New styles accommodated the desire for comfort and intimate conversation, while existing forms evolved to fit new decorative schemes. Console tables were usually gilt or painted, and were highly carved, often in a softwood, such as pine. Motifs often included foliage, shells, and 'C' or 'S' scrolls.
Non fitted furniture such as chairs were designed to sit against walls, and reflected the panelling and architecture of the room. The upholstered sofa, or canape, was essentially, an elongated arched-backed fauteuil a la Reine. Like bergere chairs, canapes were decorated in light Rococo colours, such as sea green, pale blue, yellow, lilac, or white, and enriched with gilt. Carved flowers often adorned chair frames.
Marquetry Bureau
This mid 18th century table is from the Louis XV period, made from kingwood, it has three drawers and cabriole legs ending in pied de sabots and gilt bronze hardware.
Work-Related Furniture
Wide handmade furniture, such as writing tables, bureaux, were used in the bedchamber. They usually had three drawers at the front and back, although the back drawers were false. The decorated backs indicate that the pieces were designed to be used in the centre of rooms.
Homes often had rooms dedicated to work. The desk, or secretaire, evolved from the medieval escritoire to become a case piece with a fall front.
Marble-Topped Commode
The Commode
Commodes were the most prestigious and expensive pieces of, now, antique furniture and were lavishly ornamented. They were used in different rooms, including the bedchamber, although they were not used in reception rooms until later in the century. Commodes a encoignures (corner cupboards) had display shelves at either end. The commode en console appeared around 1750, and had a single drawer and long legs, designed principally in the Louis XV style.
The commode a vantaux, which has two tiers of drawers behind two doors, was most popular during the reign of Louis XVI (1774 to 1792).
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