The old damask of the past used for furniture coverings now gave place to figured and embroidered satin, the designs representing birds, vases full of flowers, Cupids, quivers smothered with garlands of flowers, a bouquet held by a bunch of ribbon, and, finally, stripes. The tones were light: two colours, one of which in two or three shades, were often employed, the favourites being pale blue, rose, yellow, lilac and grey. The manufactories of the Gobelins, of Beauvais and Aubusson produced the same designs and pictures in their tapestries which were in great vogue for chairs and sofas. Garlands, shepherds and shepherdesses, subjects from Boucher and Fragonard and trophies were reproduced most exquisitely upon light backgrounds. Persian, Chinese and Polish subjects witness how the decorators tried to study the designs of foreign and Oriental countries. The stamped velvets of Utrecht had smaller patterns and very frequently were striped. Braids were of innumerable varieties, and tassels and ball-fringe were universally used for trimmings. Arm-chairs were ornamented also with festoons of drapery, and were called fauteuils à la polonaise, à la turque, à la chinoise, and in all probability matched the beds and sofas of these names. Radel, De Lalonde, Salembier, and others give many designs of the draped arm-chair. Typical chairs are represented on Plates XLVI. and XLVIII. The arm-chairs on Plate XLVI. are by De Lalonde. Nos. 2 and 3 are drawings of the same chair, No. 2, showing the correct projection of the cushion of the back, which was a subject of so much study. No. 5 is a “voyelle,” also by De Lalonde. The plan of its seat appears as No. 4. No. 2 on Plate XLVIII. is an arm-chair of walnut and gold. The arm-chairs for the desk were made of mahogany, or painted wood. They were of the gondola form, and were supplied with cushions for the back and seat, which were not unfrequently of cane. The third foot placed directly in front now seems to have been given up. The fauteuil bergère still belongs to the drawing-room, but its lines are straighter than its parent (see Plate XXXVI., No. 1), and the elbow is more aggressive. A typical Louis XVI. fauteuil bergère is shown in No. 3 on Plate XLVIII. This is also called fauteuil confessional. In this reign the cushions of seat and back are often stuffed with hair instead of feathers, and tufted. Like the specimen on Plate XXXVI., this fauteuil bergère is often supplied with a separate cushion for the seat, covered like the rest of the chair.

Another typical chair was the “voyeuse,” the back of which was shaped like a lyre, and reached from the seat to the top rail. The latter was stuffed. Men sat astride the seat, and rested their arms upon the rail. This chair was generally in the card-room.

The dining-room chairs usually had cane backs and seats, or rush. The frames of oak or ebony followed the forms of the dining-room chair, or had turned bars or carved splats. Mahogany was also used, and often the frames were painted. As a rule, the chairs were furnished with removable cushions, but sometimes they were covered with velvet or leather.

The form of the sofa, or canapé, was similar to that of the chair, as will be noticed by an examination of Plate XLV. Sofas were of the gondola, basket, or medallion form, and were slightly lower and deeper of seat than those of the former reign. Sometimes they had high wings or cheeks at the ends, something after the shape of No. 3, on Plate XLVIII., which gave them a cosy, comfortable appearance. A typical canapé is represented on Plate XLVI. The frame is of carved and gilded wood, and it is covered with tapestry in the style of Boucher. The central medallion represents a pastoral subject,—a child with a dog, cock, and birdcage with a border of roses and daisies, and on either side are two trophies of musical instruments. The seat is similarly covered. The sofa, No. 7, on the same plate, is one of De Lalonde’s. This has a good deal of metal work, and the familiar patera that is placed at the head of the leg, and, in fact, wherever the wood is joined. This “sopha” has four front legs. Like the model below there is an open space under the arm. The omission of the cushion stamps it of a later date.

