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Furniture Finishing
If the furniture of the period was ornate, it was because Louis XIV revelled in gold and glitter. But Louis was also a Bourbon, conscious of his heritage, so the style also spoke a dignity verging on austerity. In the first half of his reign he followed his armies and the observant Le Brun made his furniture tall, stiff and pompous. Later when he wearied of war a more graceful note was hastily introduced.
The forms included most of those with which we are familiar today although at this time the bureau was still a desk and continued so until the Empire period when it became a chest of drawers for the bedroom. Cabinets, bedsteads, tables, consoles and armories continued to be designed along architectural Renaissance lines, but with embellishments which caused them to breathe a new spirit of luxury. Sofas, chairs and stools round out the list of essential furniture.
The chairs of the period were large and fairly comfortable with saltire stretchers, square pedestal or gently curved legs with leaf knee ornaments and scroll, hoof or dolphin feet. Backs were broad and either pictorially upholstered or filled in with an oval pad framed by posts and intricate carving. Arms, at first straight and parallel, later shaped, carved and flaring outward, surmounted ample seats with or without aprons. Construction was solid after the Renaissance method but with an increasing note of lightness.
Oak and chestnut yielded to walnut as the new barocque style of carving (irregular twisting) superseded or mingled with such classical forms as the acanthus, lion, eagle, griffin, sunburst, vases, festoons, etc. Much gilding was practiced on a base of cheaper woods like cherry to harmonize the furniture with white and gold interiors. On chairs and sofas Gobelin and Beauva is tapestries vied with Lyons velvet, brocades, hand-painted damasks and caning.
Inlay, aside from conventional work with ebony and rosewood, was made notable by one Andre Charles Boule whose name is often erroneously spelled Buhl. This French cabinet maker devised a new fashion of veneering whereby a thin sheet of tortoise shell was inlayed in pictorial and arabesque designs with ivory, enamel, porcelains or brass. The process was later varied by inlaying with mother of pearl and silver over ebony and enriched by applying brass mountings to feet, corners and edges.
Modern Louis Quatorze furniture is limited in popularity by the fact that its stately grandeur requires spaciousness, high ceilings and luxurious surroundings, such as are afforded by pretentious city mansions, hotels and clubs. It may nevertheless be adapted to some extent for the dining room or hall in smaller homes and apartments and is available for this purpose both in walnut and mahogany, usually without the extensive carving peculiar to the original style.
