1755 –70. FOR LOCALLY MADE TEA TABLES. H:105.5cm (411⁄2in); W:81cm (32in). SP By the early 18th century, wealthy Americans had taken up tea drinking, and as a result southern cabinet-makers made tea tables using predominantly European methods. Square tables often had rectangular tops with slightly bevelled edges, as well as straight, turned legs ending in “button” feet, and rails with curved lower edges. The middle classes picked up on the trend for taking tea and by 1750 rural southern cabinet-makers and craftsmen were making tea tables in vernacular styles from black walnut, cherry, and maple. The craftsmen reinterpreted the designs favoured by the rich to suit local tastes and their own abilities. Styles tended to be a combination of William and Mary and Queen Anne. By 1760, round tea tables had become popular. These typically had baluster and column shafts sitting on tripod bases. Slipper feet were designed with a pronounced ridge on the top edge and a large pad underneath. The table top usually sat on a shaped, solid block rather than on a birdcage device popular on earlier tables. MAHOGANY LINEN PRESS Mahogany tray-top tea table This table SLAB OR SIDEBOARD TABLE has a shaped bulging skirt and cabriole This linen press was made in Eastern Virginia. The upper case fits into the legs, which have acanthus-carved knees This Virginian dining table has a marble top moulded top of the lower case. It has stop-fluted corner columns, a dentil and end in claw-and-ball feet. 1740–60. and unusual legs with bifurcated knees. The cove cornice, and ogee bracket feet. The two doors, when open, reveal a ball-and-claw feet are all forward-facing and yellow pine fitted interior with a number of pigeonholes. c.1760. H:184cm have pronounced webbing. 1745–60. H:65cm (721⁄2in); W:93cm (361⁄2in); D:53.5cm (21in). (251⁄2in); W:69cm (27in); D:47cm (181⁄2in).

AMERICA: SOUTHERN STATES 107 craftsmen. The detail of the pierced woods, not visible to the eye, that 1700 –1760 splats varied, but all the chairs had help identify the region of origin. a squared seat and shaped back legs. Secondary woods used in the southern The seat was usually narrower than states included tulipwood – particularly on British examples. for drawer linings in both mahogany and walnut furniture – gumwood, LOCAL MATERIALS yellow pine, and bald cypress, which Historically, southern furniture has is resistant to decay and so particularly often been confused with furniture suited to the south’s hot and humid from Britain or New England. climate. Primary woods, the wood on Examining the types of wood that show, included mahogany, which was have been used is generally the best imported and used in Charles Town way to determine the origin of a piece. in the 1730s, and walnut, which In most cases, it is the secondary other southern towns preferred. SECRÉTAIRE BOOKCASE This mahogany secretary bookcase is believed to be the earliest known piece of American furniture with this pattern of Chinoiserie Gothic mullions. This piece is similar in construction to four other case pieces made in Charleston. The carved rosettes on the pediment are typical of the Charleston style. c.1760. H:244cm (973⁄4in); W:109cm (431⁄2in); D:60.5cm (241⁄4in). The mullion pattern is a Chinese railing design interpreted in a Gothic pattern. SIDE CHAIR The prospect door is flanked by carved document drawers. This is one of a pair of chairs made of walnut and yellow pine. The crest rail has a shell motif centred above a carved splat. The front cabriole legs terminate in trifid feet. Mid 18th century. H:100cm (40in); W:50cm (20in). The fall front is supported on lopers that pull out of the case when needed. OVAL-TOP DINING TABLE Simple brass bale handles are attached to the drawer fronts. This Virginian table, based on a British design, has drop leaves, so could be moved easily and Shaped bracket feet stored against the wall. The shape of the legs and support fhe case. use of yellow pine indicate its southern origin. 1690–1740. H:81cm (32in); W:122cm (48in).

1700–1760108 EARLY 18TH CENTURY Kettle stands and tea tables were designed to KETTLE STAND accommodate the new fashion for drinking tea and New Forms coffee. Like other small occasional tables, these were This English mahogany kettle stand light and easy to move, so that they could be placed has a solid gallery to stop the kettle DURING THE 18TH CENTURY, the desire for a more against the walls of a room when not in use, as from sliding off, and a column on relaxed and informal life became increasingly convention demanded. top of a tripod base. The column is important amongst the wealthy and leisured classes, fluted and spirally turned, and the creating a demand for new types of furniture. Comfort became much more of a priority during feet terminate in claw-and-ball feet. the 18th century, particularly in light of the greater Some elaborate stands have silver The growing popularity of writing and playing interest in conversation and informal social gatherings. salvers made to fit the shape of games, in particular, influenced furniture design, Powerful women, such as Louis XV’s mistress, the top on which the kettle and and many new kinds of writing table and desk were Madame de Pompadour, were influential patrons and spirit burner stood, although created. These were usually intended for bedrooms, held salons, where guests met to discuss literature, these have often been lost rather than being placed in a reception room. In science, and the arts. New types of chairs, sofas, and over time. c.1750. H:61cm addition to writing tables specifically intended for settees were shaped with gently curved backs, and (24in); Diam:29cm (111⁄2in). correspondence, writing surfaces were skilfully had padded and upholstered seats, backs, and arms, incorporated into other small tables, including to make them more comfortable, despite the high ●L&T 6 dressing tables. cost of textiles. Design books featuring these new forms of furniture often contained special sections Games tables evolved in response to the popularity indicating how people should use them and giving of board and card games, and the most elaborate versions incorporated different surfaces for playing the proper dimensions. a variety of games. The 18th-century fascination for novelty furniture with secret devices led to the creation of ordinary-looking tables that opened to reveal hidden writing or games surfaces. Green baize-lined ENCOIGNURE “À FLEURS” surface for This Louis XV corner cupboard is decorated with rosewood inlays playing cards. of flowers and foliage. It has a quarter-circle marble top above a two-door case, a shaped apron, and short cabriole legs. Bronze mounts and sabots provide additional decoration. c.1750. H:93cm ●(371⁄4in); W:76cm (301⁄2in); D:53cm (211⁄4in). GK 4 The inner surface is The shaped cabriole inlaid with a board legs terminate in for backgammon pad feet. and other games. GEORGE II GAMES TABLE BUREAU DRESSING TABLE Made of mahogany, this table has four legs, one of which swings This rare piece has one long drawer above three short drawers at back to provide support for the leaves. Inside the triple-hinged top each side. There is a cupboard and a small drawer in the recess. is a baize-lined card-playing surface with squared recesses on the The desk is richly japanned with gold Chinoiseries on a green corners to hold candlesticks, and an inlaid surface for playing background, and has brass mounts and bracket feet. c.1720. H:83cm (331⁄4in); W:78cm (311⁄4in); D:48cm (191⁄4in). MAL ●backgammon and other games. c.1740. H:85cm (34in). NA 4

NEW FORMS 109 1700 –1760 ENGLISH WRITING TABLE FRENCH LADY’S WRITING BUREAU FRENCH LADY’S WRITING BUREAU Made of mahogany, this writing table has tall cabriole legs rather This small Louis XV secrétaire is veneered in kingwood and Known as a secrétaire en pente (secrétaire with a slope), this than the short legs found on a bureau dressing table. The top of satinwood parquetry and has five drawers and cabriole legs. The bureau is decorated with black lacquer. The decoration is quite the desk has a leather-covered writing surface. Two of the front restrained use of ornamental ormolu mounts marks this out as sparse, which is typical of the Japanese style. This piece is legs swing out to support the frieze drawer, to reveal slides and a mid-century, rather than an early-century piece. c.1750. stamped with the initials of the acclaimed ébéniste, Jean-Pierre ●compartments. c.1745. HL 7 ●H:96cm (381⁄2in); W:101cm (401⁄2in); D:52cm (20 3⁄4in). GK 5 ●Latz. c.1750. H:98cm (391⁄4in). GK 9 CHINESE GAMES TABLE The interior contains several games surfaces, GEORGE II DRAWING TABLE drawers below and a tray for writing utensils. including one for backgammon. The cabriole This rare Padouk table from Canton has a square legs have carved knees and terminate in claw- When closed, this mahogany table looks like an The piece has square, chamfered legs, which top made in two pieces, which are hinged so and-ball feet. The piece would have been made ordinary card table. However, the double fold- that they open out. Support for the extended for export. c.1775. H:82cm (323⁄4in); W:139cm over top opens to reveal a surface for cards as were introduced around this time. Unlike writing top is supplied by lopers concealed in the apron. (551⁄2in) (open); D:70cm (28in). MJM well as a drawing or writing slope with two desks or card tables, architect’s tables have a covered writing surface that can be adjusted. ●c.1760. H:90.5cm (361⁄4in). L&T 4 ENGLISH SETTEE FRENCH CANAPÉ PAINTED ITALIAN SETTEE The back-splat design for this mahogany settee is based on two This Louis XIV tapestry-covered walnut canapé is part of a suite. This small, upholstered settee is based on the design for a French chair backs. The seat is upholstered in a flamestitch pattern. The original Beauvais tapestry is worked in vivid colours depicting chair, but the Italian maker has added floral carving at the top of This medieval design was a favoured textile of the period, and bold flowers, foliage, birds, and squirrels. The piece has eight the legs and in the centre of the chair rail. It is slightly bulkier was used for curtains and bedhangings. The piece terminates in cabriole legs that are carved at the knees with shells and foliage. than a French settee and the leg curve is more exuberant. c.1760. cabriole legs and claw-and-ball feet. c.1755. NOA c.1715. H:112cm (44in); W:173cm (68in); D:91.5cm (36in). PAR ●H:88cm (351⁄4in); W:130cm (51in). NAG 4

110 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 commodes THE COMMODE BECAME popular in were used in different rooms. Louis XV ITALIAN COMMODE AMERICAN COMMODE France around 1700 and the shape commodes usually have three large is now synonymous with the 18th drawers, but the upper drawer is This Milanese commode is decorated with ivory This marble-topped commode is made of century. Initially the width was always sometimes divided into two half marquetry set into olivewood and crossbanded mahogany, white pine, and chestnut, with brass greater than the height, sometimes drawers. The drawer divisions were veneers. The drawer divider, moulding, frame, drawer pulls and escutcheons. The commode exaggeratedly so, and the commode often disguised in French furniture. and legs are stained to resemble ebony. The is extremely rare in colonial furniture. c.1760. was a curved, bombé shape, often Louis XV commode cases were marquetry top depicts mythological goddesses. H:88.3cm (343⁄4in); W:93.3cm (363⁄4in); with slightly splayed legs. generally made of oak or walnut and D:54.6cm (211⁄2in). veneered, and ormolu mounts were ●c.1760. H:102cm (40 3⁄4in). LT 6 Fashionable commodes had used to protect the veneers. marble tops to match the marble of chimneypieces. They were often Louis XVI commodes were less surmounted by a pier glass and either curved and had shorter legs shaped faced the chimneypiece or stood like spinning tops (toupées). They between the windows in reception were made of walnut and had veneers rooms. As other countries created their in exotic woods such as tulipwood, own versions, commodes became more violet, or satinwood, enhanced with varied in form and decoration, and ebony and mahogany parquetry. The top is made of marble. The locks are decorated with gilt bronze. SWEDISH COMMODE This three-drawer commode by C.G. Wilkom has the short legs of Louis XVI commodes but not the fashionable toupée feet. The exaggerated curve at the top of the case is unusual. c.1776. H:79cm (311⁄2in); W:80.5cm (321⁄4in); ●D:46cm (45in). BK 5 Intricate veneers Fine marquetry shows a create elaborate bird-and-flower pattern. parquetry. The curved shape echoes Louis XV style. PARISIAN COMMODE traverses, meaning that the divide between the The gilt bronze mounts CURVED SWEDISH COMMODE drawers is subtle, creating a unified pattern, are both for protection The two-drawer shape was standard in Louis XV although the drawers have dropped over time. Although it is inspired by the French commode, design. The front of the piece is decorated with The legs and body are curved, but less so than and decoration. the drawer divisions of this Swedish piece are illusionist marquetry depicting a bouquet of in many Louis XV pieces. Like much Louis XV emphasized by the banded inlay framing the flowers with birds, and the sides are covered furniture, ormolu mounts protect the feet and drawers, and the placing of the escutcheons with veneer made into a geometric pattern, veneer. c.1760. H:85cm (34in); W:128cm and handles. c.1750. H:83cm (331⁄4in); known as parquetry. The front is made sans ●(511⁄4in); D:60cm (24in). GK 7 ●W:103cm (411⁄4in); D:48.5cm (191⁄2in). BK 5

COMMODES 111 1700 –1760 PROVINCIAL FRENCH COMMODE GERMAN COMMODE PROVINCIAL DRESDEN COMMODE Cabinet-makers from the provinces imitated Parisian fashions, This French-style commode, made by the German cabinet-maker This oak commode is an early Saxon example. It has a but often used cheaper materials. This commode from Bordeaux, Matthäus Funk, accentuates the divisions between the two serpentine front and carved bottom, typical of the commode made in walnut rather than veneered with precious woods, has drawers more dramatically than most French pieces, using form. The escutcheons are very simple in design, and the subtle incised frames around the handles and escutcheons. gilding to emphasize the bottom of each drawer. The mounts commode has simple French bracket feet, rather than the The panelled sides and feet form an S-shaped curve. and the grain of the walnut provide decoration. c.1760. cabriole legs found on more elaborate examples. c.1750. ●c.1760. W:124.5cm (49 3⁄4in). SL 3 ●H:104cm (411⁄2in); W:61cm (241⁄2in); D:84cm (18in). GK 7 ●H:87cm (343⁄4in); W:125cm (50in); D:66cm (261⁄2in). BMN 3 PAINTED ITALIAN COMMODE ENGLISH CHIPPENDALE-STYLE COMMODE GERMAN COMMODE This two-drawer commode is decorated with paintings of This mahogany bombé commode has three oak-lined drawers. This fine serpentine bombé walnut and fruitwood commode is aristocrats in an idealized landscape, similar to the Rococo The chased gilt brass Rococo swing handles and escutcheons are decorated with exquisite marquetry and parquetry. The locks, paintings of Watteau (see p.78). Stylized leaf patterns adorn the not original. The piece has a Rococo carved frieze and foliage drawer pulls, and feet are decorated with gilt bronze mounts. skirt, sides, and legs. The shape of the legs resembles the curved carving on the front moulded serpentine corners. The front legs This piece may have been made by the famous Spindler cabriole style of Louis XV, but is less pronounced. c.1765. are decorated with leaf sprays emanating from cartouche carved brothers, court ebénistes to Frederick the Great. c.1765. H:89cm (351⁄2in); W:160cm (64in); D:63cm (251⁄4in). NAG ●H:90cm (36in); W:116cm (461⁄2in); D:64cm (251⁄2in). GK 6 ●feet. Mid 18th century. H:97cm (38in). WW 7 FRENCH COMMODE PROVINCIAL GERMAN COMMODE TURKISH CHEST OF DRAWERS This walnut commode has a serpentine front and a shaped This serpentine commode is veneered in walnut with banding This chest of drawers is influenced by different sources. It apron. As is typical of French commodes, the top is made around the drawers and veneer flitches of different colours. incorporates the serpentine shape of the commode as well as the of marble. The three drawers have decorative brass pulls and The escutcheons are Rococo in style with asymmetrical pierced massive shape and drawer configuration of library table designs keyholes. The piece terminates in cabriole legs and rests on attachments. Like most provincial commodes, it does not have published in 18th-century pattern books. Columns and elaborate scroll feet. Mid 18th century. H:91cm (361⁄2in); W:121cm a marble top, but is veneered. The legs are slightly cabriole in carving add to the decorative features. c.1750. H:47cm (18 3⁄4in); ●(481⁄2in); D:60cm (24in). PIL 4 ●shape. c.1750. W:127cm (50 3⁄4in). BMN 5 ●W:92cm (36 3⁄4in); D:46cm (181⁄2in). 5

