The culminating period of the long reign of Louis XIV. (1643–1715) was reached at the Treaty of Nimeguen in 1678. From this time forward, France not only dominated Europe by force of arms, but also by her taste and achievements in art. Paris set the fashions for the whole Continent and for the Court of Charles II. across the Channel.

The “Roi magnifique,” now able to indulge every fancy and whim, makes the Palace of Versailles the symbol of the time. Although the architect Mansart began the improvements there in 1661, it was not until 1682 that the residence of the Court was fixed at Versailles. Then it became the expression of pomp, pleasure and magnificence. Magnificent Versailles, with its water-works, its statues, its groves, its gardens, its galleries, its pictures and its furnishings, cost the King a fortune. The furniture alone, not including either pictures or tapestries, amounted to 13,000,000 livres.

Anxious to exhibit a magnificence unknown since the days of Rome and Byzantium, the “Sun King” conceived the idea of entrusting the designing and manufacture of carpets, tapestries, furniture, plate, etc., etc., to artists of the first rank. His first plan was to gather around him a number of talented men, to each of whom he granted apartments in the Louvre; but he found that it would be well to subject all the various individual works to one guiding spirit and thus to create harmony. Therefore, in 1667, he established the “Manufacture des Gobelins,” with the painter, Le Brun, at its head. This manufactory of the crown became not only famous for the superb tapestry that bears its name, but for cabinet work (ÉbÉnisterie), goldsmith work (orfÈvrerie), etc., etc., and was the special pride of Louis XIV., who, according to a contemporary:

Among the famous artists and workers employed at the Gobelins, were the ÉbÉniste AndrÉ Charles Boulle, the goldsmiths Claude Ballin and Delaunay, the painters and decorators Jean BÉrain and Jean Lepautre, and the engravers La Barre, Viaucourt, Debonnaire, and Guillaume and Alexandre Loir. Nor must Colbert be forgotten, the great minister of finance who aided the King in founding this important establishment. Le Brun dominated all productions with his taste, which was that of Louis himself,—magnificent, splendid, heroic and pompous. Here were produced not only the furnishings for the homes of the wealthy, but those superb gifts that Louis lavished upon the ambassadors from foreign courts.

Massive silver^[10] furniture, which seems to have originated in Spain, and to have crossed the Pyrenees with Anne of Austria, the daughter of Philip III., became extremely popular at court and with those of Louis’s courtiers who could afford such a luxury. When Charles II. ascended the English throne, and brought with him from France all the styles of Louis XIV., silver furniture was introduced into the country, some of which is still preserved.

Doubtless the richness and beauty of these rare articles developed the taste for carved and gilded wood. Its use was not confined to the wealthy; in comparatively modest dwellings and hÔtels the frames of the seats, mirrors, tables, consoles, etc., were carved elaborately and gilded. It is probably owing to this dazzling and glittering effect of gilded wood that has caused critics to refer to the preceding style of Louis XIII. as “sombre.” The luxury and splendours of the court penetrated to the middle classes, who adopted all the styles of the day. It was not long before great changes in interior decorations were sufficiently apparent to attract the notice of contemporary writers. La BruyÈre speaks of the preceding reign when copper and pewter had not been supplanted by silver. The enormous and monumental chimney-piece which reached to the cornice, a typical example of which is shown in the frontispiece, was banished for the “petite cheminÉe,” or little chimney-piece. Mirrors now made at the Gobelin manufactory became far more common, having been brought within the reach of many who could not afford the hitherto unrivalled glasses made in Venice. The flags and tiles were now superseded by floors of inlaid woods, or parquetry, and the tapestries and embossed leather that adorned the walls in the preceding period were gradually succeeded by painted and gilt panels. There was a tendency everywhere for lighter hues. This taste had already reached high expression in the Marquise de Rambouillet, who astonished everyone with her “Blue Parlour,” which was decorated and draped in the colour of the sky.

It must not be imagined, however, that tapestry was rejected. The magnificent productions of the Gobelins reproducing in their bold colours the pictures of Le Brun, Van der Meulen, and others, made superb wall-decorations for the homes of the wealthy; and those who did not care for the hunting-scenes, war-scenes, mythological subjects, or allegories, could select BÉrain’s fine “arabesques.” We notice, however, some new colours that were extremely popular. These were particularly the yellowish pink hue of dawn, called aurora, flame-colour, flesh-colour, and amaranth, a purplish red such as occurs in the common flowers, Love-lies-bleeding and Prince’s Feather. These colours occur chiefly in the sumptuous brocades and damasks from Lyons, Genoa and Flanders that were used to line the walls, for covering the seats, and draping the great beds.

