The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
In style Louis XV furniture represents the triumph of curves, a characteristic which makes possible recognition at first glance. With ease and luxury as their guiding principle, artists of the day created such a symmetry of line, wealth of decoration and fullness of comfort that from its first appearance may be dated a French dictation in furniture fashions that persisted long after it had ceased to be worthy. Chairs were broad in dimensions, carefully shaped to fit the body and richly upholstered in tapestries and embroideries depicting Watteau shepherds and shepherdesses, trellised arbors and pastoral love scenes in place of the historical subjects of Louis XIV.
The frame was a continuous blend of curves to harmonize with which elaborate cabriole legs, serpentine tops and bombe (barrel shaped) fronts appeared on tables, consoles, commodes and cabinets. Later these pieces were enriched with ormolu (bronze) mounts on corners, and carving in addition to the familiar acanthus leaf, fruits, flowers, ribbons, wreaths, rapids and satyrs, is replete with rococo. This lavish style is a mingling of conventionalized rocks and sea shells and has survived down to our time as a term synonymous with the maximum in effulgent ornateness.
Before the end of his reign Louis dispatched a special mission to China and Japan, which on its return, brought curiously decorated gifts, the beauty of which captivated the jaded court's imagination. In meeting the vogue which quickly followed, the three brothers Martin were the leading imitators, their adaptations of capricious apes and monkeys being known as singeries, of dragons; pagodas and mandarins as chinoiseries. In all of this little or no attempt was made to preserve the orthodox oriental spirit.
As one result color in general came into favor and several varieties of soft woods were used as a basis for painting as well as gilding. Vernis Martin, a lacquer system developed by the Martins in imitation of the Chinese method, became the rage and was applied as a distinctive finish to tables and cabinets in black, green, red, gold and speckled bronze, decorated in various relief designs and brought to a high polish. For other purposes rose wood and mahogany attained ascendancy over walnut, being used extensively in stripe figured veneers with ebony and holly as inlay.
Owing to the expense in both materials and workmanship required to reproduce it at all faithfully, any popular demand for modern furniture of the Louise Quinze period is naturally limited.