112 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 highboys HIGHBOYS AND LOWBOYS first occurred Known as tallboys in England, in England, but by 1730 highboys were highboys consisted of chests placed almost exclusive to colonial America. on top of lowboys. These imposing Both pieces were intended for use in pieces were highly prized in America the bedroom, and were often made to as symbols of wealth, and remain an be used together. important part of American cultural heritage. Each region had its own A lowboy, known in Britain as a style, influenced by local materials dressing table, had drawers below a and the cultural origin of the makers. fixed top, and long legs to allow easy access to the drawers, and to enable Flat-topped highboys were used someone to sit comfortably at it. to display ornaments, and cabinet- Lowboy drawers did not have locks, makers also made high chests with which indicates that items stored in shelves on top which stepped them were not as valuable as those inwards to display ceramics and stored in the upper part of a highboy, other treasures. Towards the mid- which did lock. A mirror would often century, shaped tops became be hung above, or placed on top of fashionable, and the finest pieces a lowboy. had carved pediments and finials. This pediment shape is ENGLISH HIGHBOY MASSACHUSETTS HIGHBOY known as a “bonnet top”. This provincial George I highboy is made of oak Made on the north shore of Massachusetts in The urn-shaped finials display and ash. The upper section has a flat cornice native figured maple, this highboy is similar to a Classical influence. above two short drawers and three long drawers. English pieces of the period. Its flat projecting The lower section has an arrangement of five cornice may have been used to display prized The central motif is a carved drawers. It has fashionable cabriole legs but pieces of ceramics or glass. The cabriole legs shell, which is repeated on also has the “bat-shaped” brass escutcheons and Queen-Anne-style brass escutcheons indicate the lowboy. and handles popular at the beginning of the that this piece was made mid-century. c.1750. century. c.1720. MAL The brass escutcheons ●H:185 cm (723⁄4in). NA 4 are etched. BOSTON HIGHBOY AND LOWBOY Lowboy drawers do not have locks. The japanned case of this Boston highboy is made of maple, while white pine is used for the interior supports. Its brass escutcheons are Queen Anne style in shape but with earlier style engraving. Highboys like this were made in Boston as late as 1747, and this highboy’s cabriole legs help to date it as a later example. Made with a matching lowboy, this highboy is one of only eight known japanned Boston highboys, with cabriole legs. 1747. H:178.5cm (701⁄4in); W:100.5cm (391⁄4in); D:53cm (203⁄4in). Cabriole legs The carved shell The japanned motifs The turned pendants CONNECTICUT HIGHBOY support the piece. echoes the motif are repeated from are carved and gilt, at the top of the highboy. matching those on This highboy is made of cherry wood, a material the piece. the highboy. favoured by Connecticut cabinet-makers. The tapering scroll feet are a variation of a type known as Spanish feet, which were popular on American furniture. Connecticut pieces often incorporated features such as double Spanish feet and triple. moulded cornices. c.1730. H:193cm (76in). NAO

HIGHBOYS 113 the poudreuse and coiffeuse 1700 –1760 THE HIGHBOY AND LOWBOY DREW INSPIRATION FROM FEMININE FRENCH FURNITURE DEVELOPED FOR POWDERING HAIR AND APPLYING MAKE-UP. The French word poudreuse means fashionable French pieces evolved into “powder” or “dust”. When applied to dressing tables, lowboys, and ultimately furniture it refers to a table originally highboys. A poudreuse usually had a used as a place to powder hair. These marble top, which opened to reveal a mirror that could be raised on a rack. Beneath the mirror were compartments ENGLISH DRESSING TABLE for powder and wigs. This mahogany dressing table has four drawers As the fashion for face make-up grew, that pull out. Unlike French examples, these the poudreuse evolved into a larger piece, drawers are not divided into compartments. called the coiffeuse. Ladies’ coiffeuses c.1750. H:71cm (28in); W:76cm (29in); were often decorated with floral marquetry. ●D:47cm (181⁄2in). POOK 5 By the late 18th century, a coiffeuse with a writing surface and inkwell had been developed for use by gentlemen. PENNSYLVANIA HIGHBOY Paris Coiffeuse concealed compartments and a leather writing slide. This piece This highboy is decorated with reeded quarter was intended for use in a lady’s dressing columns on the sides of the upper and lower room. c.1760. H:86cm (33 2⁄3in); case, and carved shells in the centre of its W:47cm (18 1⁄2in); D:74cm (29in). GK cabriole legs. Trifid feet (which have three toe-shaped sections) were generally used French Coiffeuse with three false upper only in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. drawers and a mirror which is revealed c.1730. H:190.5cm (75in); W:107cm (42in); when the central portion of the top D:58.5cm (23in). NAO is lifted. c.1750. H:70cm (271⁄2in); W:82cm (321⁄4in); D:50cm (20in). NAG WALNUT LOWBOY This Delaware Valley piece has four equal sized drawers positioned in pairs – a configuration favoured by the middle American colonies. Its cabriole legs terminate in Spanish feet, a common characteristic of furniture from this area and New Jersey. c.1760. H:79cm ●(31in). POOK 6 NEW YORK HIGHBOY CONNECTICUT HIGHBOY PHILADELPHIA HIGHBOY NEW ENGLAND LOWBOY This highboy is made of walnut, a wood used This Chippendale-style tall chest is made Highboys from Philadelphia were often highly The case and top of this piece are veneered in and favoured by New York cabinet-makers in of cherry. The upper section has a curved carved and elaborately decorated. The upper figured walnut. The single long drawer – in this the 1720s and 1730s. Its proportions are pediment flanked by terminals and has six section of this mahogany piece has a swan- example fitted with compartments – over three particular to the New York region: it has a drawers. The lower part is made up of one neck pediment with floral terminals, which short drawers is an arrangement typical of the smaller upper section with four long drawers long drawer and short drawers on either side were popular in Britain. The urn and flame New England style. The highly arched skirt is (the single top drawer appears to be split), of a central fan-carved drawer. The piece has finials, and the acanthus carved on the cabriole decorated with pendant finials, and the piece and a lower case with three drawers. c.1730. turned pendants and cabriole legs. c.1750. legs, are typical Neoclassical motifs. c.1760. rests on cabriole legs. c.1735. W:82.5cm ●H:104cm (41in). NA 3 ●H:180cm (72in). POOK 6 ●H:206cm (811⁄2in). S&K 3 ●(321⁄2in). FRE 5

114 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 tables CHANGING SOCIAL CUSTOMS at the Both console tables and pier tables SWISS CONSOLE TABLE GERMAN PIER TABLE beginning of the 18th century created were created as part of the design for a need for many new types of table. an integrated interior. A console table This gilt table, probably made in Bern, has a This small pier table displays both Rococo and The fashion for entertaining small usually had supports at the front only, marble top above a carved, pierced frame with Neoclassical elements. The top is made of groups of people led to a demand for because the back was attached to a Rococo scrolls, foliage, and asymmetrical shells. marble and sits above a frieze, decorated with light, portable tables that could be wall. Pier tables were also designed The apron and stretcher are both carved with an a stylized Greek key motif. It is supported by arranged wherever required. Specific to be positioned against the wall, but asymmetrical cartouche. c.1765. H:83cm four carved, scrolled legs. c.1760. H:89cm tables were made for playing cards, these were usually smaller, and had taking tea, and writing letters. four legs. Traditionally, they stood ●(321⁄4in); W:36cm (141⁄2in). GK 4 ●(35in); W:46cm (18in); D:81cm (32in). GK 5 between two windows or doors, and The card table was primarily a often had matching mirrors, known as British innovation. In the early part pier glasses, above them. Both types of of the 18th century, the card table was table were often elaborately decorated basically a square table with a hinged with carving and gilt, and had decorative top that folded back. The rear leg marble tops, but the designs were swung back to support the open top. generally lighter than the Baroque style As card tables were stored against the favoured in the 17th century, and they wall, only the front skirt and legs were incorporated the asymmetric, natural carved. The top often had hollowed- motifs of the Rococo style. out corners for holding cards, chips, or candlesticks. Pedestal tables were columnar and had three splayed legs. The style of Writing tables were often fitted with the tabletops varied. These tables were a velvet or leather writing surface. often used in dining rooms as tea tables Lady’s writing tables were small, with for holding china and crockery. a sloping top and a drawer for storing writing materials. These tables could Tripod candlestands generally had also be used for embroidery or small, rounded tops. Larger tripod needlepoint. Men’s writing tables, which tables were often called tea tables, and were known in France as bureaux plats, the finest examples had scalloped tops were larger and had flat tops and a with moulded edges, and elaborately storage drawer. carved columns and feet. FRENCH RÉGENCE BUREAU PLAT The top is covered GERMAN OAK TABLE which is also crossbanded, leads into carved with inset gold leather. This bureau is made of ebony with brass inlays. This imposing oak table is made in the cabriole legs with scroll feet. The legs are It has a serpentine bronze-framed top above Franconian Baroque style. It is veneered three drawers at the front and blind drawers at in walnut and the shaped top is inlaid joined by flat, shaped stretchers. The piece the back. The piece is decorated with ormolu and with damson, cherrywood, and maple wood sabot mounts, and has cabriole legs. c.1720. in a geometric marquetry pattern within terminates in ball feet. 18th century. W:138cm a crossbanded surround. A shallow frieze, ●H:74cm (29in); W:150cm (59in). GK. 3 ●(551⁄4in). BMN 6 The legs are cabriole shaped. The corners and sides are ENGLISH SIDE TABLE decorated with ormolu masks. This small, vernacular side table is made of oak Ormolu mounts in the shape of and fruitwood. It has one narrow frieze drawer animal hooves protect the feet. above an undulating, shaped apron. The table stands on turned, slightly tapering legs, and terminates in pad feet. c.1750. H:69.5cm; ●(271⁄2in). DN 1

TABLES 115 1700 –1760 SICILIAN SIDE TABLE GILTWOOD SIDE TABLE GILTWOOD SIDE TABLE This table is made of gilded pine with a marble top. The frieze This French Régence side table is heavily carved and covered This marble-topped giltwood table, which may be of German is faced with glass panels painted on the underside to simulate with gilt. The top is made of rosso antico marble. The frieze and origin, has an ornately carved frieze and apron, which are blue-grey onyx. Neoclassical symbols, such as egg and dart, cabriole legs are elaborately decorated with carvings of pierced enlivened with Rococo flames and swags of flowers on each bay leaf mouldings, and lion’s masks, provide decoration. The foliage surmounted by nymphs’ heads. The table was bought by side. The cabriole legs have carved knees decorated with large, tapered legs have acanthus plumes and are faced with glass an English gentleman for his country house. c.1725. H:84cm bearded masks. 18th century. H:80cm (32in); W:124.5cm (50in); panels. 18th century. H:96cm (381⁄2in) W:126cm (50 1⁄2in). TNH (33in); W:110cm (43in); D:72cm (28in). MAL ●D:70cm (28in). HL 7 ENGLISH TEA TABLE GERMAN TABLE LOUIS XV WRITING TABLE AMERICAN TEA TABLE This George II tea table has a mechanical This simple table, which has one small drawer This small French writing table has a raised, This vernacular table is made of painted maple. concertina action, which means that when underneath an inlaid floral marquetry top, is pierced brass edge around the top. The sides The rectangular top has a moulded edge the two-part hinged tabletop is open, it reveals decorated with more marquetry over the shaped and feet are decorated with ormolu mounts. The projecting over a shaped skirt with a drawer. compartments for holding games. The piece frieze and cabriole legs. It is small enough to escutcheons are asymmetrical in typical Rococo The corners of the frieze continue into sharp stands on cabriole legs and terminates in claw- move easily, and would have fulfilled many style. c.1750. H:72cm (29in); W:60cm edges down the cabriole legs, which lead into ●and-ball feet. c.1750. W:96cm (38in). DN 3 ●uses. c.1760. H:95cm (38in). BMN 3 ●(24in); D:41cm (161⁄2in). BK 4 ●pad feet. c.1740. H:70cm (271⁄2in). NA 5 tilt-top tables Detail of mechanism Philadelphia tilt-top tea table This fine table has a Birdcage birdcage support, a scalloped edge, a tripod base, THESE VERSATILE TABLES WERE IDEAL FOR THE and claw-and-ball feet. The top is made from a NEWLY FASHIONABLE PASTIME OF DRINKING TEA. single piece of figured mahogany. c.1765. H:122cm (48in); W:89cm (35in). SP Tilt-top tables had three parts: the top, a “birdcage” mechanism that enabled the top to tilt and revolve, and a columnar support with a tripod base. The top folded flat, so that the table could be stored against a wall. The top had a lip around the edge, to protect items on the table, such as valuable porcelain cups. The birdcage, named after its appearance, was used in England but was more popular in America. An iron catch was fitted to the underside of the top and birdcage, to lock the top in place. The column was anchored to the birdcage with a removable wedge. The various parts of the table were purchased from different craftsmen, then assembled by a cabinet-maker. Tilt-top tables from Philadelphia are considered the best examples of colonial cabinet-making. The finest ones are made of solid mahogany, which makes it difficult to distinguish them from English examples.

