15 
September, 1917 
An Italian Directoire chair 
in walnut. The decorations 
of the back are open carving 
gilded 
Painted Directoire chair 
with curved top and carved 
drapery on panel. Legs re¬ 
semble Louis XVI 
One type of Directoire 
bed (below). Head and 
footboard same height. 
Satin used for covering. 
Painted Directoire chair 
(left) with carved feath¬ 
er design in back and 
upholstery in satin 
Empire styles, were fortunately creative in 
their application of classic ideas to 18th 
Century demands and not slavish imitators of 
the antique. These men were designers of 
buildings, monuments, mural decorations, fur¬ 
niture, textiles, Sevres porcelain, silver, jewelry, 
in fact all objects of art, as well as of pageants 
and landscape architecture. 
No architecture and interior decoration were 
ever in more perfect accord than those of the 
Directoire and First Empire. 
Textiles and Colors 
Directoire textiles show flowered designs and 
every conceivable motive, but always formally 
arranged. Stripes are characteristic of Louis 
XVI, Directoire and Empire, but broadly 
speaking the narrow flowered stripes, with an 
occasional blue bow-knot, are Louis X\ I; the 
narrow stripes, plain or with classic decora¬ 
tions, Directoire, and wide stripes, far apart, 
First Empire. The textiles of the Directoire, 
especially the stamped cotton and linens, when 
not striped, usually show a plain cream back¬ 
ground with beautiful pastoral compositions 
—glades, temples, trees, 
vases with flowers, lakes, 
swans, architectural tri¬ 
pods with rams’ heads, 
Roman heroes in chariots 
and women in classic 
robes. These designs 
were often, not always, 
done in one tone, mul¬ 
berry and gray being espe¬ 
cial favorites. 
The Directoire color 
scheme was intense, re¬ 
flecting the spirit of Pom¬ 
peii (gradually exhumed 
between 1590 and 1680) 
and Egypt. 
So we find Pompeiian 
red, blue, green, yellow, 
tobacco brown, magenta 
and purple, and black 
and white or other cameo 
effects, as reproduced by 
Wedgwood in the style of 
the antique. The deli¬ 
cate sky blues, rose pinks, 
apple greens and sunny 
yellows of the Louis lost 
favor because associated 
with the old aristocracy and Bourbon court. 
Those who visit Malmaison, near Paris, 
are struck by the brilliancy of the coloring in 
tne reproductions of the old textiles used in 
doing over the palace. Strength in color as 
well as line was demanded by the spirit of the 
times. Later Napoleon, with regal inclina¬ 
tions and little taste, insisted upon even 
stronger green, yellow and red and purple. 
Marquetry, so beautiful and fashionable dur¬ 
ing Louis XVI’s time, was in these days no 
longer popular. 
Natural hair, muslin, 
cloth, plain frill and 
chin - cloth succeeded 
Louis XVI wigs, satins 
and laces 
Directoire and Empire 
combined (below). Desk, 
bureau and vase on 
mantel are Empire. Both 
chairs Directoire 
Napoleonic Reflections 
As Napoleon gained in despotic power, he 
insisted more and more that his surroundings 
reflect him and his achievements. So the 
laurel wreath, the eagle, the initial N, the bee 
and stars, were worked into all designs, and 
ormolu friezes showed classic triumphal pro¬ 
cessions, or Napoleon himself in Roman robes 
and laurel wreath. 
The great charm of the Directoire decoration 
is its impersonal quality. After Napoleon had 
been in Egypt, the sphinx, lions’ heads and 
lions’ claws as feet of fur¬ 
niture were emphasized. 
The lines of the Direc¬ 
toire are purest classic 
and have far more grace 
and movement than the 
First Empire, because Na¬ 
poleon more and more 
dictated to his designers 
who slavishly copied the 
antique, the result being 
that their furniture was 
out of scale with its mod¬ 
ern setting. 
All the decorative mo¬ 
tives of Louis XVI appear 
with those of classic 
Greece, but as already 
pointed out, the arrange¬ 
ment is invariably formal. 
It was in originality of ar¬ 
rangement and preserva¬ 
tion of classic outline that 
the genius of the Empire 
designers expressed itself. 
The same designs and the 
same formal arrangement 
appear on painted walls 
(Continued on page 78) 