The influence of Le Brun cannot be over-estimated. All the industries of the day that had any connection with art passed into his control. For at least twenty-five years, he regulated all the types and models, and was the arbiter and judge of the productions. He furnished designs for painters, sculptors, cabinet-makers, weavers, etc., etc. Let us in confirmation of this turn to the Mercure de France for 1692; “Although I have mentioned,” says the writer, “many works, I have forgotten to speak of those large and superb cabinets that they make at the Gobelins from his designs and under his guidance; it would seem that all the arts have contributed something to them. Finally, M. Le Brun is so universal that all the arts work under him, and he even goes so far as to make designs for the locksmith. I have seen very cultivated strangers gazing at the locks and bolts of the doors and windows at Versailles and the Galerie d’Apollon at the Louvre as if they were chefs-d’oeuvre, from whose beauty they could not tear themselves away.”

Colbert’s industrial system was founded upon the idea of useful luxury. Everything in common use had to be beautiful, and the result was that, although the taste was aristocratic, the result upon France was democratic. Silk and velvet, tapestry and rugs, vases of porphyry and porcelain, candelabra and andirons, clocks and articles of silver, rich cabinets and armoires, in fact, all kinds of useful and ornamental articles were soon to be found in middle-class houses as well as in the homes of the wealthy. A great progress was noted in the art of the dyer; the tapestries became brighter, with the famous Gobelin scarlet, Lyons black, Rouen blue, Tours green, the NÎmes yellow, etc.

To appreciate the general luxury of the day, let us recall the magnificent entertainment that Fouquet gave to Louis XIV. at the Castle of Vaux, when “he went so far as to cause to be placed in the room of each courtier of the King’s retinue a purse filled with gold to supply at the play those who had not enough, or none at all;” and the still more remarkable lottery that Cardinal Mazarin held in his palace in 1660 (the year before his death), for the benefit of the courtiers. The prizes given on this occasion consisted of precious stones, jewels, textiles, mirrors, tables, cabinets, and other furniture, crystal candelabra, silverware, gloves, ribbons and fans, valued altogether at half a million.

Again, when Louis received the Siamese Ambassador, he was seated on a throne of silver, and his costume was so heavy with gold and jewels that he was soon forced to remove it.

It was an age of jewels. Travellers brought home from the East many precious stones, particularly diamonds; Tavernier, for instance, made six voyages to India and Persia, and brought diamonds to the King. Chardin, merchant to the King, publishes his voyage to Persia. This contact with the East touches popular fancy, and the Persian, the Turk and the Hindu appear in court-ballets, and their art often inspires the art of the day, as may be noted in some of the arabesques of Jean BÉrain.

The general impression of the Louis XIV. style is that of imposing majesty,—a style that is more appropriate to ceremonial rooms than to familiar living. It is an age of carved and gilded furniture; the period indeed has been called “the triumph of gilded wood.” The carving, however, is entrusted to sculptors who seem to find inspiration in the work of the goldsmiths, for the complicated ornamentation that appears on the frames of chairs sofas, consoles, tables, etc., etc., suggests the chiselling of metal. Dead gold and burnished gold are both used, and the profusion of scrolls, leafy boughs, guilloches, heavy foliage, lozenge-shaped imbrications embossed with flowers in high relief, shells and flowers in high relief, arranged as festoons, garlands, bouquets, and sheaves, not to speak of the acanthus, the mascaron and the cartouche, produce an appearance of luxury and brilliancy that was unknown until the days of Louis XIV.

In the reign of Louis XIV., it was generally understood that every piece of decorative work should consist of a combination of the straight line and the curve. A series of bars interlaced, or ending with scrolls, is a distinguishing characteristic of this period. This combination is found not only in the forms of the furniture, but in the inlays of wood and brass and upon the walls of rooms, both painted and carved.

A feeling of stoutness and width characterizes the mouldings, the hollows of which never refuse to admit light, and these architectural mouldings are usually rich in classic ornaments (palm-leaves, ovolos, etc.). Sometimes the mouldings are replaced by a torus enriched with imbricated laurel-leaves.

The bases and supports of the furniture rest broadly and firmly on the ground. There are broad surfaces and few projections of detailed ornamentation that would cast shadows; the colours are bold and brilliant, the cornices resemble Roman capitals, the straining-rails are, as a rule, heavy and rectangular in section, and, with the exception of armoires and beds, the furniture is not high above the floor. Tables are supported by pilasters, or massive columns.