1700–1760116 EARLY 18TH CENTURY During the second quarter of the 18th century, squared seats became chairs more common. The seat rails were shallower and often shaped, and EARLY IN THE CENTURY, Queen Anne- sometimes had carved or applied shells style chairs had a solid, narrow splat, in the centre. Chair backs had usually of a vase or baluster shape, serpentine crest rails terminating in which fitted into the centre of the back scrolls or volutes and the back splat rail. The frame tended to be straight was wider. The upper section of the and narrow, with rounded shoulders, back splat sometimes had scrolled and the seat was rounded or balloon- ears close to the intersection with the shaped with an upholstered seat. top rail. On very fine examples, splats were sometimes carved at the edges. Queen Anne chairs were usually made of walnut, although vernacular The knees of cabriole legs were now versions were made of elm or oak. more pronounced and frequently carved They had slightly cabriole legs and with shells or husks, or had carved pad feet. The earliest versions had volutes attached below them. Most flat or turned stretchers. chairs still had pad feet, but claw-and- ball feet first appeared in about 1725 in Britain and around 1740 in the ENGLISH SIDE CHAIR CHINESE ARMCHAIR American colonies. This is an early example of a Queen Anne side This open-style armchair, made of solid Chinese furniture makers produced chair. The back splat is solid, the shoulders padouk, incorporates a variety of different chairs that were similar in style for and stiles are slightly curved, and the slip seat elements. The solid splat is shaped but the the lucrative European market. is balloon-shaped. The chair is attributed to stiles below the shoulders remain straight. John Yorke on the basis of the design and The splayed cabriole legs are shorter than The back splat is solid and construction. c.1710. H:114cm (45in); those seen on European examples. c.1740. an inverted baluster shape. W:53.5cm (21in); D:58.5cm (23in). PAR ●H:109cm (43in). B&I 5 Carved roundels echo the decoration on the crest rail. Shell motifs are often found on cabriole legs of the period. ENGLISH SIDE CHAIR upholstered in needlepoint. The front of the AMERICAN SIDE CHAIR PERUVIAN ARMCHAIR seat rail has a cartouche in the centre. The This is the ultimate example of a George I side cabriole front legs have claw-and- ball feet while This walnut chair from Massachusetts displays This mahogany chair reflects the Rococo style. chair. The solid, inverted baluster-shaped back the back legs have block feet. This type of a mixture of styles. It has the slim back splat The crest rail has asymmetrical central carving. splat slips into a shaped shoe. Rounded chair was copied all over Britain, Europe, and and turned stretchers popular at the beginning The sinuous moulding continues from the crest shoulders form a continuous S-shape to the the colonies, with chair-makers drawing on of the century, while the square slip seat and rail down the stiles and onto the arms. The legs stiles, which terminate in volutes. Carved shells various elements depending on their clientele. curved legs are more typical of the mid century. are cabriole-shaped with C-scrolls on the knees. adorn the centre of the crest rail and appear on c.1720. H:105.5cm (411⁄2in); W:57cm (221⁄2in); It represents a transition between Queen Anne The pierced splat may be a later replacement. the shaped knees. The balloon-shaped seat is D:61cm (24in). PAR c.1750. H:122cm (48in); W:59cm (231⁄4in). TNH ●and Chippendale styles. c.1745. NA 4

CHAIRS 117 interpreting the french style 1700 –1760 A MOVE AWAY FROM THE FORMALITY OF THE BAROQUE INTERIOR LED TO A DEMAND FOR MORE COMFORTABLE FURNITURE, AND THE FRENCH LED THE WAY WITH THE FAUTEUIL ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC PIECES OF THE 18TH CENTURY. CANTONESE SIDE CHAIR During the 18th century, the European nobility and the in the same fabric. The arms were set further back around a increasingly influential middle classes sought more elegant quarter of the length of the side-rail in order to accommodate the The wide, undulating shoulders of this chair surroundings and rooms in which to entertain and large, hooped skirts that were fashionable with aristocratic and the unusually wide splat indicate that the converse, and with this came more comfortable furniture, ladies from around 1720. chair is of non-European origin. The crest rail which invited visitors to linger. and back stiles are made from one piece of Decoration was often asymmetrical in the Rococo style, wood, which is typical of Chinese furniture. This desire for a more sociable environment led incorporating shells and rocaille. Raised on cabriole legs, the c.1730. H:106cm (413⁄4in); W:53cm (201⁄2in); to the development of new chair styles. French D:53cm (20 3⁄4in). MJM craftsmen created the fauteuil, an upholstered entire frame of the chair was a mass of graceful curves. armchair with open sides. This feminine- Usually painted in pale blues, greens and yellows looking piece influenced the development to match the colour scheme of the interior, of chairs around the world, and allowed the exposed framework might also have the occupant to entertain in comfort. gilt decoration to emphasize both shape and carved detail. Compared to the heavy-looking, high- Cabinet-makers all over Europe strove backed chairs of the 17th century, to emulate and surpass the talents of these armchairs were lighter and their French counterparts in meeting more refined in shape, reflecting the demands of their wealthy the fashion for feminine clients, many of whom were furnishings. They were often hungry for furniture in the decorated in the same style as French taste. Interpretations the room’s other furnishings, of the fauteuil were plentiful using similar colour and fabrics. throughout the continent, and the fauteuil became The seat and back of the the seating style of choice fauteuil were upholstered for the most fashionable to make the chair more European homes in the comfortable. The armrests early 18th century. were also padded and covered Italian Armchair Inspired by the fauteuil, this Italian example has a higher, more oval back with intricate gilt carving. The pastel paint reflects the French fashion for more subtle surroundings. c.1750. H:94cm (37in); W:61cm (24in). PAR SWEDISH ARMCHAIR German chair This chair emulates those of English armchair Essentially French in style, the French Fauteuil The elegance of the gentle curves contemporary French cabinet-makers, whose later date of this armchair by Ince and Mayhew is emphasized by the gilt decoration. The shell The back splat of this mahogany chair is influence can be seen in the ornate, rocaille is evident from the square, tapering legs and motifs on the crest rail and the knees are typical unusual in that it terminates into a back carving and the pale colours of the floral- Neoclassical decoration, which were fashionable of the period. c.1750. H:96.5cm (38in); W:70cm stretcher rather than into the seat of the chair. embroidered silk upholstery. NAG from the 1760s. c.1770. H:98cm (381⁄2in). PAR (271⁄2in); D:61cm (24in). PAR A stylized carved shell decorates the crest rail and serpentine apron. This chair also has turned stretchers, even though they were no ●longer fashionable at this time. c.1755. BK 4

118 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 1700–1760 EVOLUTION OF MIRRORS for many years the mirror was a rare and vastly expensive item, and today it is difficult to appreciate just how prized and important mirror glass once was. AT THE END of the 17th century, a mirror about 1m x ENGLISH GILDED EASEL MIRROR 90cm (40in x 36in) would have cost the equivalent This mirror was designed to be placed on a table. Mirror backs of £20,000 in today’s currency. The earliest mirrors were often covered with softwood, to protect the glass and metal were handheld, but by the 18th century, the mirror from being oxidized by the light. c.1725. H:78cm (311⁄4in). NOA had become an essential part of the fashionable home. A BRIEF HISTORY Chinoiserie mask Mirrors have been used for thousands of years. They were believed to foretell the future and to bring bad luck, especially when broken. Many people thought that to see your reflection was to see your soul, and for years the Church was against the use of mirrors. The earliest known mirror was made of bronze, and ancient civilizations also used silver, gold, tin, steel, obsidian (volcanic glass), and rock crystal. Curved glass mirrors, made by cutting a sphere in two, were produced during the Middle Ages, but it was not until the 15th century that it was possible to create flat, colourless glass, known as “crystallo”. This technique created relatively small pieces of glass. VENETIAN GLASSMAKERS Foliage Crystallo, or crystalline glass, and blown glass were motifs developed in Venice. The Venetian workshops were the only places producing glass mirrors before the mid 17th century. The commercial importance of this discovery prompted the Venetian authorities to forbid glassmakers to move from their headquarters on the island of Murano on pain of death. DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE Female masks Although some Venetian glassmakers were seduced into setting up workshops, principally in Germany Marble fire and the Low Countries, it was not until around 1663 surround that Murano’s supremacy was challenged. Louis XIV of France established a glassworks at Tourlaville, while in England, a glassworks was set up at Vauxhall to produce mirrors for the court of Charles II. At the end of the 17th century, Bernard Perrot, working at Tourlaville, developed the casting method, which made it possible to create larger sheets of glass. The glass was translucent but not transparent, as minerals in the sand affected the result. Artisans cut, ground, engraved, polished, and silvered the glass, using mercury to produce a reflective surface. In 1835, real silver was used for the first time, relieving the makers of the hazards of mercury poisoning. GEORGE II CHIMNEYPIECE This giltwood mirror, attributed to Matthias Lock, has an elaborately carved frame with Rococo details of fruit, leaves, birds, scrolls, and Chinoiserie elements. c.1755. H:590cm (236in); W:215cm (86in).

MIRROR BOX EVOLUTION OF MIRRORS 119 1700–1760 This stunning box mirror has a number of architectural elements, including the broken CHANGING FASHIONS pediment and the two marble columns flanking The production of larger sheets of glass enabled the mirror plate. The piece is inlaid with mirrors to become the focal point of the room, and precious stones. This mirror was once owned to reflect light around what were previously very dark homes. The Salle des Glaces at the Palace of by Marie de Medici. Versailles (see p.34) must have made a powerful CARVED, GILDED GIRANDOLE impact on those who had never seen anything This is one of a pair of fine giltwood girandoles after a design by Thomas Johnson, other than a small hand mirror. published in 1758. The gilding and candles In England, 1700–40 marked a golden age of helped to reflect more light around a room. mirror production while the 20 per cent tax on c.1760. H:120cm (48in); W:53cm (211⁄4in). NOA mirrors was temporarily abolished. Large mirrors were designed to be placed over the mantelpiece, VENETIAN OVAL MIRROR and long pier glasses were made, often in pairs, to This oval-shaped glass is typical of Italian design and uses fit between windows in grand houses. Fashionable etched and applied glass to frame the central oval mirror. Its country homes were furnished with fine mirrors. In Venetian origin would have made it highly covetable. Whole 1703, John Gumley produced 3m-high (10ft) mirrors teams of artisans were needed to create mirrors like this. decorated with blue glass for Chatsworth. From about 1725, English design was inspired by 1800–15. H:100cm (39in). DC Palladian architecture (see p.96), often mirroring architectural details of the house in the frame. Oval mirrors were also very popular. FRAME DESIGN Due to their size and the versatility of frame carving, mirrors were among the first household objects to reflect fashion. At the turn of the 18th century, lacquer panels or japanning were sought after. Later, fashion favoured elaborately carved Rococo frames, including asymmetrical mirrors with Chinoiserie, C-scrolls, and foliage. key dates 20th century BC: Hand-held polished bronze mirror. 6th century: Etruscan hand mirror. 1291: Venetian Republic requires glassworkers to move to the island of Murano. 1448: Term “crystalline glass” appears in the inventory of René d’Anjou. 1571–92: Venetian craftsman, Jacopo Verzelini, sets up glassworks in the City of London. 1612: L’Arte Vetraria, by Antonio Neri, about the processes of glassmaking, published in Florence. 1618: Sir Robert Mansell obtains patent to set up a London glasshouse employing Venetian glassmakers. 1665: Nicholas du Noyer sets up a glass house employing 200 workers in Paris. c.1670: Bernard Perrot invents casting technique, making it possible to create larger sheets of glass. 1676: George Ravenscroft invents lead crystal glass by adding lead oxide to glass. 1678: Patent granted to John Roberts’ “invention of grinding, polishing and diamonding glass plates for looking glasses…by the motion of water and wheels.” 1719: Real Fábrica de Coina, probably Portugal’s first mirror factory, established by John Beare.

120 EARLY 18TH CENTURY 11770000––11776600 mirrors base of frames (known as girandoles) to reflect light into dark rooms and NOWHERE WAS THE influence of Rococo cast dancing shadows on the walls. ENGLISH PIER GLASS MIRROR WITH PAINTED FRAME style stronger than in mirror design. It was difficult to produce big sheets of Frames were made from softwoods This mirror is a fine example of the Palladian This highly coloured Venetian mirror frame is glass, so large mirrors were often made such as pine and fruitwoods, making style. with a central mask set into the crest. reminiscent of Italian painted furniture of the of several pieces of glass. 18th-century it possible to carve curves, scalloped Decorated with carved and gilded gesso, this time, but it also has elements of Louis XV style glass tends to be thin with shallow shells, and ornate cartouches with pier glass is a rare find because it still retains in the scrolled feet and curvaceous frame. bevels. Many pattern books were relative ease. The joints were gessoed the original candle arms, which are often The frame is painted and has highlights picked published at the time, and as a result and painted with gold or silver leaf. missing from pieces of this period. c.1720. out in gilt. c.1760. H:73cm (291⁄4in); W:44cm many pieces show influences from Popular motifs included shells, acanthus H:119cm (471⁄2in); W:66cm (261⁄2in). NOA other countries. leaves, egg-and-dart moulding, and ●(171⁄2in). GK 2 cresting, often depicting birds with In the early part of the century, outstretched wings. Bird motifs were mirror frames were usually made of popular in America. It is difficult to carved gilt or silvered gesso on a distinguish American mirrors from the wooden base, and then walnut was English ones that were imported in used with giltwood until the start large quantities, partly because the of the Rococo period, when carved American and European species of giltwood and mahogany took over. spruce, which were often used in the Costly materials such as coloured and frames, are very similar. etched glass, were sometimes included. Candelabra were often attached to the The crest displays the crown of the original owner. Gilded Classical figures flank the crest of the mirror. Urns add to the Classical theme of the decoration. Decorative motifs are etched onto the reverse side of coloured glass. Giltwood detailing conceals the joins between the glass inserts. PIER MIRROR were designed to glow in candlelight, and GERMAN MIRROR ENGLISH MIRROR were created by églomisé, where the design This elegant mirror would have been placed is etched on the back of the glass. Classical This south German wall mirror frame is made One of a pair, this walnut mirror features a gilt above a pier table and was probably one of forms were fashionable, as seen by the of carved and gilded wood. The foliate carving carved phoenix flanked by a broken pediment a pair. Pier mirrors were designed to hang trumpet-bearing maidens on the top of the winds around the frame to make a curvaceous terminating in carved and gilt foliage. The birds between the windows in a drawing room. As mirror. Frames were more influenced by fashion rectangular shape. The crown and pendant are on the crests of the two mirrors face in different it was difficult to manufacture large mirrors, than larger items of furniture, so they are good typical of the asymmetrical Rococo style. directions, indicating that the mirrors were two plates of glass are joined by a gilt wooden indicators of contemporary styles. c.1735. Mid 18th century. H:133cm (531⁄4in); originally placed next to each other. c.1740. frame. The cobalt-blue etched glass inserts H:197cm (783⁄4in); W:117cm (463⁄4in). MAL ●W:63cm (243⁄4in). BMN 3 ●H:104cm (411⁄2in); W:54.5cm (213⁄4in). NA 6

