Fabulous French Furniture: Part 1 What Makes Antiques Special and Medieval- Louis XIV.3 CEU
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Beverly Vosko’s InteriorDesign-ED
Fabulous French Furniture Medieval- Louis XIV Handouts Welcome to out Seminar!
What Makes Antiques Special In America, a furniture item is considered to be an Antique if it is 100 years old. The best Antiques are Period Furniture Pieces. Period Furniture is furniture manufactured during the time period that its design style was invented, during the Golden Age of English Furniture 1703-1830. After 1830, furniture was never again handcrafted to the same standard of technical excellence and never retained the caliber it achieved during the Golden Age. Antiques are Special to Everyone based upon their: Design, Handcraftsmanship and Time Design: Period furniture is the combination and culmination of the 5000 years of great design styles that preceded it, and was especially influenced by the following civilizations: 1. Ancient Egypt 3500 BC-1352 BC Provides us with earliest furniture specimens known to date Used mitered joints and dove tails Developed the art of inlay Developed the drawer 2. Ancient Greece 650 BC-80 BC Developed the concept of regular people owning furniture Developed the art of carving and became masters of proportion Invented the Klismos Chair 3. Ancient Rome 200 BC-400 AD Developed the concept that furniture was designed for its esthetic value The Greco/Roman civilization utilized Classical motifs such as wreaths, swags, urns, garlands, rounded arches, rosettes, acanthus leaves, cherubs and mythological figures Handcraftsmanship: utilizing Specialization of Labor Time: The English didn’t care how long it took to make a piece of furniture They were interested in perfection and that is what they achieved Antiques are Extra Special to me because: 4. The Story of how I found each piece 5. The History of the piece itself Roman Empire fell – all the design and construction techniques were forgotten
The Medieval Period/Gothic Period 400 Ad-1500 Initially people lived in hovels whose interiors contained little worthy of being called “furniture” After fall of Rome in 400 AD people forgot how to put 2 pieces of wood together, so they could only hollow out a section of a tree trunk Then, in the 13th Century 2 very important innovations occurred with enabled the process of the development of architecture and furniture as we know it 1. the mortise and tenon joint was discovered 2. the invention of panel framing which enabled lighter furniture construction and so… The Gothic era developed in the 13th Century in the Ile de France It was an Architectural style that built beautiful Cathedrals such as Chartres and Notre Dame These Gothic cathedral’s walls and ceilings were decorated with beautiful Gothic motifs such as pointed arches, trefoils, quatrefoils, openwork tracery, finials, vaulted ceilings and rose windows Furniture was very crude indeed – was meant to be dismantled for transport, called mobilier – from verb to move -Fabrics brought home from the crusades were the luxuries of this era and were draped over the furniture. The carved motif on the furniture of this era was linenfold, simulating these rich fabrics
Then came a rebirth of Renaissance Can be subdivided into 4 eras, Francois I, Henry II, Henry IV and Louis XIII Early Renaissance Francois I Furniture of this era is a hybrid of Gothic and Renaissance Gothic furniture forms and linenfold decoration are mixed with Renaissance Ornamentation such as pilasters, and grotesques and Profile portrait heads Furniture is made of Oak Chair is of massive paneled box form – hinged seat opens to reveal a chest or place to store valuables
Henri II - 1547-1589 Henri II furniture is more “true” Renaissance; classical, formal and severe
Two important changes • Renaissance principles came into their own Renaissance motifs were no longer mixed with Gothic ones • Menuiser (furniture makers) discovered the mitered joint resulting in the ability to make better quality furniture • Walnut became the wood of choice • New Technique invented: marquetry • Mounts of gold and silver seen for 1st time Furniture • Chair – gradually looses its wooden box frame becomes lighter and seat ceased to be a chest • Chests - were no longer portable but raised on feet or a plinth • Beds – really just beautiful bed-hangings • Case Furniture – double bodied armoire a deux corps appear for 1st time and are beautifully carved in low relief with pilasters and columns
Henri IV - 1589-1610 Henri IV was responsible for France’s ascendancy in the arts He married Marie de Medici and brought Italian influence into France
Louis XIII – 1610-1643 Louis XIII style corresponds roughly to the 1st ½ of the 17th Century And is an amalgamation of Italian and Flemish styles It is rectilinear, simple and severe Early furniture made of oak or walnut – later in his reign ebony became wood of choice Stylistic elements of Louis XIII Period 4 Main forms of decorations • Carved lathe turned twist turned supports • Overabundant Carved designs for panels – especially diamond point • Italian Pietra Dura cabinets and tables Fixed upholstery appears for 1st time – Needlework tapestry Louis XIII armchairs have hard straight backs Beds still submerged in drapery – with not much wood Tables – Italian style refectory with trestle-end supports Writing table of Bureau appears for 1st time in 17th C inventories Case furniture – walnut armoire a deux corps/buffets appear
Louis XIV 1643-1715 Cardinal Mazaran acted as Regent, ruled 1642 until his death in 1661 In 1661, at the age of 21, Louis XIV was crowned king It was not until then that a genuinely French style began to be established It was called Baroque Style Renaissance is Italian version of Classicism while Baroque is French version of Classicism Louis XIV wanted everyone to be aware of how great both he and France were so he built the Palace of Versailles, with its “grand appartements” Louis XIV then needed equally massive gilt furniture to fit into this architectural scheme For First time consideration was given to Interior Design as an ensemble The main furniture designer of this era is Andre Boulle- Kings ebenist Stylistic concepts of Louis XIV Era: • Veneering, accompanied by Marquetry • Carving in solid wood • Gilding and Silvering • Lacquering Symmetry is rigidly observed on Louis XIV furniture decoration In the Louis XIV era, many classical motifs are used: Dolphins, griffons, seahorses, water lily leaves, laurels, swags, garlands of acanthus leaves, fruit and flowers, also coats of arms trophies, mythological figures, masks and shells
Regence 1700-1730 Transitional Period –from rectilinear to curvilinear style Furniture becomes lights and less formal and straight lines begin to curve Cressent is famous cabinetmaker of this era
Bibliography 1. Boger, Louise Ade. Furniture Past and Present, Doubleday and Company Inc. Garden City NY Copyright 1966 2. Morley, John. The History Of Furniture. Bulfinch Press Book, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, NY. London. Copyright 1999. 3. Viaux, Jacquelin and Benn, Ernest. French Furniture, Bouverie House. Fleet St. London EC4. 4. Period Rooms in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. The Metropolitan Museum of Arts. New York, Yale University, New Haven and London.
Biography
Beverly Vosko Allied Member ASID, RID, UDCP, CAPS, L.E.E.D Green Associate, CGP (Certified Green Professional) is a full service, Registered Interior Designer in Texas #6333. She is President and founder of both Beverly Vosko Interiors and InteriorDesign-ED; both DBA’s for C. V. Design Inc. For over 25 years, she has been designing homes across the United States and Europe, specializing in creating custom residential and commercial environments, be they traditional, transitional, contemporary or eclectic, that match her design clients’ every need, through her design firm, Beverly Vosko Interiors. For nearly 20 years, she has taught Interior Design: first at Rice University, then at the University of Houston, and for the last 10 years nationally, with her Continuing Education company, InteriorDesign-ED. Specifically, she has taught Interior Design, Aging in Place, Green/Sustainable Design, Lighting and Antiques. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, studied Art History at Harvard University, received her MBA in Marketing from NYU Stern Graduate Business School, and completed Design and Antiques training from Sotheby’s, the world-renowned Inchbald School of Design and Houston Community College. Please view her websites, www.vosko.com and www.InteriorDesign-ED.com.