The characteristic ornamentation of the first period of the Louis XIV. style, which was dominated by Lepautre, is Roman or heroic. The motives are, for the most part, such as would appeal to a warrior or hero. We find trophies of antiquity where the cuirass, surmounted by a helmet, is accompanied by swords, and even by the lictor’s fasces, and sometimes they are heaped up in a mass, suggesting the spoils of war,—such as cuirasses, casques with plumes, shields, fasces, laurel wreaths and clubs. The winged Victory is also omnipresent, and Victories blowing trumpets are used. We also find allegorical figures, mythological divinities, river-gods resting on their urns, great cornucopias much heavier and with wider openings than those of Louis XIII., and heavy garlands, or swags, of fruits and leaves, having much longer and fuller leaves than the Louis XIII. style, and these trails of foliage frequently display a wealth of ample scrolls. The acanthus leaf, which is so popular, becomes very broad, even bloated, and all the other leaves in use are now strong and powerful. The mascaron, typical examples of which are seen on Plate XIV., Nos. 1, 2, and 3, the fleur-de-lis, the double L (the King’s cypher) represented on Plate XVI., Nos. 2 and 4, complete, with the cartouche, the characteristic ornamentation. Upon the latter are displayed the coats-of-arms, the fleur-de-lis and the double L, as represented on the plate just referred to. The cartouche has a strongly rounded and projecting field, and its form is either circular or oval,—a real ellipse (quite different from the egg-shaped oval of Louis XVI.). There is another peculiar decoration, consisting of a strange combination of the scroll and shell; the anthemion,^[11] treated as a shell (see Plate XV., central ornament on No. 2) and the scroll mingled with the foliage of the acanthus.

The second period of the style Louis Quatorze is especially characterized by BÉrain, and is nothing more than an attenuated Louis XIV., which forms a quite natural transition to the style of the Regency.

The swelling curves and the heavy masses of decoration gradually become finer, more delicate and more refined, until at length they merge into the succeeding period.

Another characteristic taste of the day was for the Chinese style. One of the Trianon palaces exhibited in high degree this taste for la chinoiserie in decoration. It was called the palais de porcelaine. Four of its small pavilions were ornamented with plaques of faÏence in imitation of porcelain. The interior was painted also in porcelain. The walls were covered with mirrors and the furniture was extremely sumptuous. The flowers and shrubs were planted in handsome porcelain pots.

One of the distinctive styles of furniture at this period is that made by AndrÉ Charles Boulle (also written Boule and BÜhl). He was the son of Jean and the nephew of Pierre Boulle, both of whom were “menuisiers du roi” and lived in the Louvre. Our Boulle, born in 1642, also lived in the Louvre from 1672 until his death in 1732, and when Louis XIV. established his manufactory at the Gobelins he was made “ÉbÉniste, ciseleur, et marqueteur ordinaire du Roi.”

Boulle’s furniture is exclusively de luxe, or apparat, and only harmonizes with rich surroundings. It consists almost exclusively of consoles, armoires, commodes, cabinets, tables, desks and clock cases,—forms that present large surfaces for the decoration that he carried to such perfection. His designs are very heavy. Occasionally they take the curved, or bombÉ forms. This swelling curve is especially found in the commodes tombeaux (tomb-commodes) and commodes À panse (paunch chests).

Boulle’s furniture was an excuse for decoration, which was carried so far that even the joinings of the panels were lost beneath the clever designs of foliage, flower, or scroll. Many pieces still exist that were merely intended for show (apparat). Yet nothing could be richer than Boulle’s work, with its marquetry of exotic woods, its incrustations of tortoise-shell, its threads of copper or pewter beautifully engraved, its scarlet lines and its splendid gilt mascarons, handles, and bas-reliefs that form a sort of frame for the beautiful marquetry-work. Particularly handsome are the console-tables, upon whose marble slabs should stand rich vases of goldsmith work, jasper or porphyry, perhaps, with gilt mouldings and garlands; and, when these are reflected back by numerous mirrors, the effect is dazzling.

“No one would refuse to admit,” says Havard, “that the architecture is the least remarkable part of the creations of this celebrated artist. His great merit independently of the perfection of the work of his ÉbÉnisterie, must be sought elsewhere. Boulle is a colourist in his art more than a designer. The contours of his furniture are often heavy, and he added nothing new. You may find all the elements in the immense work of Le Brun, the great master of decorative art under Louis XIV. The superiority and the originality of this cabinet-maker consists in the admirable combination of the bronze and the copper with the background of the furniture which he understood how to vary infinitely by the multiplicity of incrustations and mosaics upon the groundwork of oak and chestnut. This was his palette, from which he drew his surprising effects and on which he played with his consummate virtuosity; it is to this that he owes his legitimate renown, greater even in England that it is in France.”

Boulle’s furniture is now highly prized by collectors and brings enormous prices. In 1882, two large armoires by Boulle from the Duke of Hamilton’s collection fetched £12,075 at Christie’s in London. In the famous Jones collection at South Kensington there is an armoire specially noted for its beautiful decoration. Mr. Jones bought it from a house in Carlton Terrace, London, for a small sum many years ago, and it is now valued at £10,000. It is supposed to have been designed by BÉrain and made by Boulle for Louis XIV.

