Baroque and Rococo Furniture

In the middle of XVI century, following the Counter-Reformation, is the Baroque synonymous with seduction, movement, redundancy, oddity due to sprains made to classical art. In XVII century, the Baroque furniture, which is characterized by an excess of decoration at the expense of the purity of form, translated the tastes ostentatious of the wealthy families in different countries of Europe; Lords and bourgeois merely a furnishings more modest.

France is dependent on the creations of its neighbors during first half the XVII century, especially for closets, a surprisingly rich, sort of palace a miniature with panels of ebony carved, inlaid with precious stones, ivory, tortoiseshell. Filming in twisted column, but also baluster or rosary, is widely used for chairs and tables.

Andre Charles Boulle, convenient

But in the style of Louis XIV With the creation, the Gobelins, the Royal Manufacture of furniture of the Crown, led by painter Le Brun, and the workshop of the renowned cabinetmaker Andre Charles Boulle, France, after having assimilated the Italian example, sets the tone for the rest of Europe: Vigor and exuberance of the design, use of different techniques and materials rich and colorful, marquetry exotic woods and of tortoiseshell, copper and tin, in the style of Boulle, sculpture gold leaf, furniture sterling silver Trays, marble or inlaid stones, not to mention the rich silks of Lyon for upholstery.

Whereas in France it comes to style rock, corresponding to the Regency and Louis XV, abroad we use the term "rococo". These styles evoke both a decoration with rounded forms, inspired by shells and rocks of artificial caves, compounded of chinoiserie : sinuous curves, garlands floral, palms, cartridges asymmetric, female masks, winged dragons. This decor whimsical, more graphic than volume, is performed on furniture with shapes curved and feet in console : gilt bronze or sculpture painting or inlay of precious woods, not to mention the paint imported from China in the form of panels and imitated by the varnishes Europeans.

Great cabinetmakers such as Pietro Piffetti Turin, brothers Spindler and Hoppenhaupt in Berlin, Thomas Chippendale in London, Charles Cressent, Van Risen Burgh, Antoine Robert Gaudreau, Jean -François Been to Paris create furniture greatly appreciated their time, as they are still ours.

If, in the royal and princely taste for pomp did not disappear, which explains the scenery sometimes lush, there are also made furniture for more private rooms or homes more modest, in which predominates sake of simplicity and comfort.