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.
$4,273Sale Price|20% Off
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...
Paper
$248 / item
H 27 in W 180 in D 2 in
Deliciosa Designer Wallpaper in Powder 'Blues, Turquoise and White'
By Aimee Wilder
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Want summer all year round? This monstera deliciosa leaf pattern brings the jungle into your home! Samples are available for $18 including US shipping, please message us to purchas...
Paper, Paint
$1,762Sale Price|35% Off
H 24.02 in W 0.02 in D 0.04 in
19th Century French Hand Painted Wallpaper Frieze Second Empire Era
Located in Sofia, BG
19th century roll of wallpaper frieze in trompe-l'oeil ribbon on an 8-way roll. About 61 m/0.05 cm. useful. Second Empire era, polychrome printing. ...
Paper
$2,300
H 24.5 in W 46 in D 1.5 in
18th Century French Aubusson Gouache Cartoon of a Courting Scene in Gilt Frame
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate a living room wall or study with this elegant and colorful 18th-century Aubusson gouache painting. Created in the renowned tapestry-making city of Aubusson, France circa 176...
Giltwood, Paper
$3,449
H 10.87 in W 8.86 in D 0.04 in
Rare 18th Century Erotic Scene Drawing, Attributed to Tobias Sergel
By Tobias Sergel
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
Rare 18th century Old master drawing of an explicit erotic scene of an couple having oral sex. Brown ink on paper with watermark, over pre-studies in black ch...
Paper
Panoramic Wallpaper panel, Exotic scene in the Zuber style
Located in Paris, FR
Very large panoramic wallpaper panel in the style of the Zuber suites. In the tradition of the exotic panoramas that fascinated Europe in the early 19th century, this work offers an...
Paper
$14,869
H 72.84 in W 93.31 in D 1.97 in
Grisaille Wallpaper from the series "Psyche", France 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Large grisaille wallpaper from the series "Psyche", designed in 1815 by Merry-Joseph Blondel & Louis Lafitte for Dufour Paris. The three panels sho...
Other
$990
H 24.25 in W 36.25 in D 1.25 in
18th Century French Aubusson Gouache Cartoon of Goats in Landscape
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate a wall with this charming antique Aubusson tapestry cartoon, crafted in France circa 1780. Protected behind glass and presented in a wide molded frame with gilt trim, the ha...
Giltwood, Paper
$238 / item
H 27 in W 180 in D 0.94 in
Cactus Spirit Designer Wallpaper in Tequila 'Turquoise and White'
By Aimee Wilder
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Give your home a taste of the Southwest with this graphic, oversized cactus repeat! This pattern combines saguaros, aloe, agave, peyote, prickly pear, San Pedros and more, the perfec...
Paint, Paper
$3,747
H 99.61 in W 116.54 in D 0.4 in
Decorative Panoramic Wallpaper look like a Scène Céleste in Antique Style
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This decorative panoramic wallpaper in antique-style paper is inspired by early 19th century French wall décor. This mural reproduces French printed panoramas of the period, featurin...
Canvas, Paper
$11,895
H 108.67 in W 92.52 in D 1.19 in
Zuber French Scenic Wallpaper Panels The Japanese Garden Landscape Scene
By Jean Zuber
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...
Wood, Paper
Five wallpaper panels, China, 18th century
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
These five wallpaper panels are hung on canvas stretched over wooden frames. Against a plain beige background, a hilly landscape unfolds across the lower quarter of the panels. Each ...
Paper
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 repeat: 46.7cm (18.4in) Wallpaper: Non-woven 147gsm Uncoated Fire rating: Fire certified for both Europe and the USA. Classified to BS En 13501-1-1:2002, class B, s1, d0 This design is the culmination of several years Dr Susy Paisley spent living in, and besotted with, Mexico. It celebrates the incredible diversity of Mexican cacti. Mexico is one of the world's centre of endemism for this group of plants, and includes marvels like the Creeping Devil, a cactus in this design which actually moves across the desert floor! Cacti are enjoying a new popularity, but globally, one out of three cacti is in need of conservation attention. The design includes the Chisos Moungtain hedgehog cactus, hallucoinogenic Peyote, a critically endangered dragonfruit, which forms the long tendrils in the design, and lesser long-nosed bat (an essential pollinator for cacti) and the iconic saguaro and crested saguaro...
Paper
Painted Wallpaper Panel of Cherubs, French, Louis XVI
Located in Doylestown, PA
A grisaille painted wallpaper panel of two kissing cherubs in a classical landscape, circa 1780, France. Probably was a panel above a door or mirror.
Paper