In looking over the French inventories of Louis XIV.’s time, we frequently come across the description of a bed that belongs to an earlier period. It is not surprising that these old beds, with their magnificent hangings that are sometimes described as much faded, or as lacking some of their decorations, should have been valued and bequeathed from generation to generation. In some of the castles, therefore, the beds were historic. Sometimes they had special names by which they were known. For instance, among the valuable beds owned by the Crown was a bed mi-party of embroidered violet velvet and cloth of gold that was known as “lit d’Angleterre,” because the arms of England were embroidered in the centre of the headboard with the device “Honi soit qui mal y pense.” Another bed was anciently called the “lit des satyres,” because upon its draperies were depicted Diana and her nymphs and satyrs. Another was known as the “lit de Melusine,” because that serpent-princess was represented on the headboard as bathing in a fountain. Such beds, belonging to a former age, were frequently to be met with in luxurious and ancient dwellings; yet we cannot associate them with the days of Louis XIV. Nor was the lit en housse abandoned. It is indeed quite frequently found. Even as late as 1708, M. de Leger’s chamber contains a lit en housse (3½ feet wide and 6 feet long) of violet and white damask trimmed with a mixed silk fringe. The four folding-stools in this room were covered with the same. On Plate XV. (No. 1) a transitional bed is shown; this forms a link between the lit en housse of the Louis XIII. period and the lit d’ange of the Louis XIV. period. The latter, also represented on Plate XV., is the characteristic bed of this age, and is the model to be kept in view when reading the descriptions of the beds in the following pages, and the model that should be imitated when arranging a bedroom of this period.

The position of the bed is always “vu de pied,”—standing out in the room.

According to the Dictionnaire de TrÉvoux, a lit d’ange was a bed without pillars or posts, and whose curtains were looped back. To add to this, other authorities say that the ciel, or canopy, while being the same width as the bed, must not be as long. If it covers the entire bed, then it is a lit À la duchesse, and if it lacks a carved or decorative cornice, then it becomes simply a lit À pavillon. Finally, according to Havard, the true difference between a lit d’ange and a “lit vu de pieds” of to-day is not to be determined by the dimensions of the canopy, nor by the arrangement of the curtains or lambrequins, which are the same, but that the foot of the bed is not simply covered by a long courtepointe, or counterpane, but should have the squares of drapery (cantonniÈres), hanging from the mattress repeating the form and trimmings of the upper valance and rest of the bed furniture.

An early lit d’ange recorded occurs in Cardinal Mazarin’s inventory, dated 1653, and is described as a lit d’ange of China gauze on a background of flame-coloured silk, with flowers and syrens in gold. The counterpane and six curtains were of this rich material adorned with gold fringe. The lit d’ange continued in fashion for about a hundred years. It became as popular as the lit en housse had been; and, if we may believe Des mots À la mode, one of the merits of a courtier in 1692 was to “juger en dernier ressort du grand art de retrousser les rideaux d’un lit d’ange.”

The lit d’ange was sometimes as high as 12 feet; but it was generally 11 feet high, 6 feet wide, and nearly 7 feet long. Single beds were about 6 feet long, 6 feet high, and 3 feet wide. They were evidently comfortable, as the average number of mattresses was three, besides a feather-bed, and the bolster was frequently of down. Pillows never seem to have been used on the bed at all. For instance, the furnishings of Madame de Maintenon’s bed were: two woollen mattresses covered with fustian, one feather-bed, one hair-bolster; and, in addition to the sheets, she had a red blanket, a Marseilles quilt, and a wadded white satin quilt, the reverse being of white taffeta. Over the white Marseilles quilt, the crimson damask counterpane was smoothly drawn, and the valance neatly adjusted. Mademoiselle d’Aumale’s bed had three mattresses and a feather-bed and a feather-bolster. She had two white woollen blankets and a white Marseilles quilt.

The various pieces of the bed were valances (upper and lower), cantonniÈres (for definition, see note on page 85), straight curtains called bonnes grÂces, outside curtains, headboard, canopy, posts, and pommes, or knobs. The four-post bedstead has nearly become extinct, and now the beds have but two posts only at the head. These are almost invariably covered with a kind of sheath, or case, made of brocade, silk, or velvet, matching, or contrasting with, the curtains. Taffeta is a favourite material for lining the curtains, and almost every bed is decorated with some kind of braid and fringe, usually gold, or gold and silver mixed. In addition to the beds described in the preceding pages, we may note here other typical beds that would serve as suggestions for the designer of to-day. One is a bed of reddish brown velvet, embroidered with gold, and trimmed with a gold braid and fringe; the valances, headboard, posts, and canopy were of this material, while the three curtains were of a gold, silver, and violet brocade lined with red taffeta. Another was of green and white muslin, trimmed with a woollen braid and fringe of green and white; a third, is a pavilion bed of red and white muslin, trimmed with red and white fringe; and a fourth, a “lit en dome” of striped gauze, the stripes being gold, silver, and flame-colour. The ornamental fringe was a narrow one of gold and silver. The draperies were arranged in seven festoons. The counterpane was also of this striped gauze.

