PLATE XLV
The forms, colours, and styles of the beds in use during the Louis XVI. period may be gathered from the following list: lit à housse, crimson velvet, trimmed and embroidered with gold, Maréchal Duc d’Estrées, 1771; lit à la polonaise, blue damask and moiré, Boucher (the painter), 1771; lit à housse, green damask, Madame Favart, 1772; bed of embroidered muslin, the Duc de Bouillon, 1772; lit de Perse, white background with various cut-out decorations, Duchesse de Brissac, 1773; bed of Indian damask, Chevalier d’Hestin, 1775; crimson velvet with gold braid, Duke of Saint-Aignan, 1776; yellow satin embroidered with gold flowers, Marquise de Courcillon, 1777; Indian damask, Mme. le president Talon, 1779; bright yellow damask (worth 24,000 livres), unknown, 1779; crimson damask, Marquise de Saint Georges, 1779; and crimson and white moiré, la Comtesse de Bérulle, 1779. In 1780, crimson seems to be the favourite hue, but there are also fine beds of blue and white damask, crimson and white brocade, and yellow damask, and in 1781–1782, yellow and white damask, green damask, blue damask, blue and white watered silk, blue and white brocade, Persian, tapestry and blue satin embroidered with gold and silk. Yellow camlet and damask in three colours occur in 1784, and in 1787 Oriental stuffs and imitations of them are the rage. In 1787, the Marquis de Ménars had a beautiful bed of embroidered blue moiré; the Duc d’Orléans, a lit à la duchesse of flowered silver velvet, trimmed with gold braid and fringes; and the financier, Beaujon, a large canopy bed hung with Gobelin tapestries.
In addition to these, we may call attention to the following folding-beds: a “lit d’ante-chambre in the form of a secretary” was offered at the sale of the Marquise de Vigean’s effects in 1783; and at the sale of Mme. Le Gros’s articles in 1784 “a bed of crimson damask enclosed in an armoire en secrétaire.” A French newspaper also offered for sale in 1785 “a pretty bed enclosed in a secretary made of mahogany with trimmings of gilded or moulu, 7 feet high and 3½ feet wide, proper for both city and country”; and four years earlier a “bed in the form of a commode and garnished with copper” was also offered for sale.
The lower drawing on Plate [XLIV.] represents a lit de repos, or “causerie,” such as was used at Trianon. The wood is walnut, gilded all over. A carved garland of flowers decorated the top of the head and foot-board, and the grooved columns are surmounted by a carved pineapple. The drapery is a light Florentine silk, green in hue, trimmed with cords and tassels and fringe of white, green and pink.
The bed on Plate [XLV.] is from a water-colour design by Rousseau de la Rottière.
The window-curtains and draperies have also changed, to be in sympathy with the furniture. They are far more studied than ever before, and it is the cutter whose abilities are required rather than the graceful draper. Every bit of material must count, and the shape is determined upon by the scissors. The straight line is insisted upon, and festoon, scarf and lambrequin are combined in a precise and formal manner. When a lambrequin is cut in denticulated ornaments, sometimes the teeth end in a point, and sometimes they are rounded. The cantonnière has entirely disappeared, and the scarf is now an obligatory accompaniment to bed curtains and window-curtains. The curtains are heavily wadded and lined, and beneath them thin muslin or taffeta curtains hang. The draperies are trimmed with braids, cords, fringes, small bell-shaped balls, and long or short but rather slender tassels.
Gilded and lacquered cornices are used, and cornices of white and gilt whose flowers and other ornaments are painted in appropriate colours. The latter style was known as camaïeux. On Plate [XLIV.], Nos. 3 and 4, specimen cornices with the correct drapery are shown. The central ornament of each is a composition of garlands, quivers and burning torches. Another arrangement of window drapery appears in Plate [XLIII.]
The lyre clock (No. 3, Plate [XLVII.]), and the screen (No. 4, Plate [XLVIII.]), are also typical examples.
The commode becomes more popular than ever. The bombé commode of the preceding reign is succeeded by a piece of furniture in which the straight line predominates, and which usually stands on grooved feet. Some commodes have doors and others long drawers, with two simple handles on either side of the key-plate. When five drawers are placed one above the other, the feet naturally become lower than those of the Louis XV. period. Commodes were made of plain mahogany, amaranth and violet-wood. Marquetry work gradually yielded to plain panels bordered with a delicately chased bronze moulding, and the top was covered with a marble slab. Doors and drawers, however, were sometimes ornamented with inlays of flowers or trophies in the centre of the panel. Very few lacquered commodes were made. The commode on Plate [XLVIII.] is a transitional piece by Riesener. It is of marquetry, ornamented with chased gilt bronze mounts. The legs show the Louis XV. influence. Above it, on the same Plate, is another piece that retains sympathy with the former period. This is a “demi-toilette.” Its curving hind’s feet are ornamented with a bronze gilt acanthus, and delicate metal-work decorates the moulding above the three drawers. (See detail No. 5).