The furniture of Louis XIV was massive and lavishly covered with sculpture and ornament of gilded bronze in the earlier part of the personal rule of King Louis XIV of France (1660–1690). After about 1690, thanks in large part to the furniture designer André Charles Boulle, a more original and delicate style appeared, sometimes known as Boulle work. It was based on the use of marquetry, the inlay of pieces of ebony and other rare woods, a technique first used in Florence in the 15th century, which was refined and developed by Boulle and others working for the King. Furniture was inlaid with thin plaques of ebony, copper, mother of pearl, and exotic woods of different colors in elaborate designs. New and often enduring types of furniture appeared; the commode, with two to four drawers, replaced the old coffre, or chest. The canapé, or sofa, appeared, in the form of a combination of two or three armchairs. New kinds of armchairs appeared, including the fauteuil en confessionale or "Confessional armchair", which had padded cushions on either side of the back of the chair. The console table also made its first appearance; it was designed to be placed against a wall. Another new type of furniture was the table à gibier, a marble-topped table for holding dishes. Early varieties of the desk appeared; the Mazarin desk had a central section set back, placed between two columns of drawers, with four feet on each column.
History In the period of Louis XIV's youth (1643–1660), when France was effectively run by his mother, Anne of Austria, the furniture style was that of his father, Louis XIII, mixed with the Italian influence brought by Cardinal Mazarin. Rooms were dominated by massive cabinets, decorated with columns, frontons, pilasters, balustrades, niches and other decoration which matched the elaborate carved wood paneling, called lambris, placed as squares or rectangles on the walls, and the sculpted ceilings with similar decorations. Cabinets, tables and chairs were geometric. Armchairs appeared with high backs, made with pieces of bois tourné, cut in a spiral form. The second period, from 1660 to about 1690, was the beginning of the personal reign of Louis XIV; much of the furniture of this period was made for the decoration of the grand new halls of the Palace of Versailles designed by Louis Le Vau and then by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The characteristics of the first style in decoration and furniture were richness of materials and an effort to achieve a monumental effect. Decorative elements on the walls and furniture were often military; helmets, crossed weapons, oak leave clusters symbolizing victory, sculpted, gilded, and placed on the walls. Other common decorations were masks of Apollo (the Sun God symbolized Louis, the "Sun King"); the eagle of Jupiter, the lion, the rooster, and a wide variety of crowns, scepters and royal batons. The Royal furniture manufactory was established in 1667, part of the royal art establishment which included the Academy of Fine Arts and the royal tapestry manufactory at Sèvres. Its designers and craftsmen created most of the new furniture made for the Palace of Versailles and other royal residences. In the final period, from about 1690 onwards, under the influence of Haroudin-Mansart, Pierre Lapautre and other designers, the style of decor and furniture became less grandiose and more elegant; marble on walls was replaced by wood paneling in light colors, or natural wood that was waxed or varnished. As heating systems improved, fireplaces became smaller; as glass technology improved, mirrors became larger, and could cover entire walls, as they soon did at Versailles. New and lighter decorative themes appeared that were often exotic and playful, notably putti or cherubs, and grotesques, arabesques and lace-like dentelle designs. The style of the last period was strongly influenced by the marquetry of the ebeniste André-Charles Boulle, who between 1675–80 greatly refined the classic techniques of applying thin plaques of ebony, exotic woods, copper, tortoise shell, and mother-of-pearl. Sometimes copper decoration was placed on a background of tortoise shell, and sometimes the tortoise shell design was on a background of copper. The decor became more and more elaborate, fanciful and exotic, particularly in the work of another influential designer, Jean Bérain the Elder. Another popular decoration on furniture was bronze ornament, sculpted and gilded. Reliefs of gilded bronze covered the faces of the pieces of furniture, decorating the keyholes and the angles. The corners of commodes were occupied by sculptures of women or angels, and the feet were dressed in gilded bronze shoes or sculpted lions' or deer feet. In the later style, the geometric forms were gradually replaced by curving lines, and an assortment of new, more portable furniture appeared, including folding chairs and small tables, called tabourets, which could be moved easily from room to room. These tendencies led directly to the more fanciful and curving forms of Louis XV furniture.
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