art history question

Part I

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Introduction to Part I

ln the course of the eighteenth century parallel revolutions in methods of production and patterns of consumption profoundly affected the history of manufactured products in

Europe and in North America. Amid the consolidation of the monarchy in France, Louis XIV

gave visual expression to his political authority and majesty through artistic patronage on

a grand scale, overseeing the administration of modern facilities for the production of the

decorative arts. ln Creat Britain, as an elastic growth in consumer demand stretched across

geographic and social boundaries in the second half of the century a generation of entrepre-

neurial manufacturers and merchants introduced changes in the organizalion of labor and

the technology of production that recognized the roles of design and marketingin an

expanding economy. New materials and processes took shape, greater productivity was

achieved, and a confidence in the attainment of middle-class material comfort emerged,

linked to the desire for social mobility and individual fulfillment. This dynamic, interdepend-

ent relation between production and consumption, involving new technologies, marketing,

communications, and competitive commercial practices, provides the foundation for the

study of modern design.

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Chapt er 1

r.r Charles Le Brun, Louis XIV lnspecting the Gobelins Manufactory, tapestry, manufactured at the Cobelins Tapestry Manufactory, -tzftzinxt9ft $1 x 5.8 m), c. t66z-78. Palace of Versailles, France

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During the age of absolutism in the later seventeenth cen- tury monarchs often invested directly in the large-scale production ofluxury goods as a visible expression ofroyal hegemony. In addition to commissioning furnishings from independent craft workshops (see page 4), royal patrons also sponsored the construction and oversaw the management of large facilities for the manufacture of goods under centralized control. Design was an integral element in creating distinctive, "branded" products that communicated the aura of majesty and prestige associated with monarchical power. Manufactories also associated monarchs with higher levels of productivity that character- ized a civilized nation. In France, for instance, the growing demand for luxury goods and furnishings at the court of Louis XIV (1638-1715) stimulated the establishment of the state-owned manufactory just south of Paris at Gobelins in 1662, eventually employing z5o workers in the production

oftapestries and other furnishings. In one ofa series of14 tapestries $662-fi78) designed by the court painter Charles Le Brun (1619-169o), who served as "director" of

the Gobelins, a distinctively attired Louis XIV is depicted at the upper le{t visiting the Royal Manufactory at Gobelins in the company of ministers including (to the king's left) his minister of finance fean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) as well as Le Brun to his right (fig. r.r). The king enters a large room from the rear, filled with a lavish array oftex- tiles and furnishings such as gold and silver urns and trays and an elaborately inlaid table, all products ofthe Gobelins workshops. In the right half of the tapestry, a standing fig- ure points to a tall cabinet with twisted columns of carved foliage against a deep blue ground, while to his right a fig- ure carries on his shoulder a large wooden floor tile with inlaid decoration. Scholars have identified these figures respectively as Pierre Gole (c. fi3o-r7o5l and Domenico Cucci (c. :,6zo-:,684), the former a cabinet-maker of Dutch descent working in Paris and the latter an artist trained in Italy and brought to the Gobelins at the king's request. Seventeenth-century traditions of virhroso craflsmanship in furniture-making, involving intricate marquetry in stone or in precious materials such as ivory and tortoise- shell, were especially strong both in Holland and in ltaly, and the importance of these kinds of skills in projecting

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r.2 Domenico Cucci, cabrnet, pine and oak with ebony veneer, set with pietra dure plaques with gilt bronze rnounts, 117'16x71 3le xz5'/.in (299 x t 96 x 65 cm), t 683-4, from the Pa ace of Versailles. Alnwick Castle,

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cultural exclusivity are demonstrated by the king's efforts to install both masters at the newly established manufac- tory. While few royal commissions from Louis XIV's court of Versailles have survived, figure r.z illustrates one of tlvo grand cabinets designed by Cucci, featuring carved and gilded figures as well as deeply carved naturalistic decora-

tion along with marble and wood marquetry panels in a variety of colors. This cabinet is over 9 feet tall, resembles

an elaborate faEade for a building, and utilizes the most precious of raw materials as well as the most consummate

skills associated with painting and sculpture to transform and ennoble those materials.

