The commode was universally used in the bedrooms and boudoirs. It generally stood opposite the mantel-piece. It is now a superb piece of furniture, being, as a rule, richly decorated with gilt bronze or moulu and often painted and lacquered in the Chinese taste,—in Vernis Martin. It was the famous Cressent who made the Commode à la Régence, à la Chartres, à la Bagnolet, à la Charolais, à la Harant and à la Dauphine fashionable. One of Cressent’s commodes, sold in 1761, was thus described by himself: “A commode of a pleasing contour, made of violet-wood, having four drawers and ornamented with bronze gilt, or moulu. This commode is a work (with regard to the bronzes) of an extraordinary richness; they are very well executed and the distribution of them very fine; among other things, you notice the bust of a Spanish woman placed between the four drawers; two dragons, whose tails turned up in relief form the handles for the two upper drawers, and the stems of two great leaves of a beautiful form are also turned up in relief to make handles for the two lower ones: you must admit that this commode is a veritable curiosity.”
Another of Cressent’s commodes owned by the Baron Rothschild in London “is of a most elegant form upon which the bronzes of an extraordinary richness represent, on the front, two children swinging a monkey.” Jean Jacques Caffieri also made superb commodes. One of his, ornamented with superb bronzes in the rocaille style, is in the Wallace Collection which also owns a commode by Cressent. Sometimes the commode was ornamented with panels of rosewood, or violet-wood, or some other exotic product, framed in spiky bronze work, or again, it was of lacquer, the designs being flowers, leaves, Chinese pagodas and landscapes.
Two commodes are represented on Plate [XXXV.] The lower one is made of violet-wood with ornaments of chiselled copper, Nos. 2a and 2b show the handles and the end of another by Pinaud. This dates from 1750. The decorative details are of gilt copper and show the mascaron and gracefully twining leaves. The handles and key-plates are hidden by the ornaments. The key-plates of the two drawers are different, as will be noted. On the upper one, a woman’s head is represented, while the lower one has a fine shell. The third ornament below these is a shell with the favourite device of dripping water. A commode dressing-table appears as No. 12 on Plate [XXXVI.] The foot of a chest-of-drawers with beautiful ornamentation of chased and gilded copper, is on the same plate, No. 11. At this date the Cabinet de toilette is often called the Cabinet à la Poudre, the name not needing a definition when we recall the numerous pictures and caricatures of the fashionable lady seated before her glass, with her coiffeur, or femme de chambre, mounted on a stool, or ladder, busy working on the towering headdress. The toilet table was a commode or a simple table spread with linen, silk, or lace over silk, and above which was hung a glass. Frequently lace, muslin, chintz, or silk, was looped over the table and caught back by knots of ribbon, artificial flowers, or gilded figures of Cupids, or dolphins, or some favourite device of the day. The small chiffonnier with drawers, made of marquetry, or Vernis Martin, and ornamented with gilt bronze or moulu mounts, dates from this period.
The armoire is still in use. In 1760, we hear of the lower part of a large armoire in the form of a bookcase, of violet-wood veneered in mosaics. It was 7½ feet long, 4 feet high, and 26 inches deep. The interior was divided into three compartments and a long shelf covered with crimson watered silk. In front were three doors, the middle one of which was enriched with a large medallion, bronze gilt or moulu, representing Minerva holding in her right hand a compass with which she is measuring a globe, on a background of lapis lazuli painted. The other doors were decorated with trophies in bronze gilt or moulu representing mathematical instruments. On the ends were cartouches of bronze gilt or moulu of various Chinese plants. The bookcase was ornamented with hasps and mouldings also of bronze gilt or moulu and stood on six feet, the four front ones being square and the two in the back round.
The form is still in use. In 1750, the archives of Versailles mention: “seven formes de moquette with coloured flowers on a white background, 5 or 6 feet long, and from 2 to 4 feet, by 18 inches high, and 15 inches wide, nailed with gilded nails, to serve the Queen at the grand couvert.”
These were also known as banquettes as early as 1732. In 1770, there is mention for the service of the King, of “nine banquettes covered with crimson plush 6 feet long and 17 inches wide to be used at the grand couvert” also, in the same year, to serve in the Salle de spectacle amphithéâtre, four banquettes each having two elbows, covered with blue velvet garnished with gold braid nailed on with gilt nails, the wood painted blue picked out with gold.
The frames of the chairs and arm-chairs of this period were not only carved and gilt, but were painted or lacquered as well. Sometimes one colour only was used, which was brightened by threads of gold, or white, or some gay hue harmonizing, or contrasting, with the upholstery. Sometimes the wood was painted in several colours, and often, too, another kind of painting, known as camaïeux,[[18]] was used. Simpler arm-chairs, and chairs that were met with in the drawing-room were of natural oak, or beech, polished with an encaustic. In the same room with the large arm-chairs smaller ones are often found. These were known as cabriolets, probably owing to the ease by which they were moved about, as well as to their shape. In general design, the cabriolet was like the large arm-chair, but it was even more curved, more arched, and more exaggerated than its parent. The elbows too were more wavy and were always of a most graceful sweep. At the beginning of this period, the back was of the form of a violin, but later the medallion form became more popular. The upholsterers studied the proportions of the smaller chair as they did the large one, and gave the seats less thickness and a more square, or a rounder effect, according to the form and proportions of the seat and back, as well as the curves of the whole frame. The small arm-chair was placed in front of, or at the side of, one of the great arm-chairs in the drawing-room or boudoir. The cabriolet had to agree with its large companion either in its frame, or else its covering had to be of the same material.
PLATE XXXVI
The arm-chair (fauteuil) is represented on Plate No. [XIII.]