Tour: Rococo Decorative Arts of the Mid-1700s

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Overview

Reacting against the rigid court etiquette under the seventeenth century's “Sun King,” Louis XIV, eighteenth-century French art patrons sought greater informality. A new, more intimate style emerged under Louis XV, great-grandson of the old king. The early phase of the Louis XV style is called the régence because from 1715 to 1723 Philippe, duc d'Orléans, ruled as regent for the young king, who was only five years old when he came to the throne.

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Captions

1.
1	design and cartoon by François Boucher; woven under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Oudry and Nicolas Besnier at the Beauvais manufactory, Dream of Rinaldo, c. 1751
2	Jean Desforges, Chest of Drawers (commode), 1745/1749
3	Jean Desforges, Corner-Cupboard (encoignure), probably 1745/1749
4	Attributed to Pierre Migeon II, Lean-to Writing Desk (table à abbattant), c. 1750
5	Bernard van Risamburgh II, Lean-to Writing Desk (secrétaire en pente), c. 1750
6	Bernard van Risamburgh II, Work and Writing Table (table en chiffonnière), c. 1750/1760
2.
7	Attributed to Jean-François Oeben, Writing and Toilet Table (table mécanique), c. 1750/1755