Earlier in the 17th century France had been inundated with imported handmade furniture and immigrant craftsmen. Following the upheaval caused by the accession of the Bourbon king Henri IV in 1589, efforts were made to revive the flagging spirits of the French. The Edict of Nantes in 1598 guaranteed freedom of worship to the Huguenots (originally a nickname for the Protestants).
Many craftsmen in the furniture and allied trades were Huguenots, and their improved situation created a much healthier atmosphere in which to work. But during the recent troubles their creativity had suffered, and their skills had fallen way behind those of tradesmen in other countries. To correct this, Henri sent a number of cabinet-makers abroad to improve their skills, and in 1608 he set up workshops at the Louvre where other could learn under the tuition of Italian and Flemish masters. Henri was not to see the fruits of these efforts for in 1610 he was assassinated.
The majority of the furniture made in France during Henri's reign had continued in Renaissance traditions, using familiar shapes such as the armoire-a-deux-corps decorated with conventional Mannerist figures set in isolation in the middle of panels.
During the reign of his son, Louis XIII, this was to change gradually in favour of a more fluid style of carving more in keeping with the vigour of Baroque. The new king had not yet come of age and taste at court was dominated by his mother, Marie de' Medici who, in spite of having been born a Florentine, had a preference for Flemish art and encouraged skilled Flemish craftsmen to settle in France.
A weak ruler, her method was to buy political support with money and titles, thus creating a 'nouveau riche' class who set themselves up in fine houses and furnished them in the grand manner, partly with pieces imported from the Netherlands and Italy, but partly with native products.
Marie performed a valuable service by recalling to France from the Netherlands a craftsman, Jean Mace', whose techniques were ultimately to revolutionise French fitted and non fitted furniture making. Mace' had spent two years at Middelburg in Zeeland, where he learned the art of veneering before returning to France around 1620 to take up employment in the workshops of the Louvre, where he remained as a royal cabinet-maker until his death in 1672.
Veneering, though an ancient craft, was new to France. In principle, it consists of glueing a very thin sheet of finely figured wood over a solid foundation. all the sheets cut parallel to each other from the same piece of wood, exhibit nearly identical figurations in the grain. By reversing or twisting and turning them until they match, it is thus possible to create symmetrical patterns that could hardly be achieved if solid timber were used.
Other effects made possible were 'cross-banding' - setting a narrow band of veneer around the outer edge of a panel or table-top with the grain running at right angles to that of the central area; and 'oyster' patterns, contrived by setting cross-cuts of veneer, from the branches of such trees as laburnum, side by side. The veneers on antique furniture were saw-cut by hand, and are much thicker than the modern, knife-cut product.
............To be continued
No comments:
Post a Comment