Louis XV furniture was designed not for the vast palace state rooms of the Versailles of Louis XIV, but for the smaller, more intimate salons created by Louis XV and by his mistresses, Madame de Pompadour and Madame DuBarry. The later furniture featured decorative elements of Chinoiserie and other exotic styles. The Louis XV style showed the influences of Neo-classicism, based on recent archaeological discoveries in Italy and Greece. From about 1750 to the King's death in 1774, a reaction set in against the excesses of the rocaille. From 1730 until about 1750, the period known as the first style, it was much more asymmetrical, ornate and exuberant, in the fashion called rocaille. During the early years (1715–1730), called the Regency, when the King was too young to rule, furniture followed the massive, geometric Style Louis XIV style. It employed marquetry, using inlays of exotic woods of different colors, as well as ivory and mother of pearl. The furniture of the Louis XV period (1715–1774) is characterized by curved forms, lightness, comfort and asymmetry it replaced the more formal, boxlike and massive furniture of the Louis XIV style. The lesson here is that whether you’re shopping for an antique desk or already own one, make sure that you give it a good look-over and run your fingers over various surfaces to feel for seems or indents.Commode decoration attributed to Charles Cressent (1745–49) To school series, Antiques Diva, ” width=”600″ height=”450″ /> To school series, Antiques Diva, ” width=”600″ height=”600″ /> Some cabinet makers also utilized wooden springs which, if pressed at the right place, would release a hinge and open to a secret compartment. Some sliding boards can only be moved by using the fingernail or a thin knife to nudge or lift them gently, revealing shallow hiding places. To school series, Antiques Diva, ” width=”600″ height=”400″ />įalse bottoms and moveable boards are another trick cabinet makers would use. One also must inspect each pilaster, as there may be tiny hiding places behind them, only big enough to store a few folded pieces of paper currency. There is typically a small door flanked by two pilasters, and this entire section may be removed to reveal a hiding place behind. The most typical place for a hidden compartment on a desk is in the central interior section. Some spots may only be large enough to hold a letter, while other compartments are larger. Today, antique collectors may find a hidden compartment in a desk or secretary that they didn’t even know was there!Īnd some pieces of furniture have not one, but several secret hiding places. This was to keep thieves or snoops at bay. These compartments were often so well hidden that anyone who didn’t have knowledge of them would never know they existed. To school series, Antiques Diva, ” width=”179″ height=”300″ /> For centuries, antique furniture pieces have possessed drawers with false bottoms and secret panels that were used to hold money, ancestral jewelry or legal documents. Well these secret compartments are not just found in fictitious tales. Top: 5px float: left color: white background: #781300 border: 1px solid darkkhaki font-size: 60px line-height: 50px padding-top: 1px padding-right: 5px font-family: times ”>As a continuation of our Back to School with The Antiques Diva series this month, I want to talk about something that sparks the imagination something that brings out the inner child in all of us! I’m talking about secret compartments! What child, at some point or another, hasn’t dreamed of finding a hidden compartment in an armoire? Even as adults we enjoy reading mysteries where a secret letter is found in a hidden drawer.
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