The little rounded and low sofa was often called an ottoman; but this name is also applied to large pieces. For instance, No. 2, on Plate XLIV., is called “Ottoman à la reine.” This is by Ranson, who is also responsible for the sofa above it. The latter permits the square pillow as well as the round bolster. The varieties of the draped sofa, known variously as lit de repos, chaise longue, duchesse, bergère, à la turque, à la polonaise, à la chinoise, etc., are too numerous to mention, and merge into the bed. It is hard to tell even from the contemporary drawings what is a sofa and what is a bed, as both appear with and without canopies. For example, No. 6, on Plate XLVI., is called “sofa bed à l’antique.” The frame is of plain mahogany, and the drapery is arranged in scant festoons. This piece is very close in feeling to the Empire sofas, and the scroll end sofas of the early Nineteenth Century that exactly follow the outline produced by the bird, cushion and roll of No. 6. The duchesse is still composed of the fauteuil and tabouret. Sometimes it is made in three instead of two divisions.

The apartments of the Princesse de Lamballe consisted of an ante-chamber, a dining-room, a dressing-room, a billiard-room, a bedroom and a boudoir. They display the Louis XVI. furniture in full flower (1785). Some idea of the height of the rooms can, of course, be gained from the length of the curtains.

The ante-chamber contained twelve square chairs covered with yellow bazanne,^[20] the frames painted white; a six-leaved screen covered with red cloth, 6 feet high; and a sofa-bed.

The dining-room was furnished with twenty chairs, three screens and a commode. The curtains, 14 feet, 6 inches high, were of heavy crimson silk trimmed with gold braid. The woodwork of the chairs was painted yellow, and they were covered with crimson panne velvet fastened by gilt nails on a gold braid. Two of the screens had six leaves and were 6 feet high. One was covered with crimson panne fastened by gilt nails on a gold braid; the other with crimson silk velvet, fluted and nailed similarly. The third screen was covered with crimson damask; its frame was carved and gilt. The commode was à la Régence, 4 feet long, of veneered wood with a marble slab on top, and two long drawers with lock-plates, rosette handles, chutes and shoes of copper gilt. The room was lighted by a splendid lustre of Bohemian crystal, with eight gilded branches (2 feet, 7 inches high and 2 feet wide); and a pair of arms, each with three rocaille branches (22 inches high and 15 inches wide). The heat was supplied by a grate.

The drawing-room was hung with green and white damask. It had a frieze of carved wood, partly gilt and partly painted white. Two large square arm-chairs, eighteen square chairs of gilded wood, four voyeuses, and two little chairs were covered with the same green and white damask as the hangings. The framework was carved and painted white. There were also twenty-four mahogany chairs with lyre backs, the seats of which were covered with green leather fastened by gilt-headed nails that touched one another. The window-curtains, of two lengths each (9 feet, 8 inches long), were of heavy green silk, trimmed with silk braid. A rich carpet covered the floor. The light was obtained by means of a Bohemian crystal lustre, over 3 feet high, with six silver branches and three pairs of sconce-arms. The fire-place was highly ornamental, and the tongs and shovel had gilded knobs.

The billiard-room was hung with green damask, and the curtains were of heavy green silk. Here were twelve chairs and four voyeuses, and a banquette covered with green Utrecht velvet, fastened with gilt-headed nails. The framework of these seats was painted white. There were also several stools and benches covered with green morocco.

The bedroom had a moquette carpet (14 feet, 6 inches by 25 feet) of a white background on which were ovals of green, upon which flowers tied with ribbons were represented. A very ornamental grate furnished the heat.

The boudoir reflected the taste of the age. The hangings and furniture coverings were of heavy silk with a white background, on which a lozenge design was represented, as well as bouquets of flowers tied with blue ribbons framed in a kind of trellis-like border. The frames of the furniture were carved and gilt. The seats consisted of a settee, with a square cushion, two pillows and two round bolsters; six square arm-chairs, a bergère with a square cushion, and a screen. The niche (6 feet wide and 9 feet, 9 inches high) was hung with the same material as the rest of the boudoir, and was lined with white silk. The window-curtains matched the alcove and bed draperies. There was a handsome lustre of rock-crystal with eight branches of copper gilt, a screen of crimson damask with a beech frame; an “ottoman en gondole” painted white, covered with crimson damask, fastened with gold nails to the frame, and equipped with a square hair pillow and two feather pillows with tassels; seven crimson damask arm-chairs and a walnut writing-table with drawer.