MIRRORS 121 1700 –1760 GERMAN MIRROR ENGLISH CARTOUCHE MIRROR ITALIAN GIRANDOLE MIRROR ENGLISH GEORGE II MIRROR In the early 18th century, Germans continued to This cartouche-shaped mirror is a good example This Italian late Rococo mirror is strikingly This bevelled mirror frame is made of carved favour designs that were no longer fashionable in of the English interpretation of Rococo. C-scrolls similar to English and French designs of the giltwood and red lacquer. The pierced giltwood France or England. The pelmet in the cresting and curved foliage were very popular motifs in time. It is made of carved and gilded soft wood. frame is carved at the top with scrolling foliate and the heavy design features are similar to late all Rococo pieces, but the carving of this mirror A candle holder is positioned at the base of cresting, flanked by two bird’s heads. The frame 17th-century styles, but the scrolling foliage frame is less ornate than that on French pieces the glass. Mirrors incorporating candle holders, is decorated with birds, flowers, acanthus leaves, decoration is typical of the Rococo style. of the period. c.1760. H:89cm (351⁄2in); girandoles, were popular in the Rococo period. strapwork; and a cartouche at the base. c.1735. W:(max) 47cm (18 3⁄4in). NOA H:101.5cm (40in); W:66cm (26in). PAR ●c.1760. H:70cm (28in). GK 2 ●c.1770. H:86.5cm (341⁄2in). DL 3 ITALIAN OVERMANTEL MIRROR AMERICAN CHIPPENDALE MIRROR AMERICAN CHIPPENDALE MIRROR ENGLISH CHIPPENDALE MIRROR This large mirror uses many different sizes of This mirror is a fine example of Chippendale This mirror frame in the Chippendale style is Mirrors of this design, often without a gilt bevel plate in the frame. The joints are disguised style. Made of highly polished mahogany, it made of walnut with parcel gilding. The crest is surrounding the plate, were exported in large by carved, gilt fillets across the larger pane lacks the gilt decoration of many pieces of the decorated with a foliate design. It is attributed numbers from England, spreading the of glass and scroll elements along the sides. period. The interior of the frame surrounding to John Elliott of Philadelphia, who both made Chippendale style. This frame is made of pine Many smaller pieces of glass alongside the the glass is double moulded and both the crest and imported mirror frames. Many British veneered in walnut and parcel gilt. The candle main mirror reflect additional light. c.1750. and base are serpentine shaped with delicate Chippendale-style frames were exported to the holders are decorated with leaf motifs. c.1750. H:114cm (451⁄2in); W:61cm (241⁄2in). NOA ●H:191cm (761⁄2in). DN 5 ●ears. Mid 18th century. FRE 2 ●colonies at this time. NA 3



l ate 18th century 1760-1800

1760–1800124 LATE 18TH CENTURY a new classicism The second half of the 18th century was a period of immense revolutionary change and a renewed interest in classical architecture and design. DURING THE EARLY YEARS of the 18th century, steam engine and pump, mechanical spinning Transitional fauteuil à la reine This giltwood an agricultural revolution slowly spread across machine, blast furnace, and other inventions armchair is carved with berried laurel leaves Britain, Europe, and the Americas. Farmers revolutionized the manufacture of textiles and and rosettes. c.1775. H:103cm (401⁄2in). PAR enclosed the old open, mixed fields of crops eventually led to the mass production of and pasture, and used new and intensive furniture and other household goods. Methods too, did designers, giving birth to the movement methods of farming as well as experimenting of working changed, too, as people who had we now call Neoclassicism. The term itself did with new breeds of livestock. These changes previously worked at home in rural cottage not appear in print until 1861 in a review of a increased food production, thus pushing down industries now lived together in towns and painting, but it is generally used to refer to the prices, but also drove farmworkers off the land cities and worked long hours in vast factories. style of art, architecture, and design that was into the rapidly expanding towns. concerned with the ideals of the Classical world THE ENLIGHTENMENT and which flourished in the late 18th century. In 1760, a second revolution got under way Alongside and informing both these revolutions in Britain as inventors and engineers developed was the cultural revolution known as the The intellectuals and travellers of the period new machinery powered by coal and water. The Enlightenment, a philosophical attempt to revered the Classical world of the ancient rationalize the replacement of customs, Greeks and Romans. With the discovery of Somerset House, London This is a fine example of a symmetrical traditions, and religion with reason and natural ancient Roman villas and their furnishings in Neoclassical building. It was designed by Sir William Chambers law. Philosophers, scientists, astronomers, Pompeii and Herculaneum after 1738, the craze between 1766 and 1786. explorers, and surveyors questioned the for the Classical world was unleashed. It began boundaries of their world and pursued new with the application of decorative Classical ways of thought that influenced two of the motifs and the principal of symmetry to most important political revolutions in history: architecture. Various artists and architects the American Revolution of 1776 against British published great tomes illustrating the ancient colonial rule that led to the independence of world, thus creating a demand for a more the United States of America; and the French accurate Classicism rather than just a Revolution of 1789 that overthrew the monarchy reworking of Italian Renaissance and Baroque and introduced new ideas of liberty, equality, architecture. It then spread to interior design, and fraternity. notably furniture, as well as to painting, pottery, glass, and tapestry, totally transforming the NEOCLASSICISM environment and style of the period. Just as the Enlightenment philosophers looked back to the ordered Classical world for inspiration – to understand how humankind fitted into a universe of laws and reason – so, TIMELINE 1760–1800 1762 Accession of Catherine the Great to 1767 Jesuits expelled from Spain and all The world’s first iron bridge This bridge was erected over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, c.1760 The Age of Enlightenment, the Russian throne, extending European Spanish colonies by Charles III. England in 1779. influence in Russia. embodied in works by Voltaire, Diderot, 1769 Josiah Wedgwood relocates his pottery Rousseau, and Hume. 1762 English government declares war on to Etruria in Staffordshire. 1760 George III crowned Spain over colonies in Europe; Spain declares 1773 Robert and James Adam, Scottish King of Britain. war on Portugal. architects, publish Works in Architecture, 1762 James Stuart and 1763 Treaty of Paris instigating a major Classical revival in architecture and the decorative arts. Nicholas Revett publish ends Seven Years’ Antiques of Athens, War between France 1776 The American Declaration of raising public interest in and England. Classical antiquities, and Independence. The eagle is adopted as influencing design styles. The American eagle an American emblem on furniture. George III

Room in Syon House, London Syon house was remodelled by the British architect Robert Adam in around 1765. This room is richly decorated and exhibits the Neoclassical influence with the golden statues supported on marble columns that circle the room. Giltwood console table One of a pair, this table has a painted satinwood top and a painted tablet in satinwood at the centre of the carved and gilt frieze, which has gilt swags below. The table is supported on turned and fluted, tapering legs. c.1770. W:98cm (382⁄3in). PAR 1779 First iron bridge is erected at 1783 Louis XVI orders a suite of and Upholsterer’s Guide. 1793 Louis XVI and Queen Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. furniture for Marie Antoinette 1789 The French Revolution begins Marie Antoinette executed; costing 25,356 livres. Roman Catholicism banned 1780 David Roentgen becomes a member with the storming of the Bastille. in France; Reign of Terror 1784 End of the Anglo-Dutch war. begins; Holy Roman Empire of the Paris Guild of Ébénistes. 1784 Invention of the 1789 George Washington becomes declares war on France. 1783 End of American the first President of the 1796 James Wyatt begins Revolutionary War. The Argand lamp revolutionizes United States. building Fonthill Abbey in Treaty of Paris recognizes lighting and interiors. Wiltshire, England for the the new United States, and c.1790 High point of European writer William Beckford. 1788 First British settlement Britain accepts American orchestral music with compositions 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte independence. founded at Botany Bay in Australia. from Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. becomes Consul. The Argand lamp allowed more oxygen to the flame and so increased brilliance. 1788 George Hepplewhite Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1792 Trial of Louis XVI; French Napoleon Bonaparte publishes the Cabinet-Maker Republic proclaimed.

126 LATE 18TH CENTURY NEOCLASSICAL FURNITURE 1760–1800 THE HEART OF NEOCLASSICAL DESIGN lies in the decorative library. The French barometer of taste, Parisian guéridon Made of ancient Greece and Rome. It was initially the Comte de Caylus (1692–1765), was instrumental rosewood, kingwood, and inspired by architecture, as there were no examples in introducing Classicism, including Classical sycamore, this table is inlaid of ancient furniture until after the excavation of furniture, to France, publishing in 1752 the first with musical instruments and Pompeii and Herculaneum in the mid 18th century. of seven volumes of Recueil d’antiquités égyptiennes, has a brass gallery. c.1775. Thus, early Neoclassical furniture tends to use étruscanes, grecques et romaines, in which he H:74cm (29in); W:49cm architectural motifs adhered to in standard furniture discussed and illustrated the tastes and styles of (191⁄4in); D:38cm (15in). GK forms, such as acanthus leaves, swags and foliage, the ancient world. guilloche bands, and scrolls. The use of these motifs in its French was not new, as they were employed as ornament in Neoclassical furniture tends to be rectangular and counterparts. Greek both the Renaissance and Baroque periods. What lacks curves. This did not happen at once, as larger vase paintings greatly was new was how the motifs were adapted, added pieces often remained in stock after fashions had influenced Adam, and to, and incorporated within the decorative schemes changed and cabinet-makers adapted the Rococo he often used painted encountered through travel on the Grand Tour (see forms by applying Neoclassical decoration. In this panels in his work; p.132) and the discoveries made in ancient sites. French transitional style, serpentine shapes were these might be the central panel of a demi-lune or gradually straightened and cabriole legs evolved into rectangular commode, or a centred roundel at the top INTRODUCING THE STYLE turned or tapered legs. Chair backs were rectangular of a pier glass flanked by carved maidens and urns. France was the first country to embrace Neoclassical or oval with turned legs, often fluted in reference to design, although it was not until the 1770s that the Classical architectural columns. Thomas Chippendale also worked in the final vestiges of Rococo were erased from Neoclassical style, producing a pair of rectangular DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS pedestals with urns, a sideboard table, and wine Throughout the Neoclassical period, building cooler for the dining room at Harewood House (see booms influenced the production of p.98). For this commission he used circular inlaid furnishings. More palaces were built in medallions on the pedestals with carved swags and Russia in the second half of the 18th rams’ heads above, to match the other pieces. century than in any other European country. These new buildings, and TRANSMITTING THE STYLE refurbished older buildings, required new The pattern books published by George Hepplewhite furniture, as most of the existing pieces and Thomas Sheraton simplified Adam’s designs for lacked sufficient pomp and majesty for the mass market. Their designs were hugely influential, Catherine the Great’s court. Most Russian particularly in America. Furniture in this style is furniture was imported from Paris, as termed Federal after the new US government and often Russian taste tended to emulate French features the official symbol of the American eagle. style. The German ébéniste, David Roentgen (see pp.142–43), made furniture specifically Swedish furniture from this time is referred to as for his Russian clientele that was far more Gustavian after King Gustav III who admired the flamboyant than French court furniture. work of the French cabinet-makers so much that he invited them to work in Sweden. When he could not English lady’s writing desk The satinwood and yew ADAM STYLE afford to pay them, they returned home, but left their tambour shutter opens to reveal a fitted desk interior. The Neoclassical style in England – home furniture style as a lasting legacy. Danish furniture Beneath this is a long drawer with a frieze. The to the innovative architecture of Robert was simpler and often made from darker woods. scrolling foliage pattern, brass ring pulls, and etched Adam – adapted some French forms such Decoration was limited to dentil moulding, the wyverns are all typical Neoclassical motifs. The desk as the commode and the “French chair”. Greek key motif, and rosettes. has square, inlaid, tapering legs and brass feet on Adam’s furniture complemented the light casters. c.1775. H:94cm (37in); W:82.5cm colours used in his interiors and textiles, European furniture fashion tended to follow (32 1⁄2in). PAR and painted decoration featured more than French or English taste: in Spain, the north was inspired by English styles, while in the south, French styles were dominant. SIGNATURE STAMPS Georges Jacob’s stamp Stamped on Giltwood bergère The rectangular back the underside of the back rail of of this chair is carved with guilloche. Parisian guild restrictions drawn up by the French the bergère shown is JACOB, the The arms are supported by sphinxes Parlement in 1751 stipulated that cabinet-makers and estampille for the chair-maker and the chair has tapering front legs. chair-makers had to mark their work. Each master Georges Jacob (1739–1814). He c.1785. H:96cm (37 ⁄34in); W:51cm had his own stamp and an impression of this received his mastership in 1765. (20in); D:66cm (26in). PAR estampille in lead was kept by the guild. From 1743, many artisans had, in fact, already been stamping their pieces, with an iron stamp in the form of their name. Some, like the chair-maker Georges Jacob and his sons, merely used their surname. Others used their initials, like the cabinet-maker Robert Vandercruse La-Croix, with his stamp R.V.L.C.

NEOCLASSICAL FURNITURE 127 A NEOCLASSICAL COMMODE than the door panels, indicating that they might have Harewood and marquetry commode The serpentine-shaped top of this 1760–1800 been made by two different makers. commode is inset with a circular panel, inlaid with a marquetry This harewood and marquetry commode represents design. The serpentine front is fitted with doors, behind which are the zenith of 18th-century cabinet-making. It has been This piece is more decorative than functional and shelves. The commode is supported on splayed bracket feet with attributed to various London furniture workshops, would have been used in the drawing room, a French cloven-hoof ormolu mounts. Both the top and sides are decorated including those of John Cobb and William Vile, and practice introduced by the French cabinet-maker with ormolu fluted and beaded banding. c.1760. H:91.5cm (36in); William Ince and John Mayhew, both workshops Pierre Langlois and quickly taken up by Robert W:117cm (46in); D:56cm (22in). PAR competing with Chippendale. The marquetry is of Adam. Up until about 1760, commodes had only the finest quality and may have been supplied by a been deemed fit for use in the bedroom. specialist maker. The top panel is more freely designed The serpentine top and sides This circular panel is inlaid This diaper pattern repeats the are trimmed with ormolu with a marquetry design of parquetry pattern on the sides fluted and beaded banding. flowers and gardening tools. of the commode. Rococo influences can still be The oval door panels are Oval panels on the sides seen in the curvaceous shape inlaid with a striking design of the commode feature of the commode. of flaming urns with rams’ intricate geometric parquetry. masks on tripod stands. The splayed bracket feet have ormolu mounts in the shape of animal hooves.

128 LATE 18TH CENTURY ELEMENTS OF STYLE 1760–1800 The decorative details of Neoclassical furniture were inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, and there was a marked move away from the asymmetrical exuberance of the Rococo period towards a more restrained, symmetrical, and linear style. Architectural details, such as friezes and swags, were used to decorate chair rails and tables and the shapes of legs were influenced by Greek columns. Many Classical motifs had symbolic meanings. Grecian urns were particularly popular, although designers chose to ignore their symbolic funerary use and concentrate on the pleasing symmetry of their shape. French-style armchair Swag of laurel leaves Greek urn on a mahogany cabinet Oval chair backs Swags Greek urns Oval and shield-shaped chair backs The swag is a decorative motif inspired Urns were carved, incorporated in became increasingly popular from the by hanging garlands of laurel leaves, marquetry patterns, or applied as 1760s onwards, especially in France. ribbons, or bud-like motifs known as sculptural relief to furniture. They The frames of these sumptuous chairs husks. They were based on Classical were based on the shape of ancient were usually gilded and carved with Roman stone examples, which were Greek vases, which were often used Classical motifs, including acanthus. themselves copies of the garlands that to hold human ashes. The motif was The finest armchairs were upholstered decorated altars and temples. popular on Louis XVI and Adam-style pieces. Often the urns incorporated with costly silks and damasks. Classical mask heads and swags. Gilded mask motif on a frieze Intarsia panel on a German cabinet Friezes Intarsia A frieze is a horizontal band used to Cabinet-makers working in the decorate case furniture, chairs, or tables. Neoclassical style took advantage of Architectural details taken from friezes the flat surfaces on rectilinear furniture at the tops of Classical columns were to create elaborate three-dimensional often copied. These included Vitruvian intarsia inlays. Designs ranged from scrolls, Greek key motifs, egg-and-dart complex architectural scenes, which moulding (which symbolized life and were particularly popular on Italian death), and lines of small beads, known and German pieces, to simple ribbon- as beading. tied bouquets.

