French decorative arts have always been synonymous in my mind with quality, finesse and excellence, and the designs reproduced in this beautifully illustrated book demonstrate a consistency of high standards which serve to confirm this view. Successive monarchies and republics of France have deliberately sought to encourage excellence in the decorative arts, recognising them as central to the national interest and contributing to a high profile abroad. With this have come economic benefits through the export of French artefacts, such as porcelain, silks, furniture and silver, which came to be regarded as the finest money could buy.
This superb archive of French designs includes sources from published pattern books and company archives from the latter part of the seventeenth century through to the 1930s. Under Louis XIV, a centralised effort was made to promote a distinctively French style, which was in effect a celebration of the Court of Versailles. From 1685 Louis decreed that all new furniture designs for royal residences should be entered in the Journal du Garde‐Meubles, thus recording the current style. The strength of trade craft guilds, with businesses handed from father to son, also reinforced the maintenance of high standards.
Through the images taken from these published pattern books and company archives, this book charts the development of French design through the Regency, Roccoco, Classical and Empire styles, and through the Revolution and on to the twentieth century with the emergence of Modernist and Art Deco styles. Much of the information comes from sources taken from pattern books. Key publications include Pierre de la Mésangère’s highly influential Meubles et Objets de goût in the Journal des Dames et des Modes, published until 1835, and furniture and interior designer M. Santi’s Modèles de Meubles et de Décorations Intérieurs pour l’Ameublement, published 1828. Pattern books continued to flourish throughout the nineteenth century, and other publications, such as Art et Illustration also reported on developments and reproduced designs.
The book reproduces the work of well‐known French designers and also of anonymous craftsmen working for companies. It is an excellent source of visual information on designs for French interiors, furniture and fittings. It also includes a useful directory of resources, listing museums and archives as well as sources of decorative art reproductions available today. It is an excellently researched book, with much historical information which sets the sources within their context. A book to cherish and a source of inspiration for all who love things French.
