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French Furniture Styles

Louis-Philippe  (1830-1848)

This style, devised for a busy but coddled bourgeoisie, sought both to satisfy their desire for comfort and to give them a sense of social legitimacy.  It was less preoccupied with originality than it was with comfort and new techniques of production.

Furniture: Forms grew heavy.  Chars and settees were comfortable, solid and massive. Gueridon tables proliferated, with round or oval tops on a central support of the baluster type or a swollen bulb in the middle; most had tilt tops. Armoires become essential furnishing in every bedroom.

 

Materials and techniques: Dark woods became fashionable: mahogany, ebony and walnut. Brass fittings were rare. Marble tops were gray, black or white.

Ornament: Moldings virtually disappeared; decorative motifs were few, due to machine-assisted production methods. 

Source: French Furniture by Sylvie Chadenet

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