Posts Tagged ‘french empire’

OCCASIONAL TABLES
THE SMALL-SCALE OCCASIONAL table
truly stands out. Many examples were also portable and could be moved around a room to serve a variety of functions, although often they had a specific use. In this case, a table could be brought out when required and then moved back to the walls or out of the room. Because occasional tables might be seen from all sides, they were usually veneered on the back, unlike side tables.
Occasional tables are often associated with leisure or with ladies’ activities. Worktables, for example, were given considerable attention by Sheraton and were largely an invention of this period.
Intended to hold sewing apparatus, worktables often have a silk work bag which slides out from beneath the upper surface. Others have a rising lid
with compartments. Some are even fitted with a rising screen for use in front of the fire. Small and fragile, worktables are often made in exotic wood, either with marquetry or
painted details.
Other types include those for gaming (often with a marquetry chess and backgammon board) and reading stands. These were known from the mid 18th century and had a ratcheted slope, sometimes inset with leather if the table was also to be used for drawing. Small, circular gueridons in France were often used to hold candelabra or perfume burners. Quartette, or nests-of-tables, were also an invention of the period. Elaborate examples with cut-brass decoration and exotic wood were made by George Oakley, and others with ring-turned supports and veneers by Gillows.

SWEDISH SIDE TABLE
This fine-quality, giltwood side table has an inset table top made of white marble, which is set above a giltwood frieze carved with laurel leaves and with recessed panels incorporating black and gold verve 6glomis6 vignettes. There
are additional panels above the legs and at the centre of the frieze. The turned, tapering legs are carved with low-relief laurel above a band of Greek key pattern, and then carved with spiral flutes below. The legs terminate in baluster feet. c.1810.

INLAID STAND
This stand is from the southern states of America and has a rectangular top with rounded corners and a band of double string inlay. It is raised on
inlaid, tapered legs below bird’s-eye maple panels. The single drawer has three interior compartments.
CONSOLE TABLE
Made in Franken, Germany, this console table s veneered in mahogany. It has a rectangular Warble table top above a frieze drawer and stands on square, tapering legs.
SHERATON GAMES TABLE
This mahogany games and worktable has a rectangular top with chamfered corners and a chessboard inlaid in its surface. It stands on square, tapering legs. c.1790.
REGENCY WRITING BOX
This bird’s-eye maple and ebony string writing box has a hinged slope with a leather inset, a drawer, and dummy drawer. The ring-turned, ebonized legs are joined by a C-scroll stretcher. c.1810.
BIEDERMEIER SIDE TABLE
This solid beech and beech-veneered side table has a round frieze with an overhanging circular top. It is raised on three sabre legs, joined lower down by an additional, circular shelf. 1820.

SWEDISH SIDE TABLE
This gilt-metal, mounted, mahogany side table by Karl Johan has a circular top above a frieze. The circular stem ends in a tripartite base with scrolled feet.
OCCASIONAL TABLE
Inlaid with brass, this French Empire mahogany table has a circular top featuring an inset marble and pierced-brass gallery. It has a fluted column support ending on a tripod base. Early 19th century.
SOUTH AFRICAN TEA TABLE
This stinkwood tea table has a rectangular top with rounded corners, a plain frieze, decorative contrasting inlays, and slightly tapering legs. 1790-1810.
ITALIAN BEDSIDE COMMODE
Made of olive wood and tulipwood, this crossbanded, bedside commode has a lift-up lid above a fall front and fitted interior. It has square, tapering legs.
BIEDERMEIER SEWING TABLE
This sewing table from Weimar is veneered in cherry wood with ebony stringing. The overhanging table top has rounded corners. The rounded case has two drawers and sabre legs. c.1830.
FEDERAL WORKSTAND
This figured mahogany workstand has a rectangular-shaped top supported by half-round colonettes and two drawers. It stands on rounded, tapering, ring-turned legs ending in ball feet. c.1820.

