LITTLE ILLUSTRATE D B OOKS ON OL D FR E NCH FU R N ITU R E I V F E C H F U T U E . R N R N I R UN DE R LOU I S XV I AN D T H E E M PIRE FRE NC H F URNIT UR E FR E C F I T E I N T H E M I D LE I . N H URN UR D AGE S A ND UN D E R LOU I S XIII FR E N C H FU R N I TU RE UND E R LOU I S XI V FR E N C H FURN I TU R E UN D E R LOU I S XV FRE N CH FUR N I TU R E UN D E R LOU I S XVI A N D TH E E M PI RE E NGL I SH FURNIT URE ( P reviouslypublished) E GL I S F R I T R E U N D E T H E I . N H U N U R TU D OR S A N D STU ARTS E N L I S F I TU R E OF T H E E E I I . G H URN QU N AN N E PE R I OD I I E GLI S F R I TU E OF TH E CR I PP I . N H U N R E N DALE PE R I OD E GLI SH F I T E OF TH E SH E TO I V. N URN UR RA N PE RI OD E ach v o lu m e pro fu s elyillu s tra t ed wi th full-p age re pro du ctio ns a nd co lo u re d fro ntis pie c es ro n C t/z rice d C w lo 5. 6 net , p 4 . O N W H E E L NDO : ILLIAM IN MANN O R -POSTE R B E D M O NY AND F U , AH GA WIT S TI H I NGS B R SS G A , H A N AN LITTLE ILLUSTR ATE D BOOKS ON OLD FR E NCH FU R NITU R E IV FR E N C H FU R N I T U R E U N DE R L OU I S XV I A N D T H E E M PI R E B Y R OGE R DE FELICE T R ANSLAT E D B Y M AT KI N SON F . LON DON M C M XX WILLIAM HE INE M ANN L ndo n te WO NS o . Prin d b O DS SO y , , N IN T R ODUCT ION I N this volume E mpire furniture will occupy a a m a much less sp ce th n Louis Seize . It y a s s a a O i perh p be enough to y th t , in our pin on , this inequality is amply justified by the diff er e nce s r r an d a a a in me it , comfo t , d pt bleness to the needs of ordin ary life th at exist between the two styles ; but there is one more solid an d r a aim a positive e son . The of this h ndbook, a a like its predecessors , is to imp rt better know Of a ledge the furniture of p st times , but most of all r a w as an d a a the fu niture th t simple pr ctic l , the good, honest pieces with no pretentions to a r sh m luxu iousness , belonging to the modest middle classes or even the country folk of Old a . E had Fr nce Now, the mpire Style never time a wa to m ke its yinto the depths of the provinces , Wr a . an he e everything is so slow to ch nge In y a a a and archae o c se , how could th t style , so le rned a had an d logic l, which sprung finished complete from the brain of a few fan atical devotees of a as M a ra a ntiquity, once inerv sp ng in full p noply — from out of the head of Jupiter how could a a a a o th t style , so l cking in tr dition , ever h ve f und favour with the count ry people of France P How could they have understood it And accordingly we find it left no trace in the output of the a a workshops of Provence or Norm ndy or Britt ny. R and E and During the evolution the mpire , still a r a - a an d l te , the country c binet m kers , those in the vi I N T R O D U C T I O N a sm ll towns , went on quietly with Louis XVI n s a styles , which were ofte imply Louis XV h rdly at all an d modified , they continued this up to the moment when industri al production on a a a ra and a l rge sc le , cent lised c rried out by a r m chine y, shut , one by one for ever , the little workshops from which throughout two centuries so much simple beauty had issued to spre ad its a t e boon mong h dwellings of the unpretentious . The E mpire Style undoubtedly has its own a a be uty ; it is simple , severe , not very cordi l , but a an d sometimes imposing in gr ndeur, superb in its air ; but it is almost always only the most costly and luxurious pieces that have these qualities ; their m ateri al must be supremely as a a a fine , it is displ yed in l rge m sses with little decor ation . The bronzes must be excellent in a sculpture , since they often m ke the whole of the ff and a a as rich e ect , bec use being isol ted , they a are a a s a usu lly , in the middle of l rge p nel of b re a an a an wood, they ssume extreme import nce , d a a necess rily hold the eye . The actu l composition of these met al appliques can the less permit of r a as O has a medioc ity, in smuch it ften to m ke up o n for p verty in their invention a d design . An E ie ce a C a mpire p m de on the he p , with too much r venee ing , too little bronze or bronzes inferiorly a at all ch sed or not , gives the impression of rubbish made expressly for catch -penny b argain a was s les ; indeed , it not precisely under the E a R a mpire , perh ps during the evolution , th t che ap - j ack furniture first came into being ? In a I N T R O D U C T I O N vii a has word , the ordin ry product of this epoch n nothing to call for a y infatuated devotion . A -a a m a l very wide w ke collector ystil , from time to a a and a time, pick up in the he rt of P ris , for mere s a a l ong, uthentic J cobs unrecognised by the sel er has a a 0 who them tucked w y in his sh p , but they are a an d by becoming r re , the side of these lovely i things , pure in l ne, sometimes with exquisite an d ra a a curves of superior c ftsm nship , how m ny dull fl at horrors there are that have not even the excuse of being unpretentious It h as doubtless been Observed that the Dire c toire Style has no place in the title of this a a M a volume nor even in the t ble of ch pters . ny are a a a as st—yles b dly n med, but none so b dly this ii it even exists at all . The government of the Directors endured four years altogether . Did anyone ever see a style Spring up an d est ablish itself in so short a time ? It would be more sa R e vo lu tio n St le a correct to y y , for ch irs with ! 1 s a a a hovel b cks , or roll m de of pl in wood, a a l either pierced or c rved in we k re ief, furniture a a and a decor ted with lozenges , d isies st rs ; beds with triangular pediments ; all these were being ma de from 1 790 ; we even find models in R as a collections before the evolution , such th t of Aubert This transition period recalls the Regency by the double character of the furniture it pro duced . Cert ain pieces c arry on the direct tradition of i i i Louis XVI , wh le little by little mod fyng the The as te ris k re fe rs to the index at the e nd. I N T R O D U C T I O N lines to which cabinet - m a kers had been faithful during thirty ye ars others displaying that excess in novelty which three quarters of a century ' a had a a R o ca z lle a all e rlier ch r cterised , repudi te ‘ a s a ns - cu lo z tes and are o r the p st like the , m e or less exact copies of Greco - R om an models ; of ’ this kind are the celebrated pieces from D avid s r wo kshop , which were speedily copied on every a W e r ar a a h nd .