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Louis XV Drawings

LOUIS XV STYLE

The style of 18th-century French furniture was guided by the court. When Louis XV, who reigned from 1715–74, focused royal life on the smaller salons of Versailles rather than its grand chambers, it transformed the aesthetics away from the imposing and angular furniture that characterized the style of Louis XIV. A broader focus on comfort and more delicate forms define antique Louis XV furniture, with nature-inspired carvings, wood inlays, curved cabriole legs, asymmetrical shapes and rounded oval seat backs. The furnishings changed throughout the king’s life, as he ascended to the throne as a child and then grew to establish his own tastes.

Pieces like the bergère, an upholstered armchair with a wide cushion that fit the flowing dresses in fashion at the time, reflected this more informal court. Introduced at the start of Louis XV’s reign, bergère chairs in this style were deeper and broader than other chairs of the period.

Louis XV tapestries and carpets tended to be floral and colorful, and design elements were borrowed from Asia. Dutch-born cabinetmaker Bernard van Risenburgh brought lacquer techniques influenced by Japan and China into his luxuriously made furniture. Along with its fine details, the furniture of the era also featured new innovations including mechanical devices. Jean François Oeben, a royal cabinetmaker, created such intricate pieces as a mechanical table for Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress. It involved a sliding top and a writing surface that extended from its marquetry panels.

During the later years of Louis XV’s reign, there was a shift from the ostentatious rocaille style, part of the exuberantly decorative Rococo movement in Europe for which designers such as Nicolas Pineau and Juste-Aurèle Meissonier are known. The style under Louis XVI would return to boxier forms, but with a neoclassical touch inspired by the ancient world.

Find antique Louis XV bedroom furniture, seating, tables and decorative objects on 1stDibs.

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Style: Louis XV
France 18th Century Wallpaper with Landscape Scenes in Turquoise Color
Located in Brescia, IT
It is not easy to find this kind of hand drawed and hand-made French wallpaper in good conditions. The shining turquoise and the scenes of the games of the characters and jugglers i...
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Mid-18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Paper

18th Century Sanguine Drawing Framed "Elegant Lady Turban and Feather" France
Located in Antwerpen, BE
Step into the refined world of 18th-century elegance with our captivating Sanguine Drawing, delicately portraying an "Elegant Lady with Turban and Feather." Originating from France, ...
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18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Paper

Detailed 18th Century Style Framed Pastel Bouquet Drawing
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Detailed 18th century style framed pastel bouquet drawing. Intricate burl wood and ebonized wood period frame. Very decorative.
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18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Canvas

Detailed 18th Century Style Framed Pastel Bouquet Drawing
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Detailed 18th century style framed pastel bouquet drawing. Intricate burlwood and ebonized wood period frame. Very decorative.
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18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Cane

18 Century Engraving of the Royal Menagerie at Versailles by Antoine Aveline
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A rare 18 century perspective view engraving of the Salon de la Menagerie at Versailles, attributed to Antoine Aveline retailed in Paris by Nicolas Langlois and executed with the per...
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Early 18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Paper

Three 18th Century Engravings of Fountains at Versailles Gardens by A. Aveline
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
Three small 18th century engravings of fountains at the gardens of Versailles by renowned Parisian engraver Antoine Aveline. All three are pr...
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Early 18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Paper

Pair of French 18th Century Old Master Style Drawings in Trompe l'Oeil
Located in Essex, MA
Pair of French School drawings in 18th century style. Hand drawn in Old Master Technique. Boucher School style Pair of Trompe l'Oeil Three-drop Panel...
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20th Century French Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Paper

North Italian School, 18th Century
Located in Firenze, IT
SHIPPING POLICY: No additional costs will be added to this order. Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included). An allegory of the love Omnia vincit amor...
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18th Century Italian Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Canvas

Detailed 18th Century Style Framed Pastel Bouquet Drawing
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Detailed 18th century style framed pastel bouquet drawing. Intricate burl wood and ebonized wood period frame. Very decorative.
Category

18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Canvas

Detailed 18th Century Style Framed Pastel Bouquet Drawing
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Detailed 18th century style framed pastel bouquet drawing. Intricate burl wood and ebonized wood period frame. Very decorative.
Category

