Exposed: How To Identify Louis XV & Louis XVI Chairs
Life can be easier. Here, a quick guide to compare the two most famous French Louis-style chairs.
Louis XV Style (mid-1700s)
Rococo style is happening. This means exuberant decoration and curves in architecture and art and furniture.
A romantic and feminine look, with very ornate wood, can be seen everywhere.
Let’s point to the major distinctive elements:
- curved shapes
- extensive rococo decoration
- delicate shape
- no leg stretchers
- cabriole leg
Take a closer look at the cabriole leg in Louis XV chairs: Rococo style carvings (cockleshells, flowers, instruments), smaller and slimmer than other period styles, no ball or claw at the end, and no stretchers.
Louis XVI Style (late 1700s)
A simpler, less ornate style, but still delicate and small-sized.
Straight lines are the new elegant.
Most distinctive features here:
- straight lines
- simpler, less ornate style
- square, oval or shield back
- straight legs
Again, the legs will provide you with the biggest help in trying to identify Louis XVI: usually, they are shaped like roman columns, topped with a carved rosette in a box shape.
Side by Side
Can you tell these twinsies apart now?
As the period evolves from beginning to end, you will find many variations of these features.
A chair made at the beginning of the period could still have influence from the previous period, while a chair made at the end will reflect much better its distinctive elements, or even show some from the period to follow.
Also, consider that the furniture pieces made for palaces were much more ornamented than the ones produced for the countryside.
Want to know more?
If you are lucky enough, go and visit The Wrightsman Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Here, you can check many of its pieces online.
Looking for some chairs for yourself?
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Hope this quick guide has been of help! Do you have any other hints to identify these two styles? Let me know in the comments!
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