Furnishing the Home of Good Taste | Page 8

II lasted about seventy-five years, and corresponds with the
Elizabethan period in England.
During the regency of Marie de Medici, Flemish influence became very
strong, as she invited Rubens to Paris to decorate the Luxembourg.
There were also many Italians called to do the work, and as Rubens had
studied in Italy, Italian influence was not lacking.
Degeneracy began during the reign of Henry IV, as ornament became
meaningless and consistency of decoration was lost in a maze of
superfluous design.
It was in the reign of Louis XIII that furniture for the first time became
really comfortable, and if one examines the engravings of Abraham
Bosse one will see that the rooms have an air of homelikeness as well
as richness. The characteristic chair of the period was short in the back
and square in shape--it was usually covered with leather or tapestry,
fastened to the chair with large brass nails, and the back and seat often
had a fringe. A set of chairs usually consisted of arm-chairs, plain
chairs, folding stools and a lit-de-repos. Many of the arm-chairs were
entirely covered with velvet or tapestry, or, if the woodwork showed, it
was stained to harmonize with the covering on the seat and back.
The twisted columns used in chairs, bedposts, etc., were borrowed from
Italy and were very popular. Another shape often used for chair legs
was the X that shows Flemish influence. The lit-de-repos, or
chaise-longue, was a seat about six feet long, sometimes with arms and
sometimes not, and with a mattress and bolster. The beds were very
elaborate and very important in the scheme of decoration, as the ladies
of the time held receptions in their bedrooms and the king and nobles
gave audiences to their subjects while in bed. These latter were
therefore necessarily furnished with splendor. The woodwork was

usually covered with the same material as the curtains, or stained to
harmonize. The canopy never reached to the ceiling but was, from floor
to top, about 7 ft. 3 in. high, and the bed was 6-1/2 ft. square. The
curtains were arranged on rods and pulleys, and when closed this "_lit
en housse" looked like a huge square box. The counterpane, or
"coverture de parade_," was of the curtain material. The four corners of
the canopy were decorated with bunches of plumes or panache, or with
a carved wooden ornament called pomme, or with a "bouquet" of silk.
The beds were covered with rich stuffs, like tapestry, silk, satin, velvet,
cloth-of-gold and silver, etc., all of which were embroidered or
trimmed with gold or silver lace. One of the features of a Louis XIII
room was the tapestry and hangings. A certain look of dignity was
given to the rooms by the general square and heavy outlines of the
furniture and the huge chimney-pieces.
The taste for cabinets kept up and the cabinets and presses were large,
sometimes divided into two parts, sometimes with doors, sometimes
with open frame underneath. The tables were richly carved and gilded,
often ornamented with bronze and copper. The cartouche was used a
great deal in decoration, with a curved surface. This rounded form
appears in the posts used in various kinds of furniture. When rectangles
were used they were always broader than high. The garlands of fruit
were heavy, the cornucopias were slender, with an astonishing amount
of fruit pouring from them, and the work was done in rather low relief.
Carved and gilded mirrors were introduced by the Italians as were also
sconces and glass chandeliers. It was a time of great magnificence, and
shadowed forth the coming glory of Louis XIV. It seems a style well
suited to large dining-rooms and libraries in modern houses of
importance.

Louis XIV
It is often a really difficult matter to decide the exact boundary lines
between one period and another, for the new style shows its beginnings
before the old one is passed, and the old style still appears during the
early years of the new one. It is an overlapping process and the years of

transition are ones of great interest. As one period follows another it
usually shows a reaction from the previous one; a somber period is
followed by a gay one; the excess of ornament in one is followed by
restraint in the next. It is the same law that makes us want cake when
we have had too much bread and butter.
The world has changed so much since the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries that it seems almost impossible that we should ever again
have great periods of decoration like those of Louis XIV, Louis XV and
Louis XVI. Then the monarch was supreme. "L'état c'est moi," said
Louis XIV, and it was true. He established the great Gobelin works on
a basis that