PATTERN BOOKS
THE VOGUE FOR SMALL, OCCASIONAL TABLES WAS ENCOURAGED BY VARIOUS PATTERN BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE LATE 18TH AND EARLY 19TH CENTURIES.
The use of pattern books by furniture makers was well-established by the end of the 18th century, when Thomas Sheraton published The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book. Hugely significant in disseminating the Neoclassical Regency style in England and America, this book included many designs for occasional tables, from pot cupboards to urn stands. Although this was not particularly new – Chippendale and Ince arid Mayhew had included such objects in their pattern books of the 1750s and 60s – the lightness and variety of Sheratons examples was innovative.
Sheraton’s next book was his Cabinet Dictionary, published 1803, which, possibly influenced by Thomas Hope, included some Egyptian designs. The influence of French furniture is also evident in the inclusion of the small writing desk known as a bonheur-du-jour. Sheraton never completed his final massive volume, The Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer, and General Artist’s Encyclopaedia, although it was published, incomplete, in 1805. in this late title, contemporary developments in France, notably the post-revolutionary styles, were particularly evident.

ITALIAN TABLE
This Neoclassical inlaid fruitwood table en chiffoniers has a three-quarter gallery, two drawers with chevron banding, and square-section, tapering legs. Early 19th century.
WORKSTAND
This Massachusetts Sheraton mahogany workstand has a rectangular top with cut corners and two compartmented drawers. The ringed pilasters lead into tapering, reeled legs with ringed cuffs.

19th Century Chests of Drawers. NORTH ITALIAN SIDE CABINET, FRENCH COMMODE, AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS, DANISH MAHOGANY COMMODE

THE CHEST OF DRAWERS is limited in
scope by the rectangular shape of its drawers. Whilst its more elaborate cousin, the commode, might contrive to contain them within serpentine or bombe shapes, the chest of drawers shows little stylistic development.
With the exception of plain British pieces, which often bowed at the front, chests of drawers tended to be box-like in the early 19th century. Meanwhile- the status of the commode as the seminal item of drawing-room furniture was on the decline. Also on the wane were chest-on-chests and tallboys, although the occasional bowed example does survive.
A smaller version was developed resembling a miniature tallboy and similar to the French semanier. Called the Wellington chest after the famous commander, its drawers were locked by a hinged pilaster to one side.
A particular type of French Empire chest of drawers was popular throughout Europe. It was rectangular,
usually with a marble top, below which was a projecting frieze drawer supported on either side by a pair of architectural columns. Set back were two or three drawers above a plinth base. The piece in flamed, or plum pudding, mahogany was decorated with Neoclassical ormolu mounts, particularly on the frieze drawer and around the capital and column bases.
Another type of chest, which had its origins in the Louis XVI style, also featured a marble top but, instead of the projecting upper drawer, all the drawers were flush. The piece had a more delicate look, possibly because it was raised on square-section, tapering legs. It was especially popular in Italy, and was known to be produced by Maggiolini, sometimes in walnut.
Due to their widespread use and relatively simple carcase construction, chests of drawers had a huge range of surface decoration from veneering in exotic timber to painting, which was useful for disguising cheaper woods.

NORTH ITALIAN SIDE CABINET
This side cabinet, or commode, has a slightly overhanging top above a straight frieze, and a rectilinear case with two large cupboard doors at the front. The front and sides of the cabinet
are richly decorated with inlays of figured walnut and other contrasting, stained woods, forming a strong, colourful geometric design. The cabinet is supported on short, tapering legs.

Inlays of walnut and other stained woods create a strong, geometric design.
A straight frieze emphasizes the rectilinear shape of the case.
Escutcheon and geometric inlay detail
Short, tapering legs support the case.
The side cabinet has two large front cupboard doors.

AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS
This Federal inlaid chest of drawers is made of mahogany. The piece has a rectangular top with an applied, inlaid edge which rests above four long, graduated drawers, each one with
crossbanding, stringing, and a beaded edge, and brass, oval drawer-pulls. The case is supported on a moulded base with straight bracket feet. Although American, the design closely follows British prototypes. Early 19th century.
AMERICAN EMPIRE CHEST OF DRAWERS
This Empire carved mahogany and mahogany veneer chest of drawers is stamped “Wm Palmer/Cabinet Maker/Catherine St./New York”. The moulded top is set over three outset short drawers, with carved attached columns flanking four drawers. The case sits on leaf-capped hairy-paw feet. Early 19th century.
FRENCH COMMODE
This case of this provincial commode is made of walnut and the piece is designed in the Empire style. It has a rectangular, dark-grey marble top which is set above a deep,
rectangular frieze. The three drawers have glass handles and matching escutcheons and are flanked by ogee scrolls. The piece is supported on block feet. Early 19th century.

This Neoclassical walnut and marquetry commode has a marble top above a frieze drawer inlaid with foliate swags and flaring urns. Below are two further drawers, similarly
inlaid sans traverse and centred by a panel inlaid with two maidens and a cupid. The sides are decorated to mirror the front, and the case is raised on square, tapered legs. c.1800 (the marble top is later). W. 132.5cm (53in). FRE 4
This rectangular top of this late Gustavian commode has canted forecorners above three long drawers. The drawers are flanked by fluted and canted sides, and the commode is raised
on short, tapering, fluted legs. The whole commode is painted in a typical Gustavian pale grey. c.1820.
ITALIAN COMMODE
SWEDISH COMMODE

DANISH MAHOGANY COMMODE
This Danish Louis XVI commode has a rectangular top above a fluted frieze drawer and return with roundel corners. The three lower drawers are flanked by fluted quarter pilasters. The commode is raised on bracket feet. Late 18th century.
This walnut and parquetry inlaid commode has a top with a projecting concave front set above four corresponding long, graduated drawers. It stands on bun feet and the case and drawer fronts are inlaid throughout with geometric walnut, mahogany, and boxwood panels.

SWEDISH CHEST OF DRAWERS
This is a late Gustavian chest of drawers, with a shaped top and curved corners. There are three graduated drawers with brass roundels and the case stands on turned, tapering feet. It is
probably veneered in    mahogany. Early 19th century.