ELEMENTS OF STYLE 129 1760–1800 Anthemion frieze on a demi-lune commode Oval inlaid shell motif A carved ram’s head Parquetry detail on a cabinet Anthemion Decorative inlays Ram’s head Parquetry The stylized floral motif of the Delicate inlaid designs were particularly The motif of a ram’s or goat’s head was Cabinet-makers took advantage of the anthemion is based on the ancient popular as decorative veneers on tables used in antiquity to decorate altars, increased availability of exotic woods Greek representation of the honeysuckle and case furniture. Many motifs, such probably as a sacrificial representation. with a strong grain, such as kingwood, flower and leaves. It was mainly used as shells and flowers, were inspired by Robert Adam first used them on English tulipwood, and satinwood, to create horizontally as a repeated motif, often nature, but fans and vases were also furniture. Carved ram’s heads were striking veneers. Parquetry, which used alternating with carved acanthus, popular. The maker required a great a popular decoration on tripod table geometric patterns made up of cubes, palmettes (palm leaves), or lotus leaves, deal of skill to create the intricate knees, and as objects from which to lozenges, trellis, or trellis patterns with to form a frieze. Single motifs were inlays used on the finest examples hang swags. dots in the centre, was particularly sometimes also used on vertical panels. of Neoclassical furniture. popular and reflected the interest in symmetrical, rectilinear designs. Detail of a gilt table leg with husk carving Oval brass handles with solid backplates Inlaid satinwood table top Cameo of a Roman emperor Columnar legs Brass handles Satinwood Classical figures In a move away from the curved Supplied by specialist craftsmen, brass The period from 1765 to 1800 is Classical imagery of all types was cabriole leg, based on an animal’s leg, handles were made in many shapes sometimes referred to as the Age of widespread in the second half of the which dominated furniture design during the second half of the 18th Satinwood. This light yellow wood 18th century. The motifs often appeared earlier in the 18th century, the legs of century, but unlike Rococo pieces they from the West Indies had a silky on friezes or in the centre of doors or tables and chairs frequently looked tended to be symmetrical in shape, sheen and satin-like markings, hence panels. Cameos, in which figures were like miniature Greek and Roman usually oval or circular. Handles and its name. As it was expensive, it shown in profile, were particularly columns. Often tapering and fluted, escutcheons were often embellished was mostly used as a veneer. Many popular. The medallion above is typical they sometimes had additional with Classical decoration, such as satinwood pieces of furniture were of the type of decoration used by the decoration, such as the carving above. wreaths of laurel leaves. created from designs by Robert Adam. Adam brothers.

130 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 italy THE ITALIAN STATES retained their In 1757, the first volume of eight, were refined and used by the architects in Italian furniture for the first time. separate identities during the late 18th Le antichità di Ercolano esposte, was furnishing several rooms at the Vatican, Desks were heavily influenced by century. These rival regions assimilated published in Naples, describing the but also throughout the rest of Europe. the Neoclassical style at different times: discoveries at Herculaneum. The French design and writing tables were Rome, Naples, Turin, and Genoa illustrations of ancient motifs and FURNITURE TYPES AND MATERIALS the most popular form. The secrétaire à gradually moved towards Classical decorations such as palmettes, beading, Commodes had rectangular cases, abattant was often inlaid with Classical forms, while Venice was much slower ribbons, cameos, lion’s heads, pelts, and inspired by Louis XVI shapes, but their scenes or panels and the slant-top and only embraced Neoclassical designs feet subsequently appeared in painted legs were distinctly Italian, with their secretary, although similar to English towards the end of the 18th century. decoration and furniture. The colours sharply tapered shape in an exaggerated models, was also decorated with inlay seen at Herculaneum – red, green, blue, triangle, and recessed necks. or figured veneers. INFLUENCES and white – also became very popular France, and to a lesser extent in painted furniture. Vernacular wardrobes or armadios Table tops were specimen marble, Britain, provided the main sources were made in plain walnut, but more pietra dura, or scagliola in Neoclassical of Neoclassical design. However, the Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s decorative versions were painted designs. Sometimes they were made Neoclassical style was also directly Diverse Maniere d’Adornare i Cammini and gilded, or inlaid with intarsia from Roman marble or material influenced by Italy’s ancient sites and illustrated a more sumptuous version marquetry in rare woods including painted to resemble marble. The legs contemporary archeological discoveries. of Neoclassicism. His designs were not rosewood. The French encoignure or and aprons of pier and console tables only influential in Rome, where they three-cornered cabinet also appeared were carved in low relief and usually painted and gilded. Late 18th-century GILTWOOD SIDE TABLE VENETIAN SALON TABLE This Louis XVI-style gilt side table from Turin has a semicircular In the style of Louis XV, this salon table has a marble top, with marble top above a frieze carved and gilded with an interlaced colouring that matches the light-green and gilt decoration of the guilloche and quatrefoil decoration. It has stocky, tapering legs frame. The serpentine frieze is carved in panels with foliage and encircled with carved swags and small ball feet. Attributed to scrollwork. The frame is supported on four sinuous cabriole legs. Guiseppe Maria Bonzanigo. c.1780. D:110cm (431⁄3in). GK c.1760. W:98cm (382⁄3in). GK VENETIAN GIRANDOLE GENOESE COMMODE WRITING TABLE This carved and gilded girandole has a rectangular form with With a design derived from the French commode, this painted This provincial writing table may have been made in the Duchy of pierced cresting centred by a C-scroll cartouche engraved with and gilded example is one of a pair designed for the Palazzo Parma. The rectangular top is inlaid with burr wood. The shaped a flower and leaves. The plate is engraved with an image from Saluzzo. The shaped top sits on a case with two drawers, sans base is fitted with four drawers, one on each side. The tapering, the Zodiac and the frame is carved and gilded with flowers and transverse. The four cabriole legs are also painted and gilded. slightly cabriole legs are a continuation of the frame. c.1790. leaves in a symmetrical design. c.1750. c.1760. H:89cm (35in); W:123cm (48 1⁄2 in); D:57cm (22 1⁄2in). BL H:77.5cm (30 1⁄2in); W:108cm (42 1⁄2in); D:74cm (29in). BRU

ITALY 131 console tables generally had four sunburst rosette decoration, was Neoclassical furniture ever made, items with marquetry, parquetry, carved 1760–1800 legs and were round, rectangular, another Italian feature. Sofas had either and he is celebrated for the quality medallions and flower-heads, and inlays. or demi-lune in shape and no longer all-over upholstery, open backs with an of his wood carving, particularly had serpentine fronts. upholstered seat, or were caned. of light wood and ivory, which is Venice still produced the largest, known as microsculpture. most lavish, and expensive mirrors. Many Italian chairs were based upon Native woods such as walnut, olive, While the frames became rectilinear, French and English designs, such as and pine were used for furniture, but In Rome, bold, highly sculptured the scrollwork remained Rococo. the open-splat back chair and the the scarcity of good-quality timber furniture was produced. The Roman Here, bulbous forms remained popular, fauteuil. However, sculptural, throne- meant that much Italian furniture was Neoclassical architect and craftsman but painted pieces incorporating like chairs were still made. The main painted and had decoration inspired Giuseppe Valadier restored many of Neoclassical motifs, show the features that distinguished Italian chairs by Neoclassical designs. the city’s ancient monuments as well gradual acceptance of the style. from other European chairs were their as making furniture, including tables painted decoration, the contours of REGIONAL DIFFERENCES with thick marble tops, veneers, and the chair back, which usually had a In Turin, furniture for the royal gilded edges. pronounced outward curve, the flaring palaces was made by Giuseppe Maria arms, and the overall proportions, Bonzanigo, who was inspired by the Lombardy was renowned for cabinet- which were generally more exaggerated. French forms of the 1770s. Bonzanigo’s making. One of the regions most The interlacing circular splat, a work is said to represent the best Italian talented ebenista was Giuseppe Maggiolini (see p.205) who decorated VENETIAN ARMCHAIR This armchair is reminiscent of the Baroque tradition of sculptural carving. The frame has a carved central cartouche containing a coat-of- arms and is flanked by boldly carved sides above down-scrolled arms. The moulded seat frame has a central pierced apron. The baluster legs are joined by a flat cross-stretcher on ball feet. c.1795. H:140cm (56in). GK The central cartouche contains a coat-of-arms. ROLL-TOP BUREAU Bold scrolls make up the arms and terminals. This transitional roll-top bureau is made of indigenous walnut and fruit woods. The lower section is rectangular in shape and has one central Stylized acanthus leaves are drawer flanked on either side by three shorter drawers. The desk is carved on the arm support. supported on short, tapering legs. Similar to French examples, it was probably made in Piedmont or Lombardy. c.1780. W:145cm (58in). GK NORTH ITALIAN COMMODE A pierced apron decorates the chair frame. This early fruitwood and ebonized commode has a divided and hinged top and a false top drawer, with a fitted and veneered interior. The drawers A flat cross-stretcher have elaborately carved handles and escutcheons, and bone and ivory connects the legs. stringing; parquetry panelling decorates the top, sides, and front. The bracket feet have leaf cast mounts. 1700–50. W:160cm (63in). L&T

132 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 THE GRAND TOUR Travel across Europe took in the art and culture of the Greco-Roman world and helped to develop the neoclassical ideal. EUROPEAN TRAVEL AIMED at furthering the Classical MAP OF THE GRAND TOUR PAIR OF FRENCH TABOURET STOOLS education of young aristocrats and gentry first This hand-coloured lithograph of a map Knowledge of Classical design gained on became popular in the late 16th century. Such a is taken from The Travellers, or A Tour the Grand Tour can be seen in the Greek journey came to be referred to as the Grand Tour Through Europe by W. Clerk, published keys decorating the fluted legs of this pair after 1670, when the term was first used in the in London in 1842. of French tabouret stools. H:43cm (17in); French translation of Richard Lassels’ Voyage or Compleat Journey through Italy. CLASSICAL SOUVENIR D:66cm (26in); W:48cm (19in). This model of ruins from the forum in Rome DESTINATIONS OF THE GRAND TOUR is made from Siena marble. Copies of ruins PARISIAN SECRÉTAIRE À ABATTANT “All our religion, all our arts, almost all that sets were popular souvenirs and continued to be This secrétaire has marquetry panels depicting us above savages, has come from the Shores of so well into the 19th century. Classical ruins with figures highlighted in inlaid the Mediterranean.” So wrote Dr. Samuel Johnson, ivory. c.1775. H:140cm (551⁄4in); W:91.5cm (36in). PAR author of the first English dictionary, explaining why learned men should visit Italy. Travellers arrived in Italy via the seaports of Genoa, Livorno, or Civitavecchia, or, carried in a chair, crossed the Alps to Turin. Depending on the season, they visited Florence, Rome, Naples, and Venice. Florence offered the opportunity to see the Medici collection of antiquities while Venice beckoned travellers with its festivals. However, as the study of Classical antiquity was the purpose of most Grand Tours, Rome was the focal point, as it contained the largest number of ancient sites. From Rome, travellers went south to Naples to visit the ancient sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum and walk up Mount Vesuvius, as well as inspect the remains of the various Greek colonies in the region. Such journeys were expensive and often arduous, but they gave the privileged tourist an opportunity to see at first hand the monuments of Greco-Roman antiquity, the Italian Renaissance, and the Classical Baroque. Paintings and sculptures were also studied, mainly in private collections, as public museums were rare at this time. THE PARTICIPANTS Grand Tour travellers tended to be young aristocrats with a knowledge of Greek and Latin literature, accompanied by a teacher or guardian, although art students also visited the sites. The numerous and wealthy upper classes of Britain were pioneers in travel for pleasure and enlightenment, but travellers also came from Denmark, the German states, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and America. Tours by royalty were documented in the Italian press, particularly the Roman Diari Ordinario. Tourists were often helped by the numerous influential foreigners who had settled in Florence, Rome, and Venice. They acted as agents for the travellers, directing them to the sites and aiding them in the acquisition of souvenirs, for which they often received payment.

THE GRAND TOUR 133 the ruins of herculaneum THE ALLURE 1760–1800 The Grand Tour also offered the opportunity to THE EXCAVATION OF THE RUINS FOUND AT THE FORMER ROMAN TOWN OF HERCULANEUM IN THE acquire antiquities. Excavations of “new” ruins MID-18TH CENTURY SUBSEQUENTLY HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON EUROPEAN FURNITURE DESIGN. received funding from non-Italians, particularly the British, often in an attempt to discover pieces that Herculaneum is an ancient town at the foot of Mount Vesuvius in Roman fresco from Herculaneum Several items of could be taken home. Italy’s pleasant climate and the Bay of Naples. In Roman times, Herculaneum and its neighbour furniture are depicted, including a three-legged low cost of living were also appealing – especially Pompeii were fashionable places with fine villas. However, the table with animal legs, and chairs on which the as tours sometimes took as long as eight years. eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79CE buried both towns completely couple recline. 50–79ce. in volcanic ash, preserving the residents and their homes as they Participants travelled through Europe – although were, complete with architecture and furnishings. Herculaneum was not to Greece, which was largely inaccessible to rediscovered in 1709, but major excavation of the site did not begin foreigners – examining, measuring, and drawing until 1738, under the patronage of the King of the Two Sicilies. Classical architecture. Many royals and aristocrats employed artists to document their visit. Others The rediscovery of Herculaneum had a great effect on European sponsored visits for professional men, like the design and created a heightened awareness of Classical antiquities. architect Robert Adam, who published engravings While ancient furniture was unearthed – such as a tripod table with of his observations. The Society of Dilettanti, animal feet – it was the discovery of wall paintings depicting Roman established in London in 1743, funded expeditions furnishings that had a greater impact and resulted in many imitative that resulted in accurate drawings, and such prints designs. The colours used at Herculaneum and Pompeii, such as fuelled interest in ancient objects, while for those rich reds, also inspired interior designers. who could not afford such a trip, the publications brought Classical images into their homes. Classical-style side table This English table is made in the Classical style. An Italian trellised, SPREADING THE NEOCLASSICAL IDEAL specimen-marble top sits above carved swags, The Pope and other Italian rulers presented their foliage, and a medallion of a Roman Emperor. royal tourists with gifts, while other tourists were The tapering legs have carved palmettes in keen to purchase mass-produced souvenirs such as laurel wreaths. c.1760. W:169cm (661⁄2in). DN tapestries, small mosaics, and prints of Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s paintings of Roman views. Some of the souvenirs were on such a scale that they required Italian artisans to install them at the traveller’s residence. Englishman Sir Francis Dashwood attempted to create an entire Roman villa, complete with mosaic floors. Travellers returned with pieces of buildings or statuary, which designers, including Robert Adam, made use of. These souvenirs helped to spread the Neoclassical ideal. However, it was probably Piranesi’s romantic paintings of antiquity – representing the theatricality of ancient ruins rather than their reality – which had the greatest impact on Neoclassical design. LATE LOUIS XV EBONY AND ORMOLU CENTRE TABLE The sides of this table are decorated with a pierced ormolu band showing a Greek key pattern. The long sides have large swags of laurel leaves tied with ribbons, and the channelled and tapering legs terminate in sabots chased with laurel leaves. c.1760. W:207cm (811⁄2in); H:109cm (43in); D:80cm (311⁄2in). PAR

134 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 TRANSITIONAL FURNITURE french FURNITURE MADE BETWEEN ABOUT 1760 AND 1775 IS KNOWN AS “TRANSITIONAL”, and displays characteristics of both the rococo and neoclassical styles. FRENCH TRANSITIONAL FURNITURE reflects the PARQUETRY AND ORMOLU COMMODE transition from Rococo to the Neoclassical style. This rectangular tulipwood and lemonwood The reaction against Rococo started in about 1750 in commode, stamped M. Carlin (maître, 1766), France. The curator of the King’s drawings, Nicolas has a marble top with a moulded edge and canted Cochin, who had spent two years in Italy, was put in corners. The single frieze drawer is overlaid with charge of the redecoration of the royal chateaux and a band of ormolu guilloche. Below are two drawers was highly critical of the Rococo style. In 1768, decorated sans traverse with parquetry. The apron Jean-François de Neuffroge published a book about has a pierced ormolu cartouche and the cabriole architecture that was also clearly against Rococo, and legs end in leaf and claw sabots. c.1770. H:62cm in the same year Jean-Charles Delafosse, a designer and architect, published a book containing designs (241⁄2in); W:100cm (39 1⁄4in); D:54cm (211⁄2in). PAR for furniture and ornaments in the Transitional style. A HYBRID STYLE Transitional pieces usually incorporate features of both Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture. The sinuous Louis XV style gradually gave way to the rectilinear shapes, tapering lines, and restrained decoration of the Neoclassical style. Transitional commodes were rectangular in shape, rather than curved, but they still had short, cabriole legs, like Louis XV commodes. The most characteristic example of the Transitional style was the breakfront commode. This retained the swelling, serpentine shape of earlier forms, but the central front façade protruded. Chairs no longer had curved, but oval backs and cabriole legs were replaced by straight, fluted legs. The decoration of Transitional furniture also combined elements of both the Rococo and Neoclassical styles. Some motifs harked back to the Louis XIV style, and featured acanthus leaves, gadroons, palmettes, lion masks, and trophies. Floral designs proliferated under Louis XV and were still used on Transitional pieces. As the influence of Neoclassicism grew, Greek key motifs, interlaced scrolls, and parquetry became more common. EMINENT CABINET-MAKERS The cabinet-maker Louis Joseph Le Lorain furnished the Paris town house of Lalive de Jully, who was highly influential at the French Court, with furniture inspired by the Greek style. Under the influence of Madame de Pompadour, the King’s personal office was decorated completely in the Transitional style, with furniture made by Jean-François Oeben in 1760 and Jean-Henri Riesener in 1769. LOUIS XV SECRÉTAIRE À ABATTANT This gilt-bronze mounted tulipwood, kingwood, amaranth, and parquetry desk has a curved fall front, which opens to reveal an interior fitted with an arrangement of compartments and drawers. c.1765.

