Dakota Design Company The Design Brief®️ Best Education for Interior Designers

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WRITTEN BY DR. GLORIA for DAKOTA DESIGN COMPANY

It’s critical for interior designers to have a basic understanding of historic furniture styles. If your client wants a French Country look (and this style will probably come around again in popularity at some point), you want to make sure you aren’t including a Chippendale-style chair (oh no!!!, that would be British!). Or, if your client wants you to work with an antique Biedermeier secretary desk they inherited from their grandmother, you’ll want to know what stylistic qualities to look for in pieces that accompany it.

So, we’ve got you covered. In the upcoming weeks, in this HISTORY SERIES, we will cover French, British, Italian, German, Spanish, and American furniture and architectural styles.

French Historic Furniture

When people think of historic French furniture styles, they often think of the three Louises, that is King Louis XIV, King Louis XV, and King Louis XVI. Yes, the periods of these three kings who lived at Versailles do encompass a great deal of significant history related to opulent furniture styles. But, let’s begin a bit earlier than that, during the French Renaissance - the point at which furniture became much more highly ornamented and not just functional.

The Renaissance in France

The Renaissance really began in Florence, Italy in the late 14th century and into the 15th century (late 1300’s through the 1400’s). However, all of Europe gradually emerged from the Middle Ages between the 14th and 16th centuries. During the Middle Ages, Europeans made few advances in science or art. This period was marked by wars, ignorance, poverty, famine, illiteracy, and very deadly plagues.

The Renaissance marked a rebirth of humanistic ideals, education, scientific advancement, the classical arts, and literature. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450 enabled people to learn to read and gain access to printed materials and books.

Advances in finance and trade, and the establishment of a strong monetary system brought people out of poverty. Great thinkers and writers such as Machiavelli, Copernicus, and Galileo advanced philosophical discourse and scientific understanding. This was also the time of Shakespeare. And monumental artists such as da Vinci and Michelangelo took painting and sculpture to levels never before imagined.

Despite the high refinements in sculpture and painting, furniture during the Renaissance, when it reached France in the 16th century, was quite bulky and masculine, although very ornate and finely crafted.

A distinctly unique French Renaissance chair design was the Caquetoire (pronounced kak-i-twahr), from the French word for chatter. The trapezoidal seat shape, wider in front, accommodated women’s wide skirts.

Following the Renaissance, high style within interiors flourished beginning with the reign of Louis XIV. A wise and powerful king, he reigned from 1643 until his death in 1715. This was called the Baroque period, and was also the time of Bach and Handel.

Louis XIV moved the seat of French government from Paris to Versailles, and spent nearly 50 years building his opulent palace there. To keep the aristocracy under his control and scrutiny, he provided housing and food to all the lords and nobility within the palace. In exchange for room and board, their daily job was to wait on and fawn over Louis every day, and to constantly stroke his ego. At any given time, there were approximately 1,000 nobles and 4,000 servants living at Versailles.

Louis XIV took a strong interest in the furnishings at Versailles, and the development of what we now call Baroque furniture style. Just as with the Baroque music of Bach and Handel—which is exemplified by lots of ornamentation, flourishes, and trills—Baroque furniture pieces had very elaborate ornamentation, plenty of details, and exuberant and sometimes exaggerated decoration. One can see how this style evolved from Renaissance furniture, yet had more refinement and delicacy.

Chairs had thick and sturdy wooden frames, most often made from walnut. Seats and chair backs were rectangular, and arm rests extended to the front edge of the seat.

Chair backs were rigid and upright; often upholstered. Legs were straight and connected by H- or X-shaped stretchers.

A Baroque/Louis XIV-style chair and table could certainly be purchased today, but many would find this style of dining room set to be overly traditional and masculine.

Another important furniture development at the time was driven by the advancement of the postal service in France. With the establishment of mail delivery, writing letters became more important, thus the need for a writing desk: a secretaire, or secretary.

Louis XIV outlived both his son and his grandson. So, after his death, his great-grandson became the next king of France, Louis XV, who reigned from 1715 to 1774. He was not nearly as dynamic a ruler as his predecessor, and the country stagnated as a result. He also lived at Versailles, and he fathered 10 children, after which his wife is said to have banned him from her bedroom. He was well-known for the famous mistresses he had: Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry.

The king sought to leave his mark on the stylistic trends, and the design of furniture evolved accordingly. There was a move away from the pompous grandeur of Louis XIV, and a move toward natural, softer lines, floral motifs, and curves. This stylistic period is known as Rococo, a term taken from the French words for “rock” and “shells.”

