Wednesday, September 8

The difference between Louis XV and Louis XVI chairs: Part 2

Hopefully now you can identify a Louis XV chair...but wouldn't help to have something to compare it to? Say...a Louis XVI chair?

Louis XVI (sixteenth)

Furniture designed between 1760 and 1789 is known as Neoclassic or Louis XVI. (note: the term neoclassic can be used to describe many styles of furniture across many different countries). Just as a refresher, this was the era of Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution.
One of the defining characteristics of a Louis XVI chair is the delicate tapered fluted leg (this is where the neoclassic tag comes in: the fluted leg is reminiscent of the fluting found on Greek and Roman columns).  Below is a Dransfield & Ross chair incorrectly named as a Louis XV chair, note the leg shape. 
Other defining characteristics of Louis XVI furniture is the use of rosettes, wreaths, and generally simple decoration (when compared to Rococo pieces).


1 comment:

allie said...

this is where my obsession lies: xv and xvi. if i have a 1400 sq ft house, is 3 too many? i think not! now, if I could only get a xvi chaise for a one-day-in-the-future nursery... magnifique!

i am LOVING your little chair educational blurbs, keep it coming!

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