Returning to the lit d’ange, one owned by the King himself is of extraordinary elaborateness, being entirely embroidered on a gold background, with flowers, quivers, cartouches with the arms and cypher of the King, and, moreover, ornamented with gold lace. On the ceiling, there was painted a little picture representing Night; and on the centre of the counterpane, a picture representing Sleep. A heavy gold cord, tied in knots and decorated with tassels, looped back the curtains. The wood at the foot was visible. It was carved in the form of two pillars at the foot representing children on eagles, each carrying on his head a perfume-vase. This frame and all the rest of the visible wood was gilded. The detail (No. 2) on Plate XV. represents the base of a less ornate bed and one of a later period than this of the King. Here there is a feeling that anticipates the coming period of the Regency, although the cloven foot, or hind’s foot has long been familiar, and is of frequent occurrence in Boulle’s work. The mascaron, too, above the foot, is not new, nor is the shell, or anthemion ornament, in the centre. The general effect of the curve is what announces the coming style.

Two beds belonging to Louis XIV. were described in 1718 after his death, and as having been made especially for him. One was À la duchesse (demi ciel), and the other was À l’ImpÉriale (the dome surmounted by a crown). The latter must have been very handsome, as it was of yellow damask, embroidered in silver, the design being foliage, leaves, berries, and seeds. The whole bed was finished with a fringe of amaranth chenille. What a charming combination! yellow and silver with a touch of reddish purple!

In addition to the beds already mentioned the banc À lit sometimes appears.

There were two in Madame de Maintenon’s apartments: one was 5 feet, 10 inches long, and 2 feet, 2 inches wide. This was covered with moquette and furnished with two bolsters and a pavilion of red serge. The other was 3½ feet long and 2½ feet wide. It had a cover of crimson damask and was surmounted by a pavilion of red serge.

In nearly every room of the period, a lit de repos is found. Two varieties of this piece of furniture are shown on Plate VIII. and on Plate XIII., one having but one back and the other, two. It was always richly upholstered and furnished with a round bolster at each end and sometimes with two square cushions as well. Although frequently called chaise longue, this couch is more generally known in France at this period as lit de repos. Toward the end of the reign of Louis XIV. it was placed in the niche, lengthwise of course. Its covering always agreed with the rest of the furnishings of the room; but sometimes we come across one described by itself; as for example, one in 1671 that had a double back, that is to say, a back at each end, like the one from the ChÂteau de Chenonceau on Plate XIII. This was furnished with two round bolsters, two square pillows and two mattresses, all upholstered in a silk brocade of violet, aurora and white, trimmed with a braid of the same colours and a fringe of gold, silver and silk. The wood of the frame was carved and painted violet and white and gold. The slip cover for this beautiful couch was of changeable taffeta, of the hue known as gorge de pigeon.

We may note here that all the sofas, chairs and folding-seats, as well as couches, had separate housses or slip covers that were made as a rule of taffeta. They were used to protect the furniture.

The seats of the period consisted of fauteuils, or arm-chairs, chairs with backs, folding-stools, tabourets, and the sofa, or canapÉ. It is not necessary to describe the court etiquette regarding the ceremonial use of the seats: the details regarding the tabouret would fill a chapter. The fauteuil and the canapÉ were reserved for the highest in rank; the characteristic fauteuil on Plate XIII. consisting of a stuffed seat, a square back, scroll arms partly upholstered, term legs and heavy straining-rails. Modifications of the frame of this chair appear in No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 on the same plate. The canapÉ on Plate XIV. is of the same general form. The frames of the seats, particularly those destined for ball-rooms and other extremely luxurious apartments, were carved and gilt; but many were painted in hues that harmonized with the hangings of the rooms, and picked out with gold, silver, white, or any other required thread of colour. They were always richly upholstered in velvet, damask, brocade or tapestry, as is shown on Plates XIII. and XIV. The materials were fastened to the seats by means of gold or silver-headed nails, as shown in No. 2 and No. 3 on Plate XIII.; and often, too, the nails were above fringe, as shown in the arm-chair on Plate XIII. Sometimes a braid or lace was used to hide the ordinary nails, and sometimes, again, a small lambrequin, or valance surrounded the frame of the seat, nearly reaching to the floor (see Plate XXI., No. 3). The splendid list of chairs at the ChÂteau de Turenne in 1700 gives a very excellent idea of the chairs of the day. They include: fauteuils of crimson velvet trimmed with gold braid and gold fringe; of cloth-of-gold; of violet velvet and of green velvet; many folding-stools; chairs covered with serge, violet cloth, moquette, yellow moquette, black leather, yellow leather, cloth-of-gold with designs of crimson velvet, and chairs painted green and yellow and upholstered in green. We also learn of six folding-stools covered with white satin, embroidered with Chinese figures and trimmed with gold fringe; three fauteuils and three cushions of Flanders brocatelle,—red, aurora and white; twenty-four folding-stools and twelve square cushions of blue velvet embroidered with gold and silver, and two fauteuils, six folding-seats, two square pillows and tabouret of flesh-coloured and silver brocade.