A consciously overwhelming display, the abundance of goods depicted in the Gobelins tapestry reinforces visu- ally the social prestige and political power associated with the arts. The richness of the setting and feeling for display (rather than for Ihe use of the furnishings themselves) emphasizes a direct relationship between absolute monar-

chy and the flourishing of culture. The series of which this

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tapestry is a part illustrated r4 events in the life ofthe king, and it is worthwhiie noting that in addition to battles, treaties, births, and marriages, the patronage of the arts, including the decorative arts, is also included and there- fore significant. While the products of Gobelins and other manufactories may have served the needs and political interests of a small and wealthy elite, economists such as

Jean-Baptiste Say $767-t832) articulated the principle that royal and aristocratic investment and consumption meant material progress for all of society, stimulating the economy on a more general level by employing more peo- ple at all levels of production, and promoting exports of such goods abroad; the result was a favorable trade balance as well as an international reputation for luxury living. As historian Caroline Weber relates, when Queen Marie Antoinette was asked by her husband Louis XVI to curb her personal expenditure on clothing and 1ewe1ry as pub- 1ic criticism of royal indulgence swelled in the r78os, the queen replied that to do so would put 2oo shops out of business. In the mid-nineteenth century the Empress Eug6nie of France, who supposedly never wore the same gown more than once, remarked that in maintaining her wardrobe she was helping to provide the silk workers of Lyon with their livelihood.

Grandeur and projection of majesty were certainly the goals of Louis XIV's palace at Versailles, designed by archi-

tect fules Hardouin-Mansart $646-17o8) and built prima- rily between ;678 and 1684. In order to create the palace's Hallof Mirrors (begun 1678), which connected the king's private apartments with the palace's chapel and was used to receive visitors (fig. r.l), Colbert created a manufactory to produce the large mirrors and windows ofthe hall. Later known as St. Gobain (and still in business today), ihe manufactory rivaled giass production in the Republic of Venice, known at the time for its high quality and techni- ca1 expertise in glass production. It is hardly a surprise that such investment and patronage confirmed the role of the

decorative or mechanical arts in stimulating the economy, demonstrating technical achievement, as well as adding beauty and prestige to objects ofuse.

In much of Europe, only royalty possessed suflicient wealth to realize such high levels of productivity and sty1e.

Large-scale facilities such as Gobelins required significant

investment in raw materials, equipment, space, and labor, as well as the costs of oversight and administration. As the

scale of operations increased, the need to achieve greater volume, efficiency, and control led to specialization. Among the best-informed guides to the practices of labor and industry at the time were the French writers Denis Diderot (r7t3-ry8$ and fean le Rond dAlembert (r7t7-ry831, whose Encyclop6die, first published between

ry5r and 1772, conlarns hundreds of engraved illustrations

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r.3 Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Palace of Versailles, Hall of Mirrors, 1678-1684. Mirrors manufactured at St. Cobain, Paris

documenting the accumulated practical knowledge and industry of their time. The degree of specialization in both labor and tools is remarkable in its complexity and ration- alization. An engraved plate from Ihe Encyclopldie (fig. r.4) gives some indication of the size of the tapestry manufac- tory at Gobelins in the mid-eighteenth century and the orderly arrangement of a large number of high-warp looms in a spacious, well-lit interior (one of three tapestry-

14 rrierio( Cobelins Factory, High Warp Looms, engraved plate from Ir- s Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert, Encyclopd.die, Paris, t75t-t772

weaving facilities at the Gobelins). Later in the nineteenth century illustrated books, often printed in series, depicted the rational organization oflabor as a series ofspecialized tasks in large, well-organized facilities to produce a wide variety of "useful manufactures." Such volumes were often published by manufacturers themselves as a form of advertising, or in small formats for children as a means of education and entertainment (storybooks for children were also among the earliest genres for printed color illus- trations). The connection between specialization, efficien- cy, and progress became commonplace in the nineteenth century though its emergence earlier at the Gobelins and in other industries subsidized or stimulated by royal demand or investment was highly developed during the eighteenth century.

Under the conditions of royal paftonage, the division of labor improved efficiency but did not lead to a decline in quality or to the dry and repetitive work associated with mass production in the more competitive economic condi- tions of the nineteenth century; in fact, specialization inspired innovation and experiment. Tianslating the sketches or cartoons ofcourt painters into tapestries was a challenge demanding collaboration and skill. It required

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the development of a wide array of dyes to match the range

of the painter's palette, increased attention to delicate details, and the presewation of the overall unity and integrity of monumental compositions. During the eigh- teenth century the Gobelins tapestry manufactory devel- oped a paiette of more than ro,ooo vegetable dyes for their products to approximate the varied tonalities and hues of the sketches (cartoons) they transformed into wall-hang- ings on the 1oom. In the mid-nineteenth century the chief of this department, Michel-Eugdne Chevreul (r786-1889), was among the most respected color theorists of his day, and his books on the subject were frecluently read by late- nineteenth-century artists such as Georges Seurat (r859-r89r). Using models provided by "designers," as in the royal manufactories, was not a sewile act of copying; rather it involved a creative transformation from one medium to another demanding great knowledge of mate- rials, cooperation with other phases of production, and a keen interest in process.