The apartments of Mlle. Guimard, the actress, in 1786, give excellent hints for furnishings of this period. In the ante-chamber, on the ground floor, were twelve chairs covered with green moquette, two buffets, a fountain with a filter, a stove, a wooden coffer and figures in the niches.

In the dining-room, there were three tables for ten, fifteen, and thirty covers. The eighteen chairs were upholstered in green and white Utrecht velvet.

The greenhouse contained five banquettes, or forms, covered with green Utrecht velvet, and three girandoles carried by plaster figures standing on white marble pedestals.

In the passage to the boudoir was a banquette covered with “Pekin.”

The boudoir was furnished with two settees, two bergères, and two chairs covered with tapestry; and a desk stood in a counterfeit doorway. The window-curtains were of green taffeta, and a carpet covered the floor. In the bedroom, two large pictures took the place of hangings. A sofa-bed stood in the niche, draped with crimson and white Genoa velvet. The niche was hung with the same material. Two sofas, six square-backed arm-chairs, and a two-leaved screen and two banquettes were covered similarly, but the four cabriolets were upholstered in brocade. Another screen was covered with tapestry. There were also a foot carpet, an open fire-place with rich hearth furniture, pictures, and two lily-shaped girandoles of copper gilt, or moulu. A moquette portière screened the passage to the garde-robe. The “Baths” occupied three rooms. The bath-room and its niche were hung with Persian; the window curtains were white, and here stood a canapé and four cabriolets. The cabinet next to the bath contained a settee, four cabriolets, and two window-curtains, all in “painted Pekin.” The furnishings of the fireplace were gilt or moulu. The dressing-room was hung in damask paper, and its six cabriolets were upholstered with crimson and white velvet.

Mlle. Grimard’s suite upstairs consisted of antechamber, dining-room, drawing-room, dressing-room, bedroom, writing-room, and garde-robe. The ante-chamber was furnished with six cane chairs and a faïence fountain. The dining-room seats, covered with blue and white velvet, comprised six chairs and two arm-chairs.

The salon, or drawing-room, contained five tables: one stood in each corner and one in the centre. There were six square arm-chairs, four chairs, and a settee of green and white damask, and the one tabouret was covered with tapestry. The walls were hung with watered silk, and the curtains were green taffeta. The dressing-room contained four arm-chairs, and four chairs covered in blue and white damask; and the window-curtains were of blue taffeta. The arm-chair used at the toilette was upholstered in leather. The chimney-piece was “à la Prussienne,” and the hearth furniture was gilt or moulu. The bedroom was lighted by two windows, which were hung with curtains of green taffeta. The lit en niche and the alcove draperies were of Indian dimity. The four arm-chairs and four chairs were covered with toile de Jouy. (See page 264.) The fireplace furnishings were gilt or moulu. In the writing-room, the two curtains were of green taffeta; and the desk arm-chair was covered with green velvet. Two china corner-cupboards stood in the garde-robe.

The Cabinet des Modes from 1786 to 1790 gives many examples of furniture and interior decorations that are excellent records of the taste of the last years of the Louis XVI. style. The volume for 1786 gives designs for a clock and candelabra; bed in the form of a pulpit, front and side view, lit de repos, or causeuse, arm-chairs “in the latest fashion,” bergères, chaise à chapeau and chaise à resaut, “temple flambeaux and cassolettes for the decoration of a mantel-piece,” bed “à la Turque,” and decoration for a boudoir.

A lit à la Polonaise, a decoration for a bedroom with alcove with columns, cabinet clock, sofa with three backs, or “sofa pommier,” large arm-chair for a drawing-room, two voyeuses for a card room, and a chair appear in the second volumes. The third contains mantel-pieces, girandoles, clocks, a cylinder desk, a console, and the decoration for a salon. Another decoration for a salon appears in the volume for 1789, also a clock, girandoles, a Chinese lantern, pots pourris, or perfume-burners, a sofa of three divisions, a fauteuil à chapeau et à colonnes, a hearth and a settee. The volume for 1790 leads directly into the Directoire style, as the plates for the “lit à la fédération,” “new arm-chairs of antique form,” “antique arm-chair,” “Etruscan chair,” candelabra, and “salon nouveau” plainly show. Most of these designs are by Charpentier.