Riesener and Gouthière
No. 131. Detail of Cornice. Louis XVI.
The most familiar names associated with the wood-work at the Louis XVI period are Riesener and Gouthière. Riesener is famous for his furniture, and Gouthière for the highly finished chased mounts with which this furniture was decorated.
No. 132. Arm-chair covered with Beauvais Tapestry. Louis XVI.
Interior woodwork was generally of oak, painted white. Pilasters were used, and were either carved or painted in colours. Mouldings were frequently gilt.
Chairs and sofas were, in many instances, painted white and partly gilt. They were upholstered in silk or Beauvais tapestry, the designs of which were in panel form specially made for the purpose.
Cabinets, tables and other pieces of furniture were often exquisitely inlaid with various woods, tulip, rosewood, pear, holly and ebony were the most common, and Sèvres porcelain placques and gilt metal mounts were also used to embellish them.
No. 133. Carved Oak Panel. Louis XVI.
Furniture supports, such as table and chair legs, were straight, tapered and fluted, with husks in the hollows of the flutes.
Among the decorative details were torches, quivers and other emblems, trophies, musical instruments, bouquets and festoons of flowers, and ribbons with peculiarly square and crisp folds. The laurel leaf was much used in borders, festoons and wreaths.
The style of the Louis XVI period was more severe than the preceding one, and was, in fact, a reaction from the flippancy which characterised the reign of Louis XV. There was a tendency to return to more classic forms, which prepared the way for the still more austere Empire phase which was deliberately based on the Roman and Greek styles.