Anrrsrs AND CRAFTSMEN

The state-owned system of manufacture encouraged the participation of painters and sculptors in the applied arts. Court painters such as Le Brun and later FranEois Boucher (r7o3-r77o) were responsible for supplying designs to the manufactories at Gobelins and the porcelain manufactory at Sdwes (see page zz), and both artists held the position of "director" for the activities of these large workshops. Such a practice ensured unity of style and expression in all aspects ofinterior decoration, and corresponded to an ideal image projected by the monarchs and courts that were their primary if not exclusive, patrons. The decorative arts of the period bear the name of the French kings, from the Baroque grandeur of Louis XIV to the more intimate and sensual Rococo of Louis XY (r. t7z3-r774), and finally to the restrained classicism of Louis XVI (r. ry74-r79\.The products and furniture from all three styles demonstrate the most refined levels of skill and craftsmanship, from the carving and joinery of the chassis and mechanical parts such as drawers or doors, to the more sculptural carved decoration, intricate marquetry and inset plaques, to the casting and gilding of metal fittings.

Painters or sculptors who provided models to manu- factories enjoyed a higher professional status than the craftsmen who produced those models. The elite audience for painting and sculpture acknowledged the fine arts as "liberal" rather than manual or mechanical, and judged their value along moral and intellectual lines as well as technical ones. The artist's choice and development of a subject was expected to educate as well as to please the patron, and the training of fine artists in academies rather

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than in workshops, as well as the exhibition of their works at the biennial Parisian Salons further confirmed this difference. Despite the general acknowledgment of such distinctions, there appears to have been a healthy collabo- ration between artists and craftsmen in France throughout much of the eighteenth century which contributed to the quality and reputation of luxury goods and furnishings produced for a discriminating clientele. Under the French monarchy, a.Il the arts possessed political as well as social meanings that reinforced the role of the state in oversee- ing and regulating the means of production.

In working closely with weavers or other craftsmen, the artist-designer balanced concerns for a convincing image or narrative with respect for the integrity of surface reinforced by borders and other areas ofpatterned, planar decoration. Perhaps unlike some of their revolutionary counterparts at the end of the eighteenth century who dis- missed craftsmen as servile employees dependent upon the favor of wealthy and aristocratic clients, court painters such as Boucher would hardly have been offended to see their sketches embroidered on a fire screen or on the back of an upholstered chair. These artists moved freely and seemingly without conflict between the Salon and the drawing room, the official and the private, the serious and the sensual. Indeed, the quality, refinement, and well- being associated with the decorative arts of the pre-revolu- tionary period would become an inspiration for a number of later French Art Nouveau and Art Moderne designers seeking to revitalize the French national heritage in the competitive international economy of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Aspects of the eighteenth-century design process may be seen in the tapestry The Chinese Fair (fig. r.5), designed by Boucher and woven at the Beauvais manufactory (also subsidized by the French monarchy) inry4z. The tapestry more than r8 feet long, depicts a series ofwell-dressed and well-attended figures examining a variety of wares aligned

along a road that proceeds diagonally from the lower left toward the upper right corner. In addition to the figures and their exotic costumes are palm trees and pagodalike architecture. China was a popular source of mostly genre

and pastoral subjects (often known as chinoiserie) in the early to mid-eighteenth century. Not only does the scene convey rhe hazy atmosphere of a summer afternoon, but details, such as the deep red parasol held by a young curly- haired sewant at the lower left, with its spontaneous flecks of lavender highlights, seem to test the limitations of the medium and expand its range of expression in response to Boucher's feeling for the beauty of afternoon light.

