BAROQUE
The reign of the French King
Louis XIV was characterised by the Baroque style.
The Versailles Palace and the
Louvre were decorated in a strong, dramatic and exuberant style echoing the
King's strong leadership in a period of war and colonial
empire building.
The Baroque is a style that
used exaggerated motion, gestures and expressions to produce drama, tension,
exuberance and grandeur.
Baroque furniture
characteristics include small detail to create the final massive piece.
Furniture
was extensively ornamented and highly detailed, sporting gold, marble, nymphs,
cherubs, mirrors and angels.
ROCOCO
The Furniture built in the
style called Rococo originated in the eighteenth century in France.
Its name Rococo is arrived from
a mixture of French rocaille, which means shells or in Italian barocco or
Baroque style.
Rococo furniture included a lot of carvings and demarcation that were not too heavy or over the top.
Other features include curved wooden legs,
eye-catching supports with built in carvings from nature, such as birds and
leaves.
Some specific pieces of
furniture was the fauteuil and voyeuse chairs. Solid mahogany wood was mostly
used because of its strength and lasting ability.
The furniture was built to be
movable and detachable arms and upholstery cushions were utilised for the first
time.
EMPIRE
The Empire style is named after the period of the First Empire,
1804-1814, but survived for about 10 to 15 more years and was created largely
by Fontaine and Percier, who were Napoleon's
architects.
Greek and Roman ideals dominated this style. It combined the
simplicity of the antique with the imperial grandeur of the Napoleon era.
The Empire style was cold, artificial and uninviting. It
eliminated almost all curving elements, curved lines were largely restricted to
only chairs and sofas.
Furniture was simple geometric
shapes, usually taken from ancient designs. The legs of furniture took the form
of animal paws.
ENGLISH REGENCY
Regency followed a style in
France after the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor.
Prince George became Regent
from 1811-1820 and this was a period of classic furniture.
It was the fashion to copy actual furniture of the classical Roman and Greek times. Winged Griffins, lions heads, animal legs, Roman Gods were popular.
Furniture had moved from
natural evolution to return to Classical form.
Regency furniture was plain, slender and elegant. Brass was often used for decoration, rosewood and zebrawood veneers were used for a striking look.
Mahogany was still the wood of
choice for most furniture makers. French polishing came into vogue around 1810
and allowed for a smoother and shinier finish.
Some characteristics of the Regency period were Saber legs, reeding and lion paw feet.
The most popular chair was the double sabre leg chair, sometimes with a rope twist carved back.
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