It has been said that no straight lines can be found in Rococo design, just as there are no straight lines in nature. Forms were more exaggerated and fanciful. The curved front chest below, with the bulging sides, is called a Bombe (pronounced bom-bey) chest.

Legs took on the form of a gentle S-curve, and were embellished with scrolls and shells. This became known as a Cabriolet leg.

The design of chairs accommodated women’s full skirts, with the front of the armrest pushed back. There was a newly recognized emphasis on comfort, so the seat backs were gently angled back. Chair backs and seats were no longer rectilinear. This classic Rococo chair style is known as a Bergère (pronounced ber-zher), or Louis XV chair.

The Bergère chair style has remained remarkably popular. The chairs below can all be purchased today from various retailers, and would look lovely in any French-inspired interior.

Louis XV also outlived his son, so when he died in 1774, his grandson would become the next monarch: Louis XVI. He was the final king to reign before the French Revolution when the monarchy was overthrown. As a teenager, he married Marie Antoinette of Austria.

Furniture styles again changed drastically with the new king. There was a reaction against all the flourishes and ornamentation of the Rococo style, and an interest in classical antiquity: the styles of ancient Greece and Rome. Thus, the style of Louis XVI’s reign was known as Neoclassicism (new classicism). Furniture legs again became straight and echoed the motifs of classic columns. Lines were simpler and more refined, sophisticated, calm, and symmetrical.

The key music composers of the time were Mozart and Haydn. The corresponding Classical musical style was characterized by refined melodies, structural symmetry, and harmonious simplicity.

Simple, straight legs, rectilinear forms, and classical swags and fluting—borrowed from Greek and Roman motifs— can be seen in the furniture pieces from the Louis XVI era below.

Furniture of this style (Neoclassic, or Louis XVI) are still manufactured and sold today, and would be lovely in any French-inspired room:

The French Revolution

Louis XVI was also not a strong leader, and while he lived in opulence at Versailles, the people of France largely experienced poverty, famine, and unrest. Eventually, the people of France revolted against decades of excess from the royals and nobility. Tensions and rioting escalated until the famous storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789, the day the French people still celebrate today as their Independence Day.

Years of fighting and massacres followed, a period known as the Reign of Terror. If you have seen the play or movie Les Misérables, you know the story. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were both captured, imprisoned, and eventually beheaded.

Summary of the Louises

The images below summarize the changes in furniture styles from the French Renaissance (1500’s), to the reigns of Louis XIV (1643 - 1715), Louis XV (1715 - 1774), and Louis XVI (1774 - 1789). They are quite easy to distinguish!!!

It is interesting to note that, in all other countries with the naming of chairs, credit is given to the furniture maker or designer (i.e.: Chippendale chair for Thomas Chippendale of England). Only the three Louises of France exerted such stylistic influence over furniture design that attributing the design to their reign was justified.

The Napoleons and the Empire Periods

But the story of historic French furniture does not end there.

During the French Revolution, a new leader and war hero emerged: Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1804, he was proclaimed the Emperor of France and ruled until the French people turned against him in 1815. During his rule—a period known as the French Empire—he was renowned for numerous military conquests, and furniture design adopted a distinctly militaristic flavor. Egyptian motifs, because of Napoleon's conquests there, were also strongly featured.

French Empire furniture (I was taught the French Pronunciation: ohm-peer, but the English pronunciation, em-pī-er is also correct) was made of dark woods (mahogany or ebony) and featured gold gilding, animal heads, and military insignias and emblems.

Another furniture piece of the period was designed for Napoleon’s wife, Josephine. The lit a couronne is a bed with a tent-style drapery header, as seen below in the recreation of Josephine’s bedroom (left) and a modern-day application (right).

Following another period of unrest and turmoil in France, Napoleon’s nephew (Napoleon III) became a very successful emperor from 1850 to 1870. This stylistic period, called the Second Empire, yielded some very interesting and innovative furniture pieces. This period coincided with the Victorian period in England and the United States, and exemplified very elaborate detailing.

The Borne Settee was a circular, upholstered piece that had three or four seat divisions and a central cone providing a backrest (left). Modern day interpretations can often be found in hotel lobbies, as it facilitates multiple seating groupings.

The Tête-à-tête (translation = head-to-head) allowed two people to face each other on a settee (below right). This was the Victorian era in Europe, a time when the standards of moral conduct were strictly scrutinized, and the tête-à-tête allowed a man and a woman to converse while the armrest prevented undue physical contact. Another variation from this era added a third seat to accommodate a lady’s chaperone to ensure proper distance and discretion were maintained.