French Periods 18-35 Flashcards
How did the Petit Trianon embody a reaction to the Rococo style that preceded it?
It’s rooms were square and rectangular, no rounded corners, flat ceilings, no coves.
What drove the neoclassical style decisions? Describe.
Restrained expression. It returns to the symmetry, formality and classical order of the Renaissance Regency Baroque and lightness from rococo.
By the time of Louis XVI, who was the occupant of Trianon?
Marie Antoinette
Describe the furniture of the directoire style and from what circumstances didn’t derive its inspiration?
-severe and angular -still classical in form -guilt bronze enrichments were curtailed ***political unrest and abolition of artisans and Craftsmans guild
The French interior design followed the dictation of the king, what new design features appeared in the hotel particulier?
-Open space at both front and back -contrived appearance of symmetry
What was a master ebenistes?
A group of artisans to join solid wood furniture and who applied veneers and Marquetry
How did the chair of Henri II differ from the chair of Francois I?
Francois - medieval, massive square objects with storage compartments
Henri - lightened, storage abandoned. Legs joined with a stretcher
What was the evolution of the structures at the time of Louis XIV?
Was created to accommodate the fashion of women in hoopskirts.
What is a tester?
Bed drapery hanging from four wood pillars.
Describe the French table leg from the Baroque period through neoclassicism
Baroque - legs braced by X-shaped structures
Neoclassicism - newly restrained classicism
What was a console?
A table that is fixed to the wall and supported by only two legs.
At what time did one begin to see the emergence of some sort of dining table?
Neoclassical
What was a bombe and bureau?
Bombe - undulating form, concave, then convex, then concave again.
Bureau - forerunner of our desk, writing table.
Name one piece of French furniture not incorporated some type of mechanism?
Cylinder-front desk
What was gilding and ormolu?
Gilding - Application of a gold color finished to materials.
Ormolu - ground gold, creation of an amalgam of gold and mercury. Mercury evaporates under heat.