The fringes used for the chairs, stools and beds were very elaborate, and there was an extremely large number of them, in knots, twists, tassels, tufts, headed by plaited and twisted braids of many kinds and known under many names. So many specimens of these have been preserved that one cannot go astray in upholstering any article in the Louis XIV. style.

Towards the close of this period, a new fauteuil makes its appearance. Its back is arched and slightly curved, and its feet end in a carved leaf. This is one of the first indications of the coming style of Louis XV. This is also felt in the curving chair-back that appears on Plate XIII. (No. 4) and on Plate XVIII. (No. 5).

The legs and feet of the chairs are usually cut in the tapering form with four faces, and ornamented with marquetry, paint or gilding. Many of them have straining-rails that intersect in the form of an X, as is shown on Plate XIII.; and these usually carry at their point of intersection a little ornament such as a steeple, or a rose. Some of them have a carved front rail, and others have a wooden moulding below the seat instead of a fringe. The arms nearly always end in the scrolled acanthus, and some of them are padded. Plate XIII. gives several examples.

A piece of furniture that dates from this reign was the Commode, a kind of desk or bureau, containing drawers for the preservation of linen, or clothing or small articles. Its top slab is usually of marble. The Dictionnaire de TrÉvoux says, in 1771, the name was given to it on account of its great commodity. It seems to have been always a very handsome article. Although LittrÉ speaks of it, in 1760, as a “newly invented piece of furniture,” the Inventaire du Garde Meuble of Versailles, in 1700, shows us that the Duc d’OrlÉans had a “bureau de commode” of walnut. This was 3 feet, 5 inches long and 25 inches wide. It contained two drawers with iron rings. Among the Meubles de la Couronne, Versailles (1720–1730), there were two “commodes de marqueterie,” of many-coloured flowers on a background of ebony. Upon the top, the ornament was a vase of flowers standing on the end of a column with festoons of flowers, birds, butterflies and two grotesque masques. Six fleurs-de-lis ornamented the corners and the centre of the sides. In front were three large drawers, and the locks and rings were of gilt bronze. These commodes were 4 feet, 2 inches long, 2 feet, 7 inches wide and 2 feet, 8 inches high. Another “commode” is described as veneered with palissandre (violet-wood) with a marble slab. This was bombÉ in front and contained three drawers, the locks, handles and other ornaments of gilt bronze. Its dimensions were 31 inches high; 3 feet, 8 inches long; and 24 inches wide.

BÉrain and Lepautre designed many commodes of excessive richness, which even the magnificent examples of Boulle, one of which is given on Plate XIV., did not surpass.

The Duchess of Orleans owned a walnut commode 3 feet, 7 inches long, and 2 feet wide, containing three drawers with iron rings. The Duke had a bureau en commode, 3 feet, 5 inches long, and 25 inches wide, containing two large drawers with iron rings.

Madame de Gaudry (1708) had an oak bureau containing three drawers with iron rings. It was 3 feet, 4 inches long, and 2 feet, 1 inch wide. It was covered with a leather carpet lined with green serge. She also had a pine bureau containing two large drawers with copper rings. This measured 3 feet, 3 inches by 26 inches. A red leather carpet lined with red serge covered it.

Madame de Maintenon owned a veneered walnut bureau inlaid with threads of ebony. It had seven drawers on each side with copper gilt key-plates. This piece was 5 feet long and 2½ feet wide, supported by eight small columns. It was covered with a carpet of red velvet bordered with a narrow gold braid.

The Duchess of Orleans had a walnut table in the form of a bureau with two large drawers. It was 3 feet, 4 inches long and 25 inches wide. There were two covers for it: one of red leather and the other of red damask and gold moirÉ. Both covers were trimmed with gold braid and gold fringe.