In addition to tapestry the silk-weaving trade also flourished in the eighteenth century. The silk industry served the demand for both dress as well as material for

r.5 FranEois Boucher, The Chinese Fair, lapestry, manulactured at the Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory, rr ft rr in x r8 ft z ln $$.2x553.7 cm),ry42. Minneapolis lnstltute of Arts.

interior wall-coverings, draperies, and upholstery and expanded with increased royal patronage in response to the impulse for distinction and luxury living. One of the leading centers for silk weaving in eighteenth-century Europe was the French city of Lyon. The growth of this industry demonstrated both an inventiveness of tech- niques for exploring textures and effects and collaboration with designers who drew patterns that were transformed into woven silk. An example of a delicate floral pattern for a dress fabric, dating to around t77o, is illustrated in fig- ure r.6. The designer was Philippe de LaSalle (r74-fio5), a merchant-manufacturer who trained as a painter and whose teachers included FranEois Boucher. De LaSalle designed fabrics for royal residences at Versailles and Fontainebleau and worked for other royal patrons in Spain as well as in Russia. His designs frequently employ floral and bird motifs in a pictorial style suggesting deft brush- work set against rich, highly saturated backgrounds. Their production involved a technique known as point rentr6, which interlocked threads of diflerent coiors in order to produce more subtie shading. The technique was devel- oped earlier in the centuryby lean Revel (1684-175r), also from Lyon; Revel's father was a painter who worked under Le Brun at Versailles.

De LaSalle also developed a device that accelerated the production process on hand-drawn looms in order to facili- tate the weaving of new pattems. His combination of design innovation and technical knowledge is characteristic of the

Philippe de LaSal e, patiern for a dress fabric, silk, t49'/.x zz (3Bo x 55.6 cm), c. t77o. Mus6e des Arts Decoratils, Paris.

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interrelationship between the arts and business acumen that produced the flowering of luxury decorative arts in pre- revolutionary France. fean le Rond dAlembert, Diderot's coeditor of the Encyclopddie (see pages r8-r9), expressed wonder at the level of expertise achieved by weavers: "Has anithing ever been imagined, in any domain, more ingen- ious than the process of weaving striped velvetl" The remark is yet another testimony to the awareness of and admiration for the technical expertise and creativity associ- ated with the applied arts during Ihe oncien r6gime.

In the later eighteenth century a synergy existed between the luxury textile industry and the aristocratic focus upon dress. At the court of Versailles, dress clearly conveyed royal splendor and provided a recognizable visual code of formal social distinctions. In the urban and increasingly fashionable quarters of Paris, dress communi- cated social aspirations and pretensions as well as personal identity, giving rise to boutiques and to rna.rchands de rnode or fashion merchants, such as Rose Bertin $747-t8ry), who designed outfits and accessories, including elaborate coiffures, for Marie Antoinette and other royal and wealthy customers. ln the ry7os, fashion illustrations (or plates) in journals replaced fashion dolls as a means for circulating the latest Parisian fashions to courts and tailors throughout Europe. Formal dress for women consisted of hips accentuated by layers of skirts, underskirts, and petticoats supported by hoops or panniers, a tightly corseted bodice, and a low neckline. The flowing silhouette that resulted from such an ensemble emphasized an idealized sensuality associated with the female body, but required elaborate undergarments that restricted physical activity. As prints and paintings of the period suggest, women trained to walk in such dresses appeared to glide or hover over the floor, heightening the desired eflect of idealization and distinction. The connection between royal patronage of design, productivity, and economic stability, implied in the tapestry representing Louis XIV inspecting the workshops at the Gobelins (see fig. r.r), continued to provide a rationale for monarchical authority and preroga- tive even as more democratic attitudes emerged that challenged this established order in a variety of ways.

PoncelRtt't

As seen in Boucher's The Chinese Fair above (see fig. r.5), Asia generated much intrigue and excitement in Europe during the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, both as a source of adventure and of economic expansion. In the arts, interest accrued to imported lacquer fumishings and to porcelain - a smooth, refined combination of ceramic materials fired at high temperatures (and producing a distinctive ring when tapped), possessing translucent

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surfaces. The ingredients and techniques of porcelain production were unknown in Europe until the early eighteenth century in Germany. ln r7to, a royal manufac- tory for the production of highly prized hard-paste porcelain was established under Augustus II, elector of Saxony and king of Poland $67o-ry) at Meissen. In France, a manufactory founded in ry38 to produce soft- paste porcelain was relocated in ry56 from Vincennes to Sdwes near Paris. Its range of wares satisfied both royal demand and the tastes of a sophisticated urban elite in the later eighteenth century.

