Louis XV style


Louis XV style


The true Louis XV rococo style occupies the middle years of that king’s reign and is arguably furniture’s richest period. The finest aristocratic homes had winter and summer sets of curving furniture, elegantly made from up to 50 types of wood that were carved and ornamented to the highest standards with metalwork, chinoiserie, gilt, mirrors, porcelain plaques, and bright colors. The bergère easy chair, first made c. 1725, proliferated as did the cabriole chair, the duchesse-type rolltop model made for the king himself, and the mechanically ingenious dual-purpose “secretaire à Capuchin” or “à la Bourgogne.”