Louis XV

Louis XV furniture takes its name from the French king who reigned from 1715 to 1774, but the style associated with his reign — the French Rococo — was created by the greatest ébénistes (cabinetmakers) in history, working under royal and aristocratic patronage in the faubourg Saint-Antoine workshops of Paris. The hallmarks are immediately recognizable: the serpentine or bombé (swelling) case front that rejects the straight line entirely, the cabriole leg with its S-curved profile ending in a sabots (gilt-bronze shoe), and the seamless integration of ormolu (gilded bronze) mounts — cartouches, foliate sprays, corner mounts, key escutcheons — that give the finest pieces their characteristic shimmer of gold against exotic wood. The marquetry veneers of the Louis XV period are themselves a subject of collector expertise. Parquetry (geometric patterns in tulipwood, kingwood, and rosewood) covers the surfaces of commodes and secrétaires; floral marquetry of extraordinary refinement — bouquets of roses, morning glories, and exotic blooms — was the specialty of masters like Jean-François Oeben and his successor Jean-Henri Riesener. The most celebrated Louis XV ébéniste was Bernard van Risenburgh (known only by his stamp 'BVRB' until the 20th century), who supplied lacquer-fronted furniture of exceptional quality to the court. What appears most often in Texas and Louisiana estate sales is the 'Louis XV style' — quality French production pieces made in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and American and Continental reproductions made for the luxury market in the same period. These are the items that furnished the grand homes of Texas oil and cotton fortunes. Genuine 18th-century Louis XV furniture is rarer and significantly more valuable, but both categories appear at Austin Auction Gallery and both have active collector markets.