18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Canvas, Wood

French Engraving, "Le Premier Pas a la Fortune" in Gilded Frame
Located in Pembroke, MA
French engraving in a 19th century entitled "Le Premier Pas A La Fortune" on hand-laid paper with a decorative giltwood frame. A charming double-entendre scene of seduction. Du Bois ...
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19th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Giltwood, Paper

Detailed 18th Century Style Framed Pastel Bouquet Drawing
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Detailed 18th century style framed pastel bouquet drawing. Intricate burlwood and ebonized wood period frame. Very decorative.
Category

18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Cane

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Chinoiserie Handpainted Chinese Wallpaper Return to Nassau, 18th Century
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Chinoiserie Hand Painted Chinese Wallpaper Return to Nassau 18th Century
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Chinese Export 18th Century Wallpaper Framed Panel
Located in Essex, MA
Wonderful color and patina. Perfect to fill a tall narrow space. This is a fragment from a larger panel. Framed.
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Late 18th Early-19th Century French Drawing View of Rome
Located in CH
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19th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Paper

18th Century Oil on Canvas Antique Italian Landscape Painting, 1750
Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
Antique Italian painting from the 18th century. Work oil on canvas depicting a river landscape with characters and ruins of good pictorial quality. Wooden frame of the 20th century c...
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Mid-18th Century Italian Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

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Cactus Mexicanos in Turquoise Botanical Wallpaper
Located in Kent, GB
Collection: Cactus Mexicanos Product Code: 33C Color: Turquoise Roll dimensions: 70cm x 10m (27.6in x 10.9yards) Area: 7sq.m (8.4 sq.yards) Pattern repeat: Half-drop Vertical r...
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2010s English Louis XV Drawings

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Zuber French Scenic Wallpaper Panels The Japanese Garden Landscape Scene
Located in Firenze, IT
This antique and charming early 20th Century scenic wallpaper by French Zuber manufacture is made up of five rolls of wall coverings hand painted with...
Category

Early 20th Century French Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Wood, Paper

Pair of Antique Portrait Engravings Framed by E. Vandevoorde, Paris, France
Located in Miami, FL
These very well rendered illustrations framed by artist E. Vandevoorde in Paris, France at 22 rue Vignon. These charming works of art date back to the late 1800s-early 1900s. The imp...
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Early 1900s French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Wood, Paper