FRANCE: RESTAURATION
THE RESTAURATION STYLE, as its name
suggests, refers to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy from the expulsion and final exile of Napoleon in 1815, until its fall in 1830.
Louis XVIII became King of France in 1815 and was followed by Charles X in 1824, who finally abdicated in 1830 in favour of the exiled Due d’Orleans, Louis Philippe. It was a period of considerable political unrest, culminating in the revolutions of 1830 and 1848, which forced Louis Philippe to flee to England.
The market for furniture also changed, with growing interest from the middle classes and the increasing
industrialization of furniture-making due to improved tools and the use of steam. Fortuitously, this coincided with the need to furnish apartments, which, for the first time, the middle classes could rent.
CHANGING STYLES
Empire decoration remained the leading style of furniture and many of the cabinet-makers who had worked in the Empire style, such as JacobDesmalter, Felix Remond, and P.A. Bellanger, continued to produce furniture with a great deal of success.
However, Napoleonic motifs and
mounts gradually disappeared, and the
Empire style was slowly watered down as severity gave way to comfort. Strict linearity eventually relaxed into the occasional curve in a nostalgia for Rococo style. Overall, forms became heavier and more solid, replacing the Empire love of rectilinear elegance. As elsewhere in Europe, furniture became bulkier. Inlays became more common and mounts gradually became smaller, or disappeared altogether.
STYLE DIFFERENCES Restauration-style furniture can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from the
simpler, more domestic Empire pieces (see pp.200-01). The surfaces of Restauration pieces tend to be even simpler and less decorated than those found on French Empire furniture, which was typically designed to create an opulent effect.
SECRETAIRE A ABATTANT
This flame-veneered mahogany writing cabinet is raised on claw feet and has a moulded cornice above a pair of Gothic-carved, glazed doors, enclosing shelves, above drawers. A frieze drawer fitted for writing is set above cupboard doors flanked by scrolls. c.1820.
DRESSING TABLE
This is a mahogany dressing table with a swing-frame mirror set above a platform with two small drawers above another drawer. The dressing table stands on C-scroll supports and has a shaped platform base. c.1825.
FAUTEUILS AUX DAUPHINS
This set of six mahogany armchairs, made by Pierre-Antoine Bellanger, has straight top rails terminating in carved scrolls. The curved arms are carved with dolphin heads and each chair has a padded, upholstered seat with a plain seat rail and is supported on sabre legs. c.1815.
CHARLES X DRESSING TABLE
This dressing table is made of burr elm inlaid with amaranth depicting stylized foliage. The top section has an oval mirror with carved supports in the shape of swans. The table top is made of white marble. The lower section consists of a frieze drawer above two carved consoles. The piece terminates in a shaped platform base and flattened bun feet. 1825
BOIS CLAIRS
Restauration furniture was usually made of oak, but it was increasingly veneered in lighter woods, the so-called bois clairs. This change in tone began in 1806, when the British blockaded the importation of mahogany to France from its colonies. As a result, local woods became more popular, including walnut, sycamore, ash, elm, yew, plane, beech, and, perhaps most characteristically of all, decorative bird’s-eye maple.
Mahogany, being expensive, was reserved for the most lavish interiors, so its use was often an indicator of the high value of a piece of furniture.
Traditionally, the Duchesse de Berry the daughter-in-law of Charles X, is credited with the introduction of bois clairs, but this appears to be an unfounded myth. Mahogany, however, continued to be extensively employed both as a veneer – where the decorative effect of its figure was much exploited – and in the solid.
With the decline in use of mounts, various timbers, particularly ebony, and metals such as brass or pewter, were inlaid instead. However, their treatment was always restrained. Some furniture even included plaques of painted porcelain.
GOTHIC STYLE
Towards the end of the Restauration period, the Romantic-revival styles gradually became evident in French furniture design.
These were probably first hinted at in Pierre de La Mesangere’s Collection de meubles et objets de goat, published between 1802 and 1835 in the Journal des Dames et des Modes. Here, La Mesangere adapted the severe, architectural style of Perrier and Fontaine to create a simple, domestic style for the middle classes. He also began introducing the motifs that
would dominate the next epoch –Gothic motifs, otherwise known as the Troubadour style.
Unlike the Chinese style, which was completely forgotten in early 19th-century France but played an important role in Britain at the time, the Gothic style did create a small impact. For example, in 1804, the cabinetmaker, Mansion the Younger, suggested a Gothic-style piece for Napoleon.
However, it was not until the late 1820s and 30s, that the pointed arches so typical of the Gothic style started appearing on Empire-style furniture.
CIRCULAR CENTRE TABLE
This table is made from rosewood inlaid with fruitwood and marquetry. The circular top, and the four frieze drawers below, are raised on a columnar support, which has four splayed legs that terminate in paw feet on brass casters. c.1830.
CHARLES X OCCASIONAL TABLE
The top of this oval rosewood table is inlaid with a panel of Gothic tracery and is bordered with a boxwood rolled moulding. The frieze has a single writing-slide drawer. The table stands on six turned legs joined by a double-baluster stretcher. c.1830.
This mahogany meridienne has one end higher than the other, and an elegant, curved, padded back. The frame of the sofa has scrolling sides, a plain frieze, and stands on volute feet. 1820
This table has a black-and-grey-veined Saint Anne marble top set above a plain frieze. The massive columnar support is baluster shaped although it has been facetted. The three scrolled feet are similarly angular and are square in section.
MERIDIENNE
MARBLE-TOPPED TABLE
The mahogany frieze is unadorned Will) the mounts typical of the French Empire style.
The scrolled feet show a move away from the strict angular design of the previous epoch.