In the period named for Louis XV there is much that is beautiful, but excess in the use of ornament and a bewildering abundance of curved 
lines finally brought satiety even to the French, and during the latter part of this monarch’s reign a reaction began to make itself felt. The 
flanking panels above show the greater restraint manifested in the period of Louis XVI 
What the Period Styles Really Are 
II. THE DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF FURNITURE AND INTERIOR DECORA¬ 
TION IN FRANCE FROM THE REGENCY THROUGH LOUIS XV, LOUIS XVI AND THE EMPIRE 
by Lucy Abbott Throop 
[Modern usage of furniture and fittings for the interiors of American homes would seem to indicate that we have hut two available and distinct 
styles — “Colonial” and Craftsman or so-called “Mission.” For a long time the historic period styles were so ignorantly and tastelessly employed as to 
bring about a revulsion of feeling and their almost complete abandonment. There are signs that the pendulum is swinging back again now, and that a 
really sincere appreciation of the best that has been done in the past will reveal new possibilities for beauty in the homes of to-day. Miss Throop’s se¬ 
ries of articles will aim to give an understanding of the period styles and how they may be intelligently used, — Editor.] 
I T is often a really difficult matter to decide the exact boundary 
lines between one period and another, for the new style 
shows its beginning's before the old one is passed, and the old 
style still appears during the early years of the new one. It is 
an overlapping process and the years of transition are ones of 
great interest. As one period follows another it usually shows 
a reaction from the previous one ; a sombre period is followed 
by a gay one; the excess of ornament in one is followed by 
restraint in the next. It is the same law that makes us want 
cake when we have had too much bread and butter. 
The world has changed so much since the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries that it seems almost impossible that we 
should ever again have great periods of decoration like those of 
Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. Then the monarch was 
supreme. “L’etat e’est moi,” said Louis XIV, and it was true. 
He established the great Gobelin works on a basis that made 
France the authority C>f the world and firmly imposed his taste 
and his will on the country. Now that this absolute power of 
one man is a thing of the past; we have the influence of many 
men forming and moulding something that will probably turn 
into a beautiful epoch of decoration, one that will have in it more 
of the feeling that brought the French Renaissance to its height, 
though not like it, for we have the same respect for individuality 
working within the laws of beauty that they had. The style that 
takes its name from Louis XIV was one of great magnificence 
and beauty with dignity and a certain solidity in its splendor. It 
was really the foundation of the styles that followed, and a great 
many people look upon the periods of Louis XIV, the Regency, 
Louis XV and Louis XVI as one great period with variations, or 
ups and downs — the complete swing and return of the pendulum. 
1 he last years of the reign of Louis XIV were marked by 
a certain austerity, as the influence of Madame de Maintenon 
was paramount, but even then a promise of what was to come 
was in the air. When Louis died, in 1715, Louis XV, his great- 
grandson, was only five years old, and the Due d’Orleans be¬ 
came Regent. The spirit changed and more gaiety at once ap¬ 
peared in all the decorations, and the magnificent and stately 
extravagance of Louis XIV turned into the daintier but no less 
extravagant and rich decoration of the Regency and Louis XV. 
One of the noticable changes was that rooms were smaller, and 
the reign of the boudoir began. It has been truly said that after 
the death of Louis XIV “came the substitution of the finery of 
coquetry for the worship of the great in style.” There was 
greater variety in the designs of furniture and a greater use of 
carved metal ornament and gilt bronze, beautifully chased. The 
ornaments took many shapes, such as shells, shaped foliage, roses, 
seaweed, strings of pearls, etc., and at its best there was great 
beauty in the treatment. 
It was during the Regency that the great artist and sculptor 
in metal, Charles Cressant, flourished. He was made ebeniste of 
the Regent, and his influence was always to keep up the tradi¬ 
tions when the reaction against the severe might easily have lead 
to degeneration. There are beautiful examples of his work in 
many of the great collections of furniture, notably the wonder¬ 
ful commode in the Wallace collection. The dragon mounts of 
ormolu on it show the strong influence the Orient had at the 
time. He often used the figures of women with great delicacy 
on the corners of his furniture, and he also used tortoise-shell 
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