{"id":6354,"date":"2026-06-10T10:31:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T09:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antikeo.com\/magazine\/?p=6354"},"modified":"2026-10-19T20:10:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:10:40","slug":"how-to-recognise-the-louis-xv-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antikeo.com\/magazine\/en\/how-to-recognise-the-louis-xv-style\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Recognise the Louis XV Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Supple, elegant and driven by a new pursuit of comfort, the Louis XV style is one of the great moments in French furniture. Heir to the R\u00e9gence style, it takes the softening of forms further still: cabriole legs, bomb\u00e9 fronts and scalloped rails give furniture a sense of movement that rocaille ornament carries on. This evolution goes hand in hand with that of interiors, where intimacy and comfort assume an ever greater role.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The span of the style does not, however, correspond exactly to the reign of Louis XV, from 1715 to 1774. The Ch\u00e2teau de Versailles places the flowering of rocaille between the 1720s and the 1760s. The style thus reached maturity around the middle of the 18th century, before gradually giving way to the \u201c\u00e0 la grecque\u201d taste, which heralded the Transition style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognising Louis XV furniture<\/a> is above all a matter of observing how the curve organises its silhouette. It links legs, uprights, rails and fronts without entirely doing away with straight lines. Shells, foliage and flowers make up a decorative scheme in which gilt bronze mounts, marquetry and lacquer emphasise the fluidity of the forms. More comfortable seating and small specialised pieces, for their part, bear witness to furniture better suited to everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n