TRANSITIONAL FURNITURE 135 COMPARE AND CONTRAST 1760–1800 It is helpful to compare Louis XV and Louis XVI Louis XV furniture is characterized by furniture, on the other hand, relied on the grain of woods pieces of furniture, to understand the transition serpentine shapes, curves, and cabriole legs, such as mahogany for decorative effects, and carved details from the first style to the second. Louis XV is the whereas Louis XVI pieces have straight lines, replaced ormolu mounts as decorative features. epitome of Rococo and is characterized by the use geometric shapes, and turned, tapering legs. of swirling scrolls, shell and flower motifs, rocaille, Styles of furniture changed slowly, as it took cabinet- and asymmetry. Louis XVI, on the other hand, Light colours highlighted with gilding were makers a while to adopt the latest fashions and they is Neoclassical in style and features shapes and typical of Louis XV furniture, as were veneers frequently had to adapt existing stock in order to sell it. motifs inspired by Greek and Roman architecture, of colourful, exotic woods, such as kingwood. laurel leaves, swags, and rosettes. Lacquer, including imitation japanning, was also The shaped top rail popular, as were ormolu mounts. Louis XVI is carved with pomegranates. LOUIS XV The cartouche- shaped back Pierced and scrolled is a feature of mounts protect the Louis XV chairs. veneer edges. The lower arms have curved edges The ormolu escutcheons are decorated with asymmetrical foliage. The case is The seat and bombé shaped. armrests are covered in close- nailed gros and petit-point tapestry. The splayed bracket The curved apron has The base decoration The scrolled feet feet are cast with a central, shaped drop. is of trailing foliage. are decorated with leaf carving. C-scrolls and foliage. with foliate and C-scrolled escutcheons. The drawer handles LOUIS XV FAUTEUIL This armchair has a cartouche-shaped back, LOUIS XV COMMODE This kingwood, tulipwood, are cast with scrolling foliage. The sides of the case are padded arms, and serpentine-fronted seat. The channelled and C-scroll and parquetry commode is of bombé form and has a inlaid with cube parquetry and the front has a shaped carved frame is decorated with flower-heads and scrolling foliage. The serpentine-fronted marble top above two short and two apron. The commode stands on splayed bracket feet. FRE chair has cabriole legs terminating in scroll feet. PAR long drawers inlaid with strapwork cartouches and set The top rail is LOUIS XVI carved and pierced with ribbons and The rectangular top flowers. has straight sides. The oval back The drawers is shaped like have Neoclassical a medallion. motifs of stylized paterae, and carved The frame is painted ribbon decoration and gilded. around the locks. The oval seat The case sides frame is distinctly are straight. raised from the chair rail. The square, tapering The shaped seat rail Partly fluted legs legs do not have is carved with terminate in ormolu mounts. Vitruvian scrolls. toupie feet. LOUIS XVI PROVINCIAL COMMODE The base has LOUIS XVI FAUTEUIL This rectangular wooden commode has a moulded top and straight edges. This painted armchair has a medallion-shaped back with a carved top straight sides. Its four long drawers are decorated with rail. The seat rail is decorated with Vitruvian scrolls and it has partly Neoclassical carved swags of drapery and ribbon bows, and paterae at the outer edges. The short legs are square fluted legs with toupie feet. c.1785. H:94cm (37in); W:62cm (241⁄2in). PAR and tapering, in contrast to the splayed legs of the piece above, and do not have ormolu mounts, because it is a provincial piece. c.1780. W:137.5cm (55in). FRE

136 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 france: Louis XVI WHEN LOUIS XVI and his Austrian wife pieces of furniture as a decorative The single frieze drawer The escutcheons are carved in the The top is made of grey Marie Antoinette came to the French feature. Mounts were often elaborate has two drop-ring handles. shape of flowers and branches. and white marble. throne in 1774, many German and of fine quality, particularly craftsmen, including prominent cabinet- those made by foundries such as The legs terminate in The apron is decorated makers such as Adam Weisweiler and Gouthière and Thomire. ormolu toupie feet. with ormolu ribbing. Jean-Henri Riesener, moved to France in the hope of royal commissions. Boullework was still favoured, LOUIS XVI COMMODE À VANTAUX drawers. The lower section has two drawers, Their hopes were fulfilled, and in as was furniture that incorporated designed to look like three, which open to the years before the Revolution they pieces of painted and foiled glass This is one of a pair of rectangular commodes reveal three long drawers with ring handles. supplied the royal household with known as verre églomisé, or surmounted by a grey and white marble top. The legs terminate in ormolu toupie feet. The sumptuous furniture that was both Chinese or Japanese lacquer The case is veneered in flame mahogany, and piece is attributed to the Paris-based maker, Rococo and Neoclassical in style. panels, often reused from late the frieze contains one long drawer, which is Godefroy Dester. c.1785. H:93cm (36 ⁄34in); 17th- or early 18th-century panelled with ormolu to look like three smaller W:133.5cm (52 ⁄12in); D:56.5cm (22 ⁄14in). PAR Commissions also came from wealthy pieces. Painted furniture was French households – who demanded also popular. BUREAU À CYLINDRE to reveal a fitted interior consisting of shelves fashion and luxury – and European and drawers, and gives access to the leather- monarchs who held French design and NEW DEVELOPMENTS This fine bureau à cylindre (roll-top desk) is covered writing surface, which can be extended. quality in high regard. Chairs, which had previously made of mahogany veneer on oak and soft Beneath this are two pairs of side drawers, and been fairly rounded in shape, wood. The top of the piece is made of grey one longer drawer above the kneehole. The DEVELOPING STYLE became more rectilinear and and white marble and sits above three narrow piece stands on four fluted legs. c.1789. Furniture styles evolved gradually at had tapering legs. As rooms drawers. The curved upper section slides back H:121cm (48 1⁄2in). LPZ this time. Pieces from the early years were now smaller than they are often referred to as “Transitional” had been, furniture was made because they contain elements of both on a correspondingly smaller scale. Rococo design and the Neoclassical Women were now more influential style (see pp.134–35). As time went on, in society than they had been before however, the Neoclassical elements and so light, elegant pieces, such became more pronounced. as bonheurs-du-jour and delicate worktables, were designed specifically In the 20 years or so before the for female clients. French Revolution in 1789, English taste began to influence the French, In the late 18th century, banks and this trend can be seen in furniture and security were not what they are designs. Mahogany was now used today, so elaborate desks with secret frequently, particularly when trade compartments and hidden drawers with America increased at the end of were popular with the wealthy. These the Revolutionary War, and the wood had intricate locks to enhance security. could be easily imported from the West Indies. EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION After the French Revolution, the DECORATION furniture-makers’ guilds were disbanded Different styles of marquetry developed and the quality of French furniture as a method of decoration. Pictorial began to decline as a result. The market designs became more prominent than for high-quality pieces dwindled the loosely arranged floral decorations as the nobility fell victim to the of previous eras. Landscapes and guillotine and the country became architectural compositions were very impoverished by war. Furniture popular, as were vases or baskets of became simpler in design and was flowers. Parquetry, a geometric form decorated with plain veneers, rather of marquetry, was another common than marquetry. The war made it decorative feature. harder to import exotic woods, so furniture-makers often used local Later in Louis XVI’s reign, Riesener fruitwoods instead. became one of the most important cabinet-makers. Around 1780, he The Neoclassical style found favour abandoned marquetry and started to with the new government of France produce much plainer furniture that and continued to develop during both relied on well-figured veneers for its the Directoire and Consulate periods decorative effect. One truly French that followed (1795–1804). It was only aspect of furniture design of this when Napoleon came to power in period was the use of delicately 1804 that fine-quality, highly decorated detailed porcelain plaques from the pieces of furniture became fashionable Sèvres factory, which were set into once again.

FRANCE: LOUIS XVI 137 1760–1800 PARISIAN SUITE overlaid with carved acanthus leaves leading to padded armrests. The front and sides are These seats have rectangular backs with arched similarly carved. The frames are supported on top rails and cut-out corners, decorated with tapering, spiral-fluted legs. c.1780. Canapé: guilloche patterns. The arms consist of reeded H:96.5cm (38 1⁄2in); W:195.5cm (78 1⁄4in). columns headed by paterae and finials, and are Fauteuils: H:96.5cm (381⁄2in); W:65cm (26in). PAR RECTANGULAR MIRROR BRONZE GUÉRIDON PARISIAN GUÉRIDON This mirror has a carved and Inspired by Roman paintings, this This table is inlaid with satinwood pierced giltwood frame. The crest table is made of gilded bronze with and sycamore, and decorated with is decorated with two birds in leaf a marble top mounted in brass. A ormolu. The piece stands on cabriole garlands and the base has a beaded stretcher joins three claw feet on legs. c.1770. H:79cm (311⁄2in); frieze. H:115cm (451⁄4in). BEA casters. c.1785. H:81cm (321⁄2in). GK D:44cm (171⁄2in). PAR BERGÈRE PARISIAN ENCOIGNURES in swagged, Classically shaped vases. PARISIAN SEMAINIER wood inlaid in a geometric chevron Stylized ormolu columns sit above the pattern. The drawers are decorated This fruitwood chair has a simple This pair of corner cupboards has inlaid canted corners, which terminate This style of chest is named after the with ormolu beaded borders and waxed frame. The crest and seat rail grey marble triangular tops set upon in slightly flared feet. The shaped French word for week, semaine. The ribbon and foliage escutcheons, with are carved with foliage. Turned and similarly shaped cases. Elegantly bases are decorated with a single chest was designed to store a week’s an ormolu back plate and laurel ring fluted tapering legs support the frame. veneered door fronts that open to ormolu mount. c.1790. H:88cm supply of clothes. This elegant piece pulls. c.1780. H:160cm (64in); c.1780. GK opposite sides are inlaid with flowers (351⁄4in). GK is veneered in tulipwood and purple W:81cm (32 1⁄2in). PAR

138 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 ENGLISH PATTERN BOOKS furniture pattern books helped to bring the very best of london design to an audience of tradesmen and eager clients. PATTERN BOOKS REVOLUTIONIZED the way furniture MAHOGANY BUREAU-CABINET fashions were disseminated. Much of the modern Desks and bookcases were made in understanding of Georgian furniture originates from two parts: the upper section with the designs illustrated in pattern books, and the either doors or glazed panels behind golden trio of British design; Thomas Chippendale, which were shelves to contain books; Thomas Sheraton, and George Hepplewhite, owe the and a lower section below the sloping longevity of their reputations more to their published writing front that contained drawers works than to the furniture itself. Pattern books were or clothes-press shelves. They were published for many reasons: to introduce new originally intended to be used in fashions; to assist in the pricing of work; to impress bedchambers, but during the course wealthy patrons; and, ultimately, to acquire new of the 18th century were used in clients. The London cabinet-makers, William Ince and John Mayhew, publishers of The Universal System other parts of the house. In the of Household Furniture (1759–62) even translated American colonies, such an expensive their volumes into French in order to target the piece of furniture would have been lucrative market across the Channel. displayed in the grandest room. NA Some of the pieces illustrated in pattern books FRENCH CHAIRS, PLATE XX, already existed, such as Robert and James Adam’s THE GENTLEMAN & pieces, and work by Chippendale, and Ince and CABINET-MAKER’S DIRECTOR Mayhew. Many designs were not meant to be slavishly Chippendale drew the copied, but rather were intended as a guide for other upholstered chair to display makers. In the “French Chairs” plate, illustrated multiple interpretations. It right, the chair could be either an arm or side could be an arm or side chair. chair and Chippendale designed a variety of The feet could be scroll or choices for leg designs. trifid in shape and the carving could be adapted depending on Other cabinet-makers were actively the skill of the chair-maker or encouraged to recreate the designs themselves. the tastes of the patron. PAR Some publications included dimensional drawings and most included heights of the furniture and instructions for when these should be altered – a change that was dependent upon the room for which a piece of furniture was intended. Thomas Sheraton’s two volume The Cabinet Dictionary (1803) ensured that nothing was left to chance in the implementation of his instructions. The book included perspective drawings, measurements, the type of wood or paint to be used, a description of types of furniture, and even instructions on where the furniture should be placed. It is a curious fact that despite his immense fame, no actual pieces of furniture can be attributed to George Hepplewhite. His notoriety is entirely due to his published works, and he only became famous after his death, on the publication of The Cabinet- Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide in 1788. This book was intended to be of use to both craftsmen and clients. Hepplewhite was a great advocate of the Adam style, and it is thanks in no small part to Hepplewhite’s publication that Adams’ work continues to be so well known today.

