In the 18th century, the decorative arts emerged as a major art form. New styles and uses proliferated, skills were perfected and the number of connoisseurs and collectors grew, all at the frenetic pace of ever-changing tastes. This unprecedented development was the result of a refi ned art of living that made the decorative arts its preferred means of expression. Craftsmen, merchants, and collectors all sought perfection in line, richness of material and originality of design, giving rise to the creation of outstanding masterpieces.
Founded in 1972, Galerie Léage specialises in museum-quality eighteenth-century furniture and objets d’art. Its collection is world-renowned for the rarity and historical interest of its pieces. Since 2020, the gallery has regularly published Interludes, newsletters on a variety of subjects, often illustrated with works from its collection, in order to share its love of this period with as many people as possible. Now gathered together in this book, they reveal the many artistic, social and historical infl uences that shaped the decorative arts of the period.
Sommaire
INTRODUCTION
French art de vivre
SOPHISTICATION
THE MAGNIFICENCE OF RESIDENCES
Châteaux
The Château de Versailles
The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
The Château de Rambouillet
The Château de Bellevue
The Petit Trianon
The royal family at the Tuileries
The Château du Marais
Aristocratic neighbourhoods
The Faubourg Saint-Honoré
The Marais district
The Faubourg Saint-Germain
INTERIOR DECORATION, A TOTAL ART
Grand decors
Colour in the 18th century
Bestiary decor
Indoor flowers
AESTHETES AND THEIR TASTE
The trendsetters
The Comte de Toulouse
The Duc de Penthièvre
The Marquise de Pompadour
Madame du Barry
Marc-Antoine Thierry de Ville-d’Avray
The Comte d’Artois
Marie-Antoinette
A history of taste
The Louis XIV taste
The French Régence
The Louis XV taste
The Louis XVI taste
EXCELLENCE
THE CREATIVE LAIR
Trades and workshops
Parisian carpenters and cabinetmakers
Painters-gilders of the Garde-Meuble
Clock manufacturers and merchants
Marchands merciers
Thomas-Joachim Hébert
Lazare Duvaux
Simon-Philippe Poirier
Dominique Daguerre
Manufactories
The royal manufactories
The Gobelins manufactory
The Chantilly manufactory
The Sèvres manufactory
INTELLIGENCE OF THE HAND
Cabinetmakers
André-Charles Boulle
Charles Cressent
Mathieu Criaerd
Bernard II Van Riesenburgh
Jean-François OEben
Pierre Garnier
Roger Vandercruse
Jean-Henri Riesener
Bernard Molitor
Carpenters
The Tilliards
Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené
Georges Jacob
Draughtsmen
From design to realisation
Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier
Jean-Charles Delafosse
Tabletiers
Tabletiers
Compigné
Bronzemakers
Jacques and Philippe Caffieri
Pierre Gouthière
François Rémond
REFINEMENT
The art of writing
Gambling and social games
GALLANTRY
Love in the 18th century
Mythology in the decorative arts
PRECIOUS MATERIALS
Wood
Exotic woods
Mahogany
Satinwood
Stone
Marble
Hardstone
Metal
Gilt bronze
Steel furniture
Silver furniture
Toleware
Glass
Crystal
Églomisé glass
Fabrics
Furnishing fabrics
EXOTIC MATERIALS AND DECORS
A taste of Asia
Trade between France and Asia
Asian lacquerware
Chinese and Japanese porcelain
Mounted Asian porcelain
French varnish
A taste of the Orient
Turquerie
Egyptomania
A taste for antiquity
The Greek style
The Etruscan style
COMFORT
LUXURY AND SOCIABILITY
Table arts
Animals in daily life
Heat and light
Lighting in the 18th century
Mirrors
Wintertime in the 18th century
The fireplace
Sitting
The art of the chair
À châssis chairs
Luxury
Mechanical furniture
A travel secretary
PRIVATE LIFE AND INTIMACY
Private anterooms and boudoirs
Beds and daybeds
Dressing rituals in the 18th century
CONCLUSION
The 18th-century style today
APPENDIX
Bibliography
