Timeline of Art History

The Golden Age of French Furniture in the Eighteenth Century

French furniture of this period was the collaborative effort of various artists and craftsmen who worked according to strictly enforced guild regulations.
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Armchair (fauteuil à la reine), Carved and gilded walnut, late 17th-century wool velvet (not original), French, Paris
French, Paris
ca. 1690–1710
Commode, André Charles Boulle  French, Walnut veneered with ebony, marquetry of engraved brass and tortoiseshell, gilt-bronze mounts, verd antique marble, French
André Charles Boulle
ca. 1710–20
Commode, Charles Cressent  French, Pine and oak veneered with amaranth and bois satiné; drawer bottoms of walnut, drawer sides of oak, drawer fronts of pine; gilt-bronze mounts; portoro marble top, French, Paris
Charles Cressent
ca. 1745–49
Corner cabinet (encoignure) (one of a pair), Bernard II van Risenburgh, Oak veneered with ebony and Coromandel lacquer, cherry wood, and purplewood; gilt-bronze mounts; brocatelle marble top, French, Paris
Bernard II van Risenburgh
ca. 1745–49
Armchair (fauteuil à la reine) (part of a set), Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot, Carved and gilded beech; wool and silk tapestry, French, Paris
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1754–56
Writing table (bureau plat), Gilles Joubert  French, Lacquered oak, gilt-bronze mounts, lined with modern leather, French, Paris
Gilles Joubert
1759
Work and writing table (table en chiffonière), Bernard II van Risenburgh, Oak and pine veneered with tulipwood, kingwood, purplewood and satiné, gilt bronze, silvered metal, French
Bernard II van Risenburgh
ca. 1760
Mechanical table, Jean-François Oeben  French, born Germany, Oak veneered with mahogany, kingwood, and tulipwood, with marquetry of mahogany, rosewood, holly, and various other woods; gilt-bronze mounts; imitation Japanese lacquer; replaced silk, French
Jean-François Oeben
Roger Vandercruse, called Lacroix
ca. 1761–63
Armchair (bergère en cabriolet) (one of a pair), Claude-Louis Burgat, Carved and gilded beechwood, upholstered in modern red strié faille, French
Claude-Louis Burgat
ca. 1760–70
Small writing desk (bonheur-du-jour), Martin Carlin  French, Oak veneered with tulipwood, amaranth, and stained sycamore; mahogany; seventeen soft-paste porcelain plaques; gilt-bronze mounts; velvet (not original), French, Paris and Sèvres
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1768
Mechanical table (Table mécanique), Jean Henri Riesener  French, Oak veneered with marquetry of bois satiné, holly, amaranth, barberry, stained sycamore, and green-lacquered wood; gilt-bronze mounts; steel, iron and brass fittings; mirror glass; velvet (not original), French, Paris
Jean Henri Riesener
Jean-Gotfritt Mercklein
1778
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener  French, Oak veneered with ebony and 17th-century Japanese lacquer; interiors veneered with tulipwood, amaranth, holly, and ebonized holly; gilt-bronze mounts; marble top; velvet (not original), French, Paris
Jean Henri Riesener
1783
Side chair (chais à la reine) (one of a pair), Georges Jacob  French, Carved and gilded walnut; pink silk moiré damask (not original), French, Paris
Multiple artists/makers
1784
Commode (commode à vantaux) (part of a set), Adam Weisweiler  French, Oak veneered with ebony, amaranth, holly, ebonized holly, satinwood, Japanese and French lacquer panels; gilt-bronze mounts, brocatelle marble top (not original); steel springs; morocco leather (not original), French, Paris
Adam Weisweiler
ca. 1790
Armchair (bergère) (part of a set), Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené, Carved, painted and gilded walnut; modern cotton twill embroidered in silk, French, Paris
Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené
Louis-François Chatard
ca. 1788

Some of the most beautiful and refined furniture ever made, displaying the highest level of artistic and technical ability, was created in Paris during the eighteenth century. Much admired by an international clientele, it was used to furnish residences all over Europe and also influenced fashions of cabinetmaking outside France.

Furniture-Making Guild (Corporation des Menuisiers)
French furniture of this period was the collaborative effort of various artists and craftsmen who worked according to strictly enforced guild regulations. Established during the Middle Ages, the guild system continued with little change until being dissolved in 1791 during the French Revolution. The Parisian guild to which the furniture makers belonged was called the Corporation des Menuisiers. It had great influence on the education of furniture makers by requiring at least six years of training that led to a high degree of technical specialization and ensured a high standard of work. First an apprentice spent three years or more in the workshop of a master furniture maker, followed by at least as many years as a journeyman. In order to become a master, a journeyman had to prove his competence by making a chef-d’oeuvre, or masterpiece. Once that was successfully completed, he could open his own workshop only if a vacancy existed (the number of masters allowed to practice at one time was strictly controlled by the guild, as was the size of their workshops) and he had paid the necessary fees. The dues were lower for the sons of master cabinetmakers than for people from outside Paris who had no relatives in the guild. From 1743 onward, it became the rule to stamp every piece of furniture that was offered for sale with the maker’s name. An additional stamp, JME (for jurande des menuisiers-ébénistes), would be added once a committee, made up of elected guild members who inspected the workshops four times a year, had approved the quality. Any furniture that failed to meet the required standards of craftsmanship was confiscated.

Menuisiers and ébénistes
The Corporation des Menuisiers was divided into two distinct trades, that of the woodworkers who made paneling (boiserie) for buildings and coaches, and that of the actual furniture makers. The latter can be subdivided into menuisiers (joiners), responsible for the making of solid wood furniture such as console tables, beds, and chairs, and the ébénistes, from the word ébène (ebony), makers of veneered case pieces. Most of the menuisiers were French born, often members of well-known dynasties of chairmakers, and were located in or near the rue de Cléry in Paris. By contrast, a large number of Parisian ébénistes were foreign born, many of whom worked in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Although not forbidden, it was rare to combine the professions of a menuisier and an ébéniste.

In addition, there were two other groups of furniture makers active in Paris, working outside the framework of the guild. The so-called royal cabinetmakers, who were given special privileges and workshops either at the Louvre palace, at the Manufacture Royale des Meubles de la Couronne at the Gobelins, or in other buildings owned by the crown. Royal cabinetmakers were free from guild regulations. The second group consisted of the so-called artisans libres, or independent craftsmen, many of them foreigners who sought refuge in certain “free” districts of Paris outside the guild’s jurisdiction.


Contributors

Daniëlle O. Kisluk-Grosheide
Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2003


Further Reading

Kisluk-Grosheide, Daniëlle O. French Royal Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum. MMA Bulletin 63. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006. See on MetPublications

Kisluk-Grosheide, Daniëlle O., Wolfram Koeppe, and William Rieder. European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Highlights of the Collection. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Kisluk-Grosheide, Daniëlle, and Jeffrey Munger. Handbook to the Wrightsman Galleries. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. See on MetPublications

Pallot, Bill G. B. The Art of the Chair in Eighteenth Century France. Paris: ACR–Gismondi, 1989.

Pradére, Alexandre. French Furniture Makers: The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution. London: Sotheby's, 1989.


Citation

View Citations

Kisluk-Grosheide, Daniëlle O. “The Golden Age of French Furniture in the Eighteenth Century.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ffurn/hd_ffurn.htm (October 2003)