The dressing-table as a separate piece of furniture seems to have been unknown. All the contemporary illustrations of ladies at their toilettes show them seated before a rather low table which is covered with a cloth, sweeping the floor, over which is spread another cloth probably of linen or leather. Upon it stand a small mirror and all the vases, pots, cushions, and small articles for paint, patches and perfumes. Sometimes the dressing-table was arranged like the one on Plate XXIII., No. 1, or again a commode, or table with drawers, was placed under a mirror, as shown in No. 3 and Nos. 5 and 8, also on Plate XXIII.

The handsomest tables of the day were of marquetry, ornamented with mascarons, or of carved and gilded wood. Many of them have the hind’s foot, or the term leg, and are connected with straining-rails. However, tables were also made of violet-wood, walnut, pine, cherry, or other woods, with simple turned feet. These were always covered with a carpet, or cloth, that matched the hangings of the room. The card-tables were sometimes three-cornered and sometimes cut into five faces. The guÉridon, the shape of which was a stem, bearing a small round top and ending in three feet, was often used for cards. Typical tables are shown on Plates XIII and XVI.

Madame de Maintenon’s tables included two tables of violet wood each 2 feet, 8 inches long, by 2 feet wide. Their covers were black velvet trimmed with gold braid. She also had a little table of cherry, 2 feet, 3 inches long, and 17½ inches wide, with a drawer and compartments. It was inlaid with ebony in a design of lozenges and foliage and stood on four term-shaped pillars. The Duke of Orleans had a walnut table inlaid with ebony. It stood on four twisted legs and contained a drawer. The dimensions were 2 feet, 11 inches long, by 23 inches wide.

The console is somewhat squarer than that of the former period, and stands frequently with its back against a pier glass. The slab is of marble and sometimes of rich mosaic. The hind’s feet here give place to the termed legs, which are joined by straining-rails. Some of them have eight feet, that is to say, four double feet.

Another form of the console is shown on Plate XVI., No. 1, the leg of which appears also on Plate XVI. as No. 4. This is decorated with the ram’s head, heavy swags of flowers, the cartouche with the double L and the woman’s head. The curved scroll under the slab proclaims the advent of the new style.

Cabinets, desks and armoires were sumptuous. A typical marquetry desk, 3 feet, 10 inches long, and 2 feet, 4 inches wide, inlaid with many coloured woods on a background of ebony, contained seven drawers and a door on which a fleur-de-lis was represented. The drawers were furnished with gilt bronze key-plates. On the top of the desk, the design was a vase of flowers, foliage, birds and butterflies, all surrounded by a border of marquetry between two bands of violet wood and threads of white. Each desk stood on eight termed pillars with capitals and feet of gilt wood.

A marquetry cabinet inlaid with bright flowers on ebony and ornamented with bands of violet-wood and white was composed of two sections, each having three doors with gilt copper locks.

The Duchess of Orleans owned a cabinet of marquetry in two parts, containing three wings and three drawers of marquetry of copper and pewter on ebony, enriched with columns, pilasters, squares, bands and pyramids of lapis; in the centre of each of the three wings were masques of men and women in copper-gilt carrying on their heads baskets of flowers and fruits, also copper-gilt. The feet were four consoles; on the two central ones were two children of gilded wood, and on the straining-rail a little child holding a blue shield in a cartouche of gilded wood. The dimensions of the whole were 5 feet, 4 inches long, 18 inches deep, and 4 feet, 3 inches high.

The favourite clock is Boulle’s. It stands on the mantel-piece, or upon a pedestal, or term. The tall clock in the long pedestal-shaped box was also in use.

Some of the frames of the clocks follow the designs shown on Plate XVII., Nos. 2 and 3.

The pedestal that Boulle makes for his clocks have almost an architectural form; they are like a kind of small pavilion, at the top of which is the dial. The legs are most frequently formed by a scroll of foliage terminating in a clawed paw. The subject on top is usually Time with his scythe, or some mythological symbol.

On Plate XVI., No. 3, is shown a portion of a console d’applique of carved wood painted in gray cÉladon, dating from the end of the Louis XIV. period, the two scroll feet joined by a stretcher, the side supports swelling into the bust and head, the front curved rail having in the centre a cartouche with a woman’s head enclosed with the skeleton C (a broken scroll freely used later), and the acanthus. The head at the side supports is adorned with plumes and flowers.

The screen is met with in nearly every room. Sometimes it consists of several leaves, and again it is in the form shown on Plate XVII. Sometimes the tapestry, or the leather, or damask, or whatever material is used for the covering, is garnished with gold braid and fringe, or it is tacked to the frame by means of gold nails, as shown in the above example.

The mirror is far more generally used than in the former reign. It is seen in every home and in every room. Its frame is carved and gilded and in a variety of designs. A characteristic example is shown on Plate XIII.