18th Century French Wool and Silk Aubusson Tapestry and Engraving, circa 1750
Located in Milano, IT
La Jeunesse (Youth) Tapestry Polychrome wool and silk France, Aubusson, circa 1750 It measures 107.08 in height x 104.33 in (272 cm height x 265 cm). State of conservation: good The tapestry is accompanied by the engraving from which the subject was taken. The engraving measures 23.50 in x 25.86 in (59.7 cm x 65.7 cm) with the frame. The Aubusson tapestry has controversial origins: some believe that it was the Saracens who imported this type of work into Europe while other authors believe that the production began at the same time as the marriage between Louis I of Bourbon and Maria de Hainaut in 1310. It was at this time that a considerable importation of tapestries from Flanders into France began, followed shortly thereafter by the importation of their production techniques. At the beginning of the seventeenth century a royal edict from Henry IV halted the importation of Flemish tapestries, contributing to the subsequent Expansion of Aubusson production. The status of royal manufacture was to be granted only in 1665, even though the Nantes edict caused a drop in production because of the forced migration of weavers to Germany. The full recovery and the success of the manufacturing took place during the eighteenth century when the great painters and the tapestry manufacturers began to collaborate. Great French artists of the time and specialist painters, the “cartonniers”, painted “cartons de tapisserie” in oil or tempera, all of which were to be a source for the tapestries. As an alternative to the “cartons”, scenes taken from prints and engravings were freely used. The tapestry in question, made of wool and silk, is in good condition; the colors are still fresh and the silks, which give brightness to the scene, are well preserved. There are a small number of integrative restorations present, while the lining and the suspension system have been recently refurbished. The work is made with a flat-weave, according to the custom of the Aubusson manufactures, which is clearly demonstrated by this work since it shows all the technical and material characteristics typical of the first half of the eighteenth-century production: the “Jeunesse” was probably woven in the middle of the XVIII century. The scene itself is compelling: a rural clearing is depicted, centered around a tall tree with dense fronds with lance-shaped leaves. In the shade of this tree some scenes of courtship can be seen. A couple hugs each other, one is caught stealing a kiss and another, lying softly on the grass, is still at the early stages of courtship: together with the suitor the girl looks with smiling malice at the kissing couple. On the right, two young men practice archery while aiming at a target placed on top of a pole. The scene, with male and female characters intent on games and gallantry in a festive atmosphere, is taken - faithfully, but in mirror-image - from an engraving, which in turn was itself taken from the painting (now kept at the National Gallery in London, inv. NG103 and part of a series with the four ages of man) by Nicolas Lancret, produced around 1735. The tapestry is accompanied by a copy of the engraving, which bears, at the bottom, the name of the author (“N. Lancret pinxit”), the name of the engraver (“N. De Larmessin sculpsit”) and four short verses on the subject of love disputes: Pourquoi tous ces combats si chers a la jeunesse, Quels frivoles talents veut-elle mettre au jour? Non: chacun voudroit vaincre aux yeux de sa Maitresse, La Lice est une Scène ou triomphe l’Amour. Why all these fights so dear to youth, What frivolous talents does it want to bring to light? No: everyone would want to win in the eyes of his Mistress, The Lice is a Scene where Love triumphs. At the bottom we read: “A’ Paris chez N. De Larmessin graveur du Roy Rue de Noyer à la 4 (?) porte cochère a droite entrant par la Rue St. Jacques A.P.D.R. [Avec Privilège Du Roy]”. Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743), along with Antoine Watteau, was a pupil of Pierre Durin and Claude Gillot...
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Mid-18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Tapestry, Wool, Silk

18th Century French Aubusson Tapestry Gouache on Paper with Frame and Glass
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate a wall with this colorful, antique Aubusson drawing cartoon. Created in the city of Aubusson, France circa 1780 and set in a carved frame with gilt trim and protected with g...
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Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

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Previously Available Items
Set of Six 18th Century Hand Colored Engravings of the Gardens at Versailles
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A rare set of six 18th century copper plate hand coloured Engravings of various features in the Garden of Versailles including the labyrinths, the water theatre and what was called t...
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Mid-18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

Materials

Paper

Set of Four 18 Century Copper Plate Colored Engravings of Versailles Gardens
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A set of four hand colored 18 century copper plate engravings showing views and optical perspectives of certain features of the gardens at Versailles l\aid on hand-made paper. On...
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Mid-18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

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Paper

Set of 5 Hand-Colored Engravings by Duhamel de Monceau, 1768
By Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau
Located in Pasadena, CA
This is a fine set of 5 hand-colored engravings by the renown French botanist, Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782). The folios were taken from Duhamel du Monceau's Treatise on...
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1760s French Antique Louis XV Drawings

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Paper

Watercolor Design for Snuff Box Cover, French, 18th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
The framed watercolor of oval snuff box with figural bust and putto depicted with in Rococo cartouche.
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Mid-18th Century French Antique Louis XV Drawings

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Paper

French 18th Century Pen & Ink with Gauche Landscape Drawing
Located in Hudson, NY
This drawing done in pen and ink with washes and gauche highlights is French and done circa 1760 during the reign of Louis XV. The landscape is a work done most likely as a preparato...
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1760s French Antique Louis XV Drawings

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Wood, Paper

Rare Book-First Edition-Le Fete Marriage Le Dauphin
By Seymour de Ricci, Henri Cohen
Located in New Orleans, LA
Incredible Complete First Edition (1726-1746)of Two Books Bound Together with important Historical Engravings.They commemorate the two marriages of the Dauphin,son of Louis XV to Ma...
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18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XV Drawings

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Paper

Louis Xv drawings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Louis XV drawings for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 20th Century, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage drawings created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include wall decorations and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with paper, canvas and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Louis XV drawings made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Italy pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original drawings, popular names associated with this style include and Antoine Aveline. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for drawings differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $450 and tops out at $5,027 while the average work can sell for $3,000.

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