ENGLISH PATTERN BOOKS 139 A BRIEF HISTORY OF DESIGN BOOKS 1760–1800 Few English furniture designs were printed before CHIPPENDALE’S THE GENTLEMAN 1715. Daniel Marot’s publications, which first appeared & CABINET-MAKER’S DIRECTOR in 1702 (see p.45), were widely used in England and This was not the first pattern book to be contained ideas for all branches of the decorative arts published but it was unique in that it was including interior design and furniture arrangements. the first-ever publication to concentrate English furniture designs also first appeared in solely on furniture. Moreover, it was architectural publications and designs for chimney- singularly comprehensive – illustrating pieces, pier tables, and mirror frames within an all contemporary forms, along with architectural framework were common. In 1735, the examples of Gothic, Chinese, French, and Engravers’ Copyright Act protected designers from Rococo variations. The Chippendale chair being copied by their competitors – although is probably the most emulated of all plagiarism continued. Chippendale’s designs, where the same basic form was interpreted in a number From 1740, two or three furniture pattern books of different ways. appeared each year, right up until the end of the century. Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director of 1754 was the first pattern book to focus solely on furniture, and set the standard for the subsequent range of pattern books that were published from the 1760s. The book also helped to establish Chippendale’s name and his distinctive style of furniture for posterity, a power that Sheraton’s later publication also possessed. CHIPPENDALE CARVED CHERRYWOOD SIDE CHAIR This chair from Philadelphia has a serpentine crest rail with a central carved ornament above a carved and pierced splat and fluted uprights. The square, tapering, drop-in seat has a seat rail with a centred shell ornament. The carved cabriole legs have claw-and-ball feet. The chair takes its basic form from the illustration from the design book (see left), in this instance in a typically Rococo interpretation. c.1770. H:100cm (391⁄2in). thomas shearer’s London Book of Prices THIS INFLUENTIAL DESIGN BOOK, PUBLISHED BY LONDON CABINET-MAKER THOMAS SHEARER IN 1788, FEATURED DESIGNS BY BOTH SHEARER HIMSELF AND BY GEORGE HEPPLEWHITE. The Cabinet-Maker’s London Book of Prices was a practical submitted their calculations to the master and this book trade manual and contained tables of prices to assist in was intended to eliminate grievances between the two. calculating the cost of labour. It was compiled for the The London Book of Prices gives us a snapshot of Georgian London Society of Cabinet-Makers by journeymen furniture designs. It shows which styles of furniture were working in London and Westminster and was originally complicated to make, and which less so. produced not as a pattern book, but as a guide to prices. Chest of drawers by Thomas Shearer, The The first edition contained only 20 plates but had Cabinet-Makers' London Book of Prices, Plate 17 extensive text and an index to types of furniture. Seating The design for this serpentine-fronted chest furniture, mirrors, and upholstered beds were excluded, of drawers has been used to create the piece as they were made by specialist craftsmen rather than shown left. It has a moulded edge over four cabinet-makers. It was not until the 1793 edition, greatly long graduated drawers flanked by three short enlarged, that a complete set of rules for calculating costs graduated drawers on fluted bracket feet. for all furniture was published. This had over 250 pages and addressed pricing in more detail. Approximately English chest of drawers This chest of drawers 1,000 copies were printed, most of which were used is inspired by a design from Shearer’s book in workshops. The London Book of Prices remained a (above). The parquetry top would have added standard work well into the early 19th century. significantly to the price of the piece. c.1790. H:91.5cm (361⁄2in); W:117.5 cm (47in); D:61cm. Calculating the cost of an item, particularly from a journeyman’s point of view, was not easy. Journeymen were paid either a daily wage or “by the piece”. The cost of timber and materials was usually borne by the master, but the journeymen had to cost all the extras. They

140 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 germany NEOCLASSICAL STYLES came later (der Zopf translates as “braid”) and The urn is a typical A swagged medallion to the German states than other hanging swags. Neoclassical element. surmounts the secrétaire. European countries. This was partly the result of German guild restrictions, The Zopfstil continued to apply The gallery The veneer has which primarily sought to protect many of the decorative features seen in is carved. been laid on those craftsmen who were not the marquetry of the late Rococo style: the diagonal. privileged enough to work in a Court acanthus-shaped mounts, bay leaves, workshop. By restricting the numbers swags, medallions, triglyphs, and lion’s Rococo marquetry includes The brass lock is integral of workshops in a city in order to and ram’s heads. Initially, furniture was floral and musical motifs. to the architectural design. guarantee work for all the masters, the similar to that of the Louis XVI style, guilds made it extremely difficult for albeit with more exaggerated The gilded bronze fittings are original. foreign craftsmen to settle, so their proportions. From the middle of influence was, at times, found to be the 1780s, however, furniture forms ROLL-TOP SECRÉTAIRE across two large doors, with drawers and lacking. Also, the conservatism of the became lighter, more refined, and pigeonholes inside. The roll-top desk front has middle classes meant that new fashions had very little decoration. This pine secrétaire from Munich has a marquetry flowers and musical instruments in were less readily accepted. geometric veneer in walnut, fruitwood, and a geometric border. The lower drawers have This shift was partly due to the maple. The carved gallery has a central medallion similar marquetry. The desk stands on short, The Spindler brothers were leading increasing influence of the middle and of an emperor surrounded by laurel leaves. The fluted, tapering legs. c.1775. H:233cm (913⁄4 in); cabinet-makers who made furniture merchant classes in matters of design. upper section has architectural marquetry W:116cm (45 2⁄3in); D:65cm (25 1⁄2in). BAM for Frederick II. They were famous Although the Neoclassical style was for their use of floral marquetry, and popularized by Abraham and David continued to make Rococo-style Roentgen, their patrons remained commodes up until the late 1760s. exclusively at Court, while the Baroque At the height of their career, the two- and Rococo styles continued to have a drawer serpentine commode on long greater influence on cabinet-makers in legs was popular, a shape that had the provinces. already become passé in France. Commodes made for use outside court As elsewhere in Europe, the use circles were less formal and resembled of Neoclassical design was initially a chest of drawers with three or four restricted to the application of drawers. However, despite this decorative elements to traditional simplicity, these commodes still forms. Marquetry had never fallen favoured Rococo styling with from favour in the German states and curvilinear fronts and veneers it was still used in the latter half of the in walnut, rather than mahogany. 18th century. However, designs became more geometric and, rather than Abraham Roentgen and his completely covering a case, often son, David, were the most famous focused on the centre of a piece. German cabinet-makers to embrace the Neoclassical style. However, the POPULAR FORMS furniture Abraham Roentgen initially The cylinder bureau, which was produced was strongly influenced by devised by Francois Oeben at the the English Queen Anne and Low courts of Louis XV and Louis XVI, Countries designs. Much of the the flat desk with a functional top with Roentgens’ early furniture was made drawers or doors, and the commode in walnut, as mahogany became were popular pieces. Legs were mostly fashionable in German cabinetwork fluted columns or conical squares. much later than in Britain and France. Commodes tended to have two or Both enjoyed a tremendous following three drawers and square, tapered legs. at all the German Courts of their time. The china cabinet remained popular, but, again influenced by French NEOCLASSICAL FURNITURE fashion, became rectangular, with It was not until the 1770s that the restrained ornament. Seating furniture early Neoclassical style, or Zopfstil, also followed French examples with became accepted. As in France, where oval or square backs, painted or gilt enthusiasm following the excavations seat frames, and tapered legs. of Pompeii and Herculaneum had led to the emergence of the goût Towards the end of the century, grec style, German designers began to imported mahogany became the seek inspiration in the ancient Greco- most favoured wood. Brass-mounted Roman world. The term Zopfstil itself furniture with well-figured mahogany derives from Classical braided friezes veneers became popular, although regional woods such as walnut or cherry wood were also used.

GERMANY 141 1760–1800 SET OF SIX AUSTRIAN CHAIRS squared at the edges. Each chair rail mimics SOUTHERN GERMAN COMMODE The handles on the two drawers, constructed the chair back, with a central tablet. The frames sans traverse, are in the form of four different The beech frames of these Neoclassical chairs are supported on fluted, tapered legs, also This Louis XVI-style commode has a rectangular bronze portraits on a silver ground. The case are painted green and white. The rigid, square painted green and white. The gilding and paint and architectural pine case with a veneer in is set on four squared, tapering legs. Attributed backs are channelled and have a rectangular would have reflected the overall design of the walnut, plum, maple, and oak. The central to Cornelius Pentz. c.1785. H:85cm (33 1⁄2in); tablet in the centre of the top rail. The seats room for which the chairs were made. c.1780. medallion-and-garland motif is thought to have W:124cm (48 3⁄4in); D:63cm (24 3⁄4in). SBA are also square with stiff upholstery, raised and H:92.5cm (37in). LPZ been influenced by the work of David Roentgen. Carved dolphin detail WALNUT SALON TABLE This round tilt-top table aux dauphins (with dolphins) rests on a hexagonal column surrounded by three carved dolphins that are painted green and partly gilded. The table is supported on a tripod base that has casters. H:82cm (32 1⁄4in); W:100cm (39in). GK PIER COMMODE SWISS CABINETS Neoclassical-style ormolu mounts. Each cabinet is glazed on three sides – opening This pine, squared commode is veneered This pair of rectangular-shaped cabinets to the front with a single-lock escutcheon – with cherry, plum, and maple woods in a is designed in the style of Louis XVI. They and is fitted with three shelves. The cases geometric pattern. Below the rectangular are made of walnut and veneered with cherry are supported on short, tapered legs, which top is a frieze containing a drawer, and and local fruitwood. The tops slightly overhang terminate in metal casters. c.1800. H:154cm two further drawers, flanked by inlaid flat the bases and the friezes are decorated with (60 3⁄4in). GK columns. Slightly flared feet support the case. c.1795. H:119.5cm (47 3⁄4in). SLK

142 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 DAVID ROENTGEN The finest, most innovative and commercially driven cabinet-maker of the 18th century created furniture that remains unparalleled in quality. It is unlikely that David Roentgen would have achieved SECRÉTAIRE EN COMMODE BY ABRAHAM ROENTGEN his level of fame without the influence of his father, The oak and maple body of this piece is surmounted by an Abraham, who produced furniture combining superb adjustable top. The top drawer contains a leather-covered, craftsmanship with technical complexity. David began sliding writing surface and nine small drawers. 1755–60. as Abraham’s apprentice, and took over his Neuwied workshop, near Koblenz in Germany, in 1768. H:87cm (343⁄4in); W:136.5cm (541⁄2in); D.66.5cm (261⁄2in). Increasingly influenced by French design, Satinwood stringing David travelled to Paris in 1774 to present a desk to Queen Marie-Antoinette. Realizing that his work was old-fashioned, he began to study the latest Neoclassical styles he saw in the city. By the late 1770s, his furniture showed the results of this study in its more austere shapes, the decoration key dates 1743 David Roentgen Moulded ormolu edge born at Herrnhag. Ormolu-ribbed panels 1757 Works in his father Abraham’s workshop in Neuwied. 1768 Takes over Book rest Sliding writing surface father’s workshop. Patera David Roentgen 1770 Roentgen delivers Interior drawers a table to Frederick the Great of Prussia. PARISIAN ARCHITECT’S TABLE When closed, this piece appears to be a typical 1774 Presents a desk to Queen Marie-Antoinette writing table with a single drawer. But when the mahogany top is lifted up on a double-ratchet in Paris, where he also acquires engravings of the mechanism, a book-rest springs forward. c.1785. latest fashions. H:80cm (31in); W:109.5cm (43in). PAR 1779 Sets up a depot in Paris. 1780 Joins Paris Guild of Ébénistes. 1783 Visits Russia to sell a secrétaire to Catherine the Great, later making four subsequent trips to St. Petersburg. 1785 Receives title of Ébéniste-mécanicien du Roi et de la Reine from Louis XVI of France. 1789 Outbreak of French Revolution threatens his business. 1791 Appointed Court Furnisher to Frederick William II of Prussia. 1793 Abraham Roentgen dies. 1795 Paris stock is liquidated by France’s revolutionary government and much of the furniture provided to the court and aristocracy is sold at official auctions. 1807 David Roentgen dies in Wiesbaden.

constructing an occasional table DAVID ROENTGEN 143 1760–1800 DAVID ROENTGEN PERFECTED A STANDARDIZATION OF PARTS IN HIS ELEGANT FURNITURE THAT reduced to veneering in plain timbers, usually ALLOWED IT TO BE TAKEN APART, SHIPPED SAFELY TO CLIENTS, AND THEN EASILY REASSEMBLED. mahogany, with gilt-bronze or brass mountings. Such was his success in Paris that he joined the Guild of Although Roentgen’s primary workshop was in Taking the table apart also saved space and made Ébénistes. His stamp was D.ROENTGEN, although Neuwied, he also had warehouses in three major the piece easier to handle during shipment, while most of his pieces were unstamped. European cities. He therefore developed a process standardization of the process saved valuable time of disassembly that allowed him to ship furniture during manufacture. Roentgen set up depots for his furniture in Paris, safely and efficiently. Berlin, and Vienna, enabling him to promote his As Roentgen was often away soliciting orders for designs, gain commissions, and supply furniture The table below illustrates this feature. It breaks months at a time, he relied on his foreman to load more quickly without losing control of his Neuwied down into eight separate components: the top and wagon trains, find coachmen, sort out horses, and workshop. This innovative thinking and commercial its frame, the drawer and shelf, and the four legs. documents, and ensure that orders were completed. acumen also allowed him to keep up with the latest Once taken apart, the pieces were put into a special This could be complicated: a single shipment to Russia fashions, through pattern books and prints. packing case, which helped to protect the veneer. often contained more than 50 pieces of furniture. ROENTGEN’S FURNITURE Top Drawer Initially, Roentgen worked in wood, which he engraved, but by the late 1760s he was using stained Leg Frieze Undertier and tinted woods. After 1770, delicate pictorial German occasional table This table, one of a pair, was marquetry became a speciality of his workshop, specifically constructed to be taken apart easily. The legs the designs for which were often taken from unscrew and the ormolu galleries on both the top and around paintings by Januarius Zick. This resulted in the undertier can be removed. 1780–90. H:74cm (29 1⁄4in); extraordinarily realistic renditions of floral W:57cm (22 1⁄2in); D:38cm (15in). sprays, arrangements of garden utensils, musical instruments, and, after his first trip to Paris, SYCAMORE AND MARQUETRY TABLE À ÉCRIRE pastoral idylls and architectural scenes. This ormolu-mounted writing table has a spring-loaded frieze drawer enclosing a leather-lined slide and four small drawers. Towards the end of the 1770s, Roentgen was Two additional spring-loaded drawers each contain an inkwell producing a range of furniture in the Louis XVI and two drawers. The square, tapering legs end in spade feet and style. He was also noted for his writing desks, casters. 1775–80. H:78cm (30in); W:75cm (291⁄2in); D:51cm (21in). produced in the later years of the Neuwied workshop, which featured ingenious mechanical devices that were operated by moving a section of the piece (see pp.174–75). In 1783, Roentgen visited Russia with his first consignment of furniture, which included dressing tables, chests of drawers, a revolving armchair, and desks at which one could write seated or standing. Following this visit, he received several commissions from Catherine the Great. Roentgen’s main customers were the French king and court. Louis XVI had purchased a writing table in 1779 and subsequently appointed David Ébéniste- mécanicien du Roi et de la Reine; he was already cabinet-maker to Queen Marie-Antoinette. Over the next ten years he supplied the French court with furniture that was noted both for its intricate marquetry and its ingenious mechanical construction. In 1791, Roentgen was appointed Court Furnisher to Frederick William II of Prussia and by this time he was recognized as the most celebrated cabinet-maker in Europe. However, the French Revolution seriously weakened his business and he never regained his former status. David Roentgen died in Wiesbaden while on his travels in 1807. GERMAN LADY’S SECRÉTAIRE Rectangular in shape, the front flap opens to form a writing surface. The geometrical nature of the case is emphasized by ormolu bands that highlight the rectangular central panel. The square, tapering legs are inlaid with ormulu-ribbed panels. c.1790.