We may know what furniture was considered necessary for a room by the following information from inventories between 1675 and 1700: One set of furniture consisted of a bed, four fauteuils, twenty-eight folding-stools, a screen and a table-carpet of embroidery on a gold background depicting the history of Moses.

Another set consisted of a bed, three fauteuils, eight folding-stools, two table-carpets, two cushions, a screen, a daÏs and wall-hangings. The material for these decorations was velvet branches of bright amaranth on a silver background, combined with another material of cloth-of-silver with little flowers of amaranth. The bed, which was 6½ feet long and 7½ feet high, comprised three valances, four curtains, four cantonniÈres^[12] and three lower valances, all of the velvet; while the three outside valances, the sheaths for the two bed-posts, and the couverture de parade, and the linings of the curtains, were of the cloth of silver with amaranth flowers. The whole bed was trimmed with gold and silver braid, and on the top of the canopy were four pommes with bunches of mixed feathers, probably white and amaranth.

Another set of furniture was of red satin and white taffeta in squares, and ornamented with gold braid and gold fringe. The pieces comprised a bed, three fauteuils, twelve folding-stools, a table-carpet, a screen and a square cushion. The bed was 7 feet high and 6 feet wide; its three valances, four cantonniÈres and three lower valances were of the red and white taffeta embroidered with gold, while its four curtains, head-board, interior hangings and two posts were covered with gold brocade.

We also learn of a set comprising a bed, three fauteuils, six chairs with backs, twelve folding-stools, a daÏs and a chaise de commoditÉ of blue velvet, ornamented with gold and silver braid and fringe.

Another set was of white damask trimmed with fringes of gold, silver and green silk; another was of white damask and gold; and another set consisting of a bed, eleven folding-seats and four fauteuils, was of Spanish leather, cut out, embroidered and edged with black, and laid on blue damask. The carpet for the table and the two square cushions were of the same.

In many rooms of the day, the alcove occurs. It was introduced from Spain, and took its name from the Spanish alcoba and the Arabic Al Koba, the tent, or the place where one sleeps, or rests. It was made fashionable by its appearance in the HÔtel de Rambouillet, and, of course, the home of every PrÉcieuse had to have one. Fouquet had rooms with alcoves at his ChÂteau de Vaux and when “La grande Mademoiselle” took refuge at her ChÂteau de Saint-Fargeau, during the troubles of La Fronde, she at once conformed to the taste of the day. “On the very day” (of her arrival) she writes: “I wished to change the chimney-pieces and doors and to make an alcove.”

The alcove became so fashionable that it soon supplanted the ruelle; and the “coureurs de ruelles” were known thenceforward as “coquets d’alcÔvistes.”

But what they called alcove in the Seventeenth was not what they called alcove in the Eighteenth Century. At first, it was a part of the room set apart from the rest by a railing or some columns of architectural pretensions. In 1684, in the État du mobilier de la couronne there is mentioned an alcove balustrade of chiselled silver of fabulous price.

The alcove was in reality a little room within a large room and here the bed and chairs for guests were placed.

Typical and luxurious alcoves are shown in the designs by Marot and Lepautre.

Fouquet had an alcove hung with crimson satin enriched with gold embroidery. At President Tubeuf’s the hangings of the alcove were ornamented with bands of black velvet alternating with bands of English tapestry. MoliÈre’s was hung with red taffeta garnished with fringe and tassels of aurora silk.

Madame de Maintenon’s apartments at Versailles, in 1708, consisted of the first antechamber, the second antechamber, the chamber, the “garde-robe” behind the bed, the “grand cabinet upon the arcade,” and “garde-robe en suite.”

The walls of the first antechamber were hung with red damask of small pattern trimmed with Venetian brocatelle of white background ornamented with red and green branches and flowers of various colours. These same materials filled the space over the chimney-piece. Twelve chairs with backs of turned walnut wood were covered with tapestry on which birds figured. The couch was covered with the same material and was furnished with a pavilion of red serge. A small table was covered by a green cloth trimmed with green silk fringe. The window curtain was white cotton.

The second antechamber was hung with crimson damask, ornamented with gold braid and gold fringe. The portiÈres of the same, and lined with red taffeta, were 2½ ells long, and comprised four lengths each. The seats were six fauteuils, six large folding-stools and two small folding-stools. The frames were painted red picked out with gold. The two little stools were upholstered in red velvet garnished with gold and silver fringe. The other seats were covered with red damask, ornamented with gold fringe. The couch in this room was covered with crimson damask, trimmed with gold braid and fringe, and overhung by a pavilion of red serge. A pine desk was covered with a piece of red damask, trimmed with gold braid and fringe. The one window curtain consisted of four lengths of red taffeta (3 ells long), bordered with a narrow gold braid.

PLATE XVI