French furniture under Louis XV

Many people are inclined to see in the Louis XV Style only a very sumptuous and profusely or- namented elegance more in keeping with the pleasures of roues than with the simple family life of sober business folks like the majority of us. True, it is the perfect expression of a frivolous and voluptuous period marked by a passion for pleasure — all pleasure, from the most delicate intellectual and social delights to unalloyed debauchery — a period in which moderation was by no means a ruling virtue. No seat could be more suggestive of love and idleness than a sofa of 1750, nor could any furniture display more florid magnificence than some of the commodes Charles Cressent loaded with ormolu decoration, or some of Philippe Caffieri's elaborate bureaux. In fact, we may sum the matter up by admitting that such works, in spite of the incomparable beauty of the chasing, evoke a financier rolling in wealth rather than a gentle- man of noble race.

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Table of Contents:

Copyright

FRENCH FURNITURE UNDER LOUIS XV

INTRODUCTION

PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

CHAPTER I : HISTORICAL SKETCH

CHAPTER II : CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STYLE

CHAPTER III : TECHNIQUE

CHAPTER IV : PANELLED FURNITURE

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