144 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 Russia CATHERINE THE GREAT became Empress colonnaded façades, the first as a Commodes, tables, and chairs were collections of the Russian elite. Some of Russia in 1762 and ruled until pavilion where Catherine could relax influenced by French examples and had trellis-pattern backs with mounts 1796. Her reign marked a golden age and the second to house the Empress’s were often made of mahogany with attached to the joins of the pattern, of Russian culture, during which St. library and growing art collection. gilt, bronze, or brass mounts. Elaborate and legs inlaid with reeded brass. Petersburg, built in the first half of the Following Catherine’s example, the tables were designed to be placed in 18th century, became a prominent aristocracy built imposing new the centre of a room, rather than INNOVATIVE DESIGNS European capital. Catherine’s mansions in St. Petersburg and grand against a wall, and were therefore Mechanical furniture was popular in predecessor, Empress Elizabeth I, homes on large country estates. decorated on all sides. Elegant had commissioned architects to build brass-enriched Russia. The inventive German magnificent Rococo palaces and NEOCLASSICAL STYLE dining chairs were cabinet-maker, David Roentgen, pavilions, but Catherine promoted the Furniture styles became more severe, fashionable in the visited St. Petersburg five times Neoclassical style, both in architecture but lighter. Russian Neoclassical 1790s and could be between 1783 and 1789, and and furnishings. During her reign she furniture is rectilinear and decorated found in most of the commissioned the building of the two primarily with symmetrical motifs and palaces and in the Hermitages next to the Winter Palace geometric patterns, but it is larger in in St. Petersburg. Both were built in scale and often more brightly decorated the austere Neoclassical style, with than similar styles elsewhere in Europe. Brass acorn finials adorn the pierced gallery. Neoclassical bronze PARCEL-GILT ARMCHAIR DINING CHAIR heads conceal pen and ink drawers. This mahogany, maple wood, and parcel-gilt One of a set, this mahogany side chair has a armchair has scrolled finials and swan-shaped five-piece vertical splat above an upholstered supports under its scrolled arms. The padded seat. The frame is supported on square, tapering back and seat are covered in silk. c.1800. legs joined by a stretcher. The frame is H:111cm (43 3⁄4in); W:80cm (311⁄2in). embellished with brass mounts. c.1800. The columns are decorated with brass. The grain of the flame mahogany is used for subtle decoration. FALL-FRONT WRITING CABINET fitted interior and is flanked by Neoclassical SECRÉTAIRE-CABINET decorated with circular medallions and enclose bronze heads. The lower section of the piece more shelves and three secret drawers. A Made of flame mahogany and inlaid with brass, has two doors with brass surrounds, flanked by The upper section of this ormolu-mounted and secrétaire drawer encloses a writing surface, this writing cabinet has a flat top and a pierced panels inlaid with an arrowhead. The plinth brass-inlaid mahogany secrétaire-cabinet has a four small drawers, and a central shelf, above gallery with finials. Below is a frieze with a base has tapering, block feet. Attributed to frieze of scrolling foliage and satyrs. Below this two small drawers. The tapering legs terminate central drawer, flanked by panels inlaid with Heinrich Gambs. c.1790. H:161cm (63 1⁄2in); are two doors enclosing an interior fitted with in sabots. Late 18th century. H:170.5cm arrowheads. The fall front opens to reveal a W:97cm (38 1⁄4in); D:45cm (17 7⁄8in). BLA three shelves. The doors on either side are (67in); W:148.5cm (58 1⁄2in); D:79.5cm (31 1⁄4in).

RUSSIA 145 supplied many intriguing pieces of DECORATIVE FEATURES imitate Classical columns. Table 1760–1800 furniture to Catherine the Great, Private factories and estate workshops cabinets were decorated with exotic including desks at which she could were set up in St. Petersburg and inlays of ivory and bone, and porcelain write either standing up or sitting around Russia, to create furnishings plaques from the Wedgwood factory in down, cabinets in which she could for the new palaces and mansions. England were set into furniture panels. display her medals and gems, and a Russian craftsmen became highly revolving armchair. The pieces that skilled and created fine pieces of TRADITIONAL STYLES Roentgen produced for his Russian furniture decorated with marquetry Vernacular furniture remained clients were more elaborate and and gilding, influenced by both traditional and was usually made ostentatious than those that he French and German designs. The of oak. Armchairs based on monastic produced for his French and German Classical motifs of sphinxes, griffins, furniture, benches, and tables, patrons, and were made from woods dolphins, lions’ heads, acanthus, sometimes with extending leaves, that resembled the native Russian rosettes, and swags were common, were simple and differed little from Karelian birch. and fine brass inlays were used to the pieces in peasant homes. Brass-inlaid mahogany mirror The mirror frame has a Greek-key brass inlay and gilt mounts on the corners. c.1790. H:110.5cm (431⁄2in); W:60.5cm (23 3⁄4in). EVE Tula Furniture MADE OF SPARKLING CUT-STEEL, THE FURNITURE PRODUCED BY TULA’S IMPERIAL ARMOURY EPITOMIZES 18TH-CENTURY RUSSIAN DECORATIVE ARTS. MAHOGANY CENTRE TABLE Founded in 1712, the Imperial Armoury extraordinary diversity of metal-working at Tula came to the fore under Catherine techniques. They cut steel into diamond This table from the Winter Palace in the Great, supplying not only weaponry facets that sparkled like jewels, coloured St. Petersburg has a raised surface but an eclectic range of cut-steel objects. and chased the surface, and used non- in the centre. Embellished with brass Tula furniture represents the very best ferrous metal inlays. The table pictured inlay, the apron has a Wedgwood panel of Russian decorative arts in the 18th below is regarded as the finest example depicting Hercules and Deianeira. With century. Tula’s armourers used an of Tula furniture. ormolu mounts, the table is supported on tapering, square-section legs. 1790 –1800. W:149cm (59 1⁄2in). GK Tula centre table This intricate parade table, Neoclassical detail can created for display, is made of birch adorned be seen in the frieze. with steel, silver, and gilt copper. The rectangular top is supported on a column terminating in four cabriole legs with fish- shaped mounts. 1780–85. H:70cm (271⁄2in); W:56cm (22in); D:38cm (15in). Detail of column Acanthus leaf detail adorns the cabriole legs. MAHOGANY BUREAU five large shelves. The bureau has gilt-bronze Fish-shaped mount mounts, with swags over the keyholes and The upper section of this mahogany bureau has simple circular pulls on the drawers. It is a hinged top with a red gilded leather writing supported on bracket feet. The desk was surface above two drawers. The lower case has intended for an architect or similar, and an additional, sliding, green-felt writing surface enables the user to stand while working. above four drawers. The interior is fitted with c.1800. W:116cm (46 1⁄2in). GK

146 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 low countries THE NETHERLANDS underwent a variety The established trade links also competition and an environment Canted corners were common and, of political changes in the late 18th facilitated the import of exotic woods in which new ideas were readily while cases swelled out at the base, century as Spanish and Austrian rule such as mahogany and American generated. This led to the provincial they were not as broad as previous was ceded to revolutionary France satinwood. nature of much late 18th-century examples. Feet became square and in 1795, and the Netherlands was furniture and – to satisfy demand – the sharply tapered. Glazed panels, rather renamed the Batavian Republic. IMPORTED FURNITURE BAN imitation of French Louis XVI pieces. than solid wooden doors, were used Despite these changes, several areas While wood continued to be imported, Andries Borgen was known for this on cabinets designed to display of commerce continued successfully: the import of finished furniture was type of work. collections of ceramics. Smaller case agriculture, the money markets of banned in 1771, largely due to the pieces such as the commode kept their Amsterdam, and trade with the East excessive popularity of French and APPLYING THE NEW STYLE signature shape but had a lighter, more Indies all prospered and provided British furniture. This ban meant that The rectilinear styling of Louis geometric feel. income for furniture and building. Dutch cabinet-makers lacked XVI furniture was applied to Low Countries case furniture. Cabinets In the last quarter of the 18th were also inspired by British designs, century, a new type of case furniture, as pediments became less heavy, and the low buffet or sideboard cabinet, later examples incorporated a stylized was introduced. This piece was similar swan’s neck or a broken pediment. to a commode, but had a hinged top that opened to reveal an enclosed cistern BONHEUR-DU-JOUR Detail of handle pull The rectilinear case of this bonheur-du-jour has MARQUETRY an upper section with three cupboards above a COMMODE writing surface and five drawers. It is decorated throughout with Neoclassical motifs and the This mahogany commode square, tapering, gilded legs have toupie feet. has a shaped top over a case with four drawers, flanked by canted corners that curve outwards towards the base. The commode is profusely inlaid with satinwood, fruitwood, and walnut marquetry. It is supported on bracket feet. c.1790. H:81.5cm (32in). FRE DEMI-LUNE CARD TABLE SIDE CHAIR CENTRE TABLE GATELEG TABLE The top of this table is inlaid with butterflies, One of a set of eight, this Dutch mahogany The top of this mahogany oval table is echoed This mahogany, oval, drop-leaf table has one flowers, and cornucopia. When opened, floral chair has an oval padded back and seat by its inlaid, oval shell patera. Square, tapered drawer in the frieze. It stands on tapering legs marquetry is revealed. It has two pivoting drawers upholstered in striped grey velvet. The top rail legs support the case and terminate in brass terminating in pad feet. Second half of the in the frieze, and inlaid tapered legs. c.1785. has a stylized urn motif. The chair stands on casters. c.1800. H:75cm (29 1⁄2in); W:37.5cm 18th century. H:74cm (29in); W:126cm (491⁄2in); H:89cm (35cm); W:44cm (171⁄4in); D:76cm (30in). turned, tapering, fluted legs. 1775–1800. (141⁄2in). RGA D:91.5cm (36in).

LOW COUNTRIES 147 for washing glasses. On some examples, suitable for small Dutch townhouses. DECORATIVE FEATURES the minimal use of ormolu mounts 1760–1800 a number of shelves were attached to Chairs had either an oval or a Local cabinet-makers continued to – except in keyhole escutcheons the lid, which fell open on lifting the rectangular back, as in France. excel in the art of marquetry, using and handles – gave their furniture lid. On other models, additional flaps However, mahogany was preferred for exotic woods such as rosewood, a distinctive Duch character. were fitted under the lid and could be the frame, while the carved decoration satinwood, or ebony. During the opened to provide more surface space. and set of the arms was characteristic second half of the century, marquetry Decorative inlays remained of the Netherlands. designs began to incorporate Classical popular, and as furniture became more The innovative buffet was just one motifs such as the stylized fan, urn, rectilinear in the 1780s, lacquer was example of metamorphic furniture Despite these details, even in the and trophies. again used for decoration on cupboard that had a dual use and could be Neoclassical period, Dutch furniture doors, table tops, and cabinet fall- transformed when elements such as remained largely unchanged from the Despite the Dutch appreciation of fronts. These lacquer panels were often space-saving cupboards, and fold-over previous 50 years, although a more French style, the angular, contrasting combined with light woods to provide tops were opened up – particularly refined sense of proportion is evident. geometric shapes of the marquetry and a strong colour contrast. Chequered inlay is a typical Dutch feature. The centrepiece is a reused Chinese lacquer panel. Ribbons and tassels FLORAL MARQUETRY DISPLAY CABINET are popular motifs of the period. This solid oak piece with maple marquetry is made in two parts. The upper section has a central carved-and-scroll swan’s-neck pediment, and glazed doors. The lower section has drawers. It has carved feet to the front. Essentially Baroque in style, the single concession to Neoclassicism is the carving on the apron. c.1795. H:241cm (94 3⁄4in). BMN The fall front folds down The supports are OAK CHEST to provide a writing slide. square and tapering. This rectangular chest has a hinged top with a moulded edge. It has MARQUETRY SÉCRETAIRE À ABATTANT ebonized detailing, and the two panels at the front are inlaid in fruitwood with stylized fans and a central urn. Two drawers are set below the Made of satinwood, walnut, sycamore, and fruitwood, and decorated panels. The case is supported on tapering, channelled feet. c.1790. with parcel-gilt black lacquer and marquetry, this desk has a fall front W:148cm (58 1⁄4in). DN enclosing a fitted interior with three pigeon holes, a central door, and four drawers. The mounts on the frieze door are inset with porcelain plaques. 1780. H:141cm (55 1⁄2in); W:86.5cm (34in); D:42cm (16 1⁄2in).

148 LATE 18TH CENTURY 1760–1800 Britain: Early George III George III came to the throne in 1760 his Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s movement was the introduction of DECORATIVE FEATURES and British furniture-making reached Guide in 1788 and Thomas Sheraton, symmetrical designs. New decorations The way in which furniture was its zenith during his 51 year reign. whose Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s made use of Classical ornaments such decorated also changed. Carved British design was highly influential, Drawing Book came out between 1791 as urns, rosettes, swags of husks, and decoration was pronounced at first, owing to the publications of key and 1794, are also strongly associated bellflowers. Other popular motifs but as the century progressed it designers whose names have become with the style and helped to spread the included vases, Greek keys, laurel became shallower, and was finally synonymous with Georgian furniture. Neoclassical ideal. Important furniture- wreaths, palmettes, sphinxes, replaced by inlaid woods in imitation makers included Gillows of Lancaster, anthemion, and guilloche. of earlier carved decoration. These The key style of this period was Ince and Mayhew, George Seddon, and inlays were made from a greater Neoclassical, which was largely John Linnell. At first, Neoclassical decoration introduced to Britain by James Stuart was applied to existing Rococo and Robert Adam in the 1760s (see ADOPTING A NEW STYLE furniture shapes. However, these pp.152–53). Thomas Chippendale By about 1765, the Rococo style was soon began to show the influence also played a role in the development waning, and its typical decorative of Neoclassicism, and of the movement, and worked details, such as carved foliage and C- became more refined alongside Robert Adam on a number scrolls, had become passé. The main and rectilinear in shape, of occasions. However, the designers change ushered in by the Neoclassical with symmetrical lines George Hepplewhite, who published and fewer curves. The grain of the mahogany GILTWOOD ORNAMENTAL MIRROR top is contrasted with lighter sycamore banding The upper part of this gilt frame contains an oil painting of a and boxwood stringing. pastoral scene. The sides are carved with rushes bound with ribbons and palm brackets. The cresting is centred by a trophy The urn design is of Cupid’s bow, tied with ribbons and palm branches. c.1775. frequently seen on H:223cm (90in); W:175cm (69in). PAR Neoclassical furniture. Carved, entwined bands of husks run down the legs. Roundels decorate each side of the spade-shaped feet. CARVED SIDE TABLE Carved rosette CONCERTINA-ACTION CARD TABLE The rectangular top of this mahogany side table is inlaid with to the design. The four square-section, tapering legs are headed The hinged, crossbanded, serpentine, mahogany table top has a stained sycamore banding and boxwood stringing. The table by paterae and carved with entwined bands of husks, which carved border of flowers and leaves. It opens to reveal a baize has a shaped apron frieze, which is decorated with a large are frequently used Neoclassical motifs. The carving runs playing surface. It has reeded, cabriole legs with beed-and-reel carved central urn flanked by paterae, a pair of smaller vases, down the length of the legs to spade-shaped block feet, carving, foliate brackets, and scrolled toes on square, block feet. and a swag of husks. The two foliate side handles are integral which are decorated with carved roundels. This piece is one c.1760. H:72.5cm (281⁄2in); W:90cm (351⁄2in); D:44cm (171⁄4in). PAR of a pair. c.1775. H:86.5cm (34in); W:112cm (441⁄2in); D:60cm (23 1⁄2in). PAR