Porcelain from the royal manufactory at Sdwes ranged from extensive dinner services consisting of plates, saucers, and cups for multi-course meals, to display pieces such as candelabra and pot-pourri containers featuring carved and painted decoration and more fanciful shapes as well as brilliant glazes. Sdvres porcelain also included carved figurines based upon classical themes or upon subl'ects derived from contemporary popular theater and entertainment. Upon close observation, dinner plates reveal smooth surfaces, precisely patterned scalloped edges, and delicately painted borders with floral patterns that appear to float against a polished, milk-white translu- cent ground. It is generally agreed that such elaborate services, numbering to hundreds of individual pieces, were of distinctly higher quality than the Chinese export pottery specifically manufactured for European (and American) markets at the request of trading companies that began to face competition from the more recently established domestic manufactories. Services of export porcelain often were individualized through the inclusion of coats of arms for the families who commissioned them, and were generally based upon designs supplied to the Chinese manufactories by merchants. At manufactories such as Sdvres or Meissen, a closer collaboration between designers and craftsmen generally produced more symbi- otic results.

Better known for their display in eighteenth-century period rooms in major museum collections throughout Europe and the United States are the pink and turquoise, green, or even violet and yellow vases with delicately paint- ed scenes and patterns, elaborately carved handles, relief decoration, and gilded accents. Such display pieces reveal greater specialization oflabor and a resulting brilliance of effect. Among the most complex and fanciful of this type is the monumental pot-pourri container (fig.t.Z) in the shape of a tall boat, the sweeping pyramidal "sail' of which is perforated to allow fragrances to escape. On either side, a carved personification of a "wind" blows in either direction, alluding to the freshness of sea breezes. The container dates to around ry6r and was modeled by the ltalian-born goldsmith fean-Claude Duplessis (c. fi95-r774), who

worked at Sdwes and was responsible for some of the more inventive production at the manufactory.

Tur CurLDs

Alongside the large state-owned industries that flourished in France and elsewhere during the eighteenth century there coexisted a longstanding tradition of independent craft organizations known as guilds (corps in French), many of which were organized as early as the thirteenth century. Guilds generally consisted of smaller workshops employing apprentices and journeymen working under the direction of a master who was trained in all aspects of a particular skill such as furniture-making, glass manufac- ture, or metalwork. Masters owned or rented space for manufacturing their goods on commission directly from a patron. During the course of the eighteenth century mas- ters also operated through merchants acting as intermedi- aries with clients; their role increased in importance and included aspects of design (see page z4). Guilds main- tained high standards of craftsmanship and, aside from the state-owned manufactories whose products they

t.7 Jean-Claude Duplessis, pot-pourri container in the shape ofa masted s- p, soft-paste porcelain, t4./ox t3i,/tx 6'/.in 37.4x33.5xt4.5 cm\, :. -16t, manufactured at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory at Sdvres. .t'addesdon Manor, Aylesbury.

reserved the right to inspect, enjoyed a relative monopoly of craft production. In the later nineteenth century the founders of the Arts and Crafts movement romantically recalled, in an age of increased mechanization and mass production, the technical knowledge, high levels of skill, and independence associated with the guilds. Even in the early twentieth century faculty at the Bauhaus in'Weimar were given the title of "master" rather than "professor" to reflect associations with the guild tradition (see page r97), and direct experience with materials and craft production still remain part of both art and design education in many colleges and universities. For admission to a guild as a master, journeymen were required to produce a "nx&ster- piece," judged by guild members and providing evidence of ski11 as well as invention. The trades of metalwork, par-

ticularly in precious materials, and wood carving and mar- quetry in the furniture trade, were among the most highly respected crafts during the eighteenth century with closer ties to the fine art of sculpture. And as noted above, the design of patterns for silk weaving was often undertaken by artists trained as painters, at least at the higher end of the market.

Guild organizations paid taxes to a monarch or prince in exchange for exclusive rights to manufacture and dis- tribute their products in a particular region, enabling the guild to set prices and protecting them from open compe- tition. Low prices were equated with reduced quality, and thus were judged by the guilds as not being in the best interests of the consumer. Like state-owned or subsidized manufactories, the guilds depended for the most part upon the patronage of a privileged clientele who commis- sioned unique and individual works either directly from a master or through the intermediary of a merchant. These tvvo systems of production coexisted in eighieenth-century France. Scholars have explained that the craftsmen work- ing directly for the crown, such as Pierre Gole or Domenico Cucci, were exempt from guild restrictions; this enabled them to combine skills with a greater degree of novelty and originality.

Although luxury works such as Domenico Cucci's cab- inet (see ftg. r.z) were made to order, expanding demand in the eighteenth century often led to the establishment of basic types offurniture rather than entirely unique pieces, and during this time a typology of standard pieces such as commodes, consoles, sofas, bergdres, and secretaries emerged. In response to the development of typologies, and the accompanying specialization of production, entirely new guilds also emerged. The industry of furni- ture-making is one such example; the growing complexi- ties of production were illustrated in the plates of Diderot and dAlemb erl' s Ency clop 6d.ie. ln the mid-ei ghteenth cen- tury the making of a luxury item such as a dressing table

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or bureau might involve the efforts of a number of distinct crafts. A basic carved chassis might be the responsibility of the carpenter or menusier, while the veneers and mar- quetry designs were the work of an 4bdniste. A goldsmith or porcelain manufactory supplied gilt fittings or ceramic plaques, while a separate group of craftsmen was respon- sible for upholstery unlizing woven fabrics ordered from yet another manufactory usually located in the French city ofLyon (see page zr).

Specialization also resulted in the development of other varied areas ofexpertise that continue to form part of our understanding of the history of design. In addition to determining the size, overall form, and different types of materials, construction, and decoration of a particular table or chest ofdrawers, artisans also gave careful consid-

eration to the mechanical functions of individual parts - that is, the way these pieces "interacted" with their users. The efficiently designed sliding table with pop-up mirrors combined the function of a desk with that of a vanity, as seen in figure r.8, an example from the workshop of German-born master fean-Henri Riesener $:1.4-18o6l made for Marie Antoinette (r755-r793). As noted above, specialization increasingly necessitated the services of the

rnarchand. mercier, a merchant (mercer) or furniture dealer

r.8 Jean-Henri Rlesener, writing table with pop-up mirrors, oak veneered with bols satind (6loodwood), holly, black-stained holly,

amaranth, berberis, stained sycamore, and green lacquered wood,

gilt-bronze mounts, 3t x 44'/.x27 in (78.7 x tt3 x 68.6 cm\, t778. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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who often liaised between customer and craftsmen. These

individuals often subcontracted a commission to several shops, coordinating the efforts of a number of master craftsmen to create furniture for sale in the merchant's shop. In Paris, many of the merchants' retail premises were located on the Right Bank in the fashionable rue Saint-Honor6, still a center for upscale retail and designer shops today. Mercers were often trained as craftsmen and

may have worked as designers; but their role is perhaps best understood as being in direct contact with customers, catering to as well as shaping their desires.

In the eighteenth century commercially minded mer- cers attracted customers with shop signs hanging outside the door (an example is Antoine Watteau's sign for the merchant Edm6-Frangois Gersaint's store Au Grand Monarque, though located at the Pont Notre-Dame rather

than on the rue Saint-Honor6 and dating to rTzo) and framed portraits of royal clients hanging on the walls. The

mercer's role is a telling feature of eighteenth-century commerce. It demonstrates that the production of luxury goods involved a broad range ofinterdependent activities that included designing and various kinds of "making" as well as an ability to translate or stimulate the desire of a wealthy and cultured client for a combination of beauty, comfort, display, practicality, and convenience into a manufactured object that remains part of our understand-

ing of the term "design'as the value added to articles of use, often in a domestic setting.

Many products of this manufacturing system remain among the most celebrated examples of eighteenth-centu-

ry comfort. A good example is a secretary (fig. t.g) dating to around ry87 thatcombines marquetry designs from the workshop of Adam Weisweiler (ry44-r8zo; like Riesener, a German master craftsman working in Paris) and a series ofSdvres plaques used as surface decoration. This piece is

remarkable less for its grandeur or elaborate decoration than for the precision of its manufacture and the ingenu- ity of its pull-down writing surface, which takes up less space than a large desk. Such furniture was designed with

spatial efficiency in mind for clients furnishing apart- ments in the city rather than more expansive country estates. The plaques illustrate scenes of comfortably dressed shepherds dancing or resting in a landscape, and closely resemble similar subjects painted by FranEois Boucher, such as a r74g canvas entitled An Autumn Pastoral in the Wallace Collection in London.

Since the furnishings of a single room ofluxury furni- ture might cost more than the annual salary of a skilled worker, only an exclusive clientele could enjoy the beauty

and comfort of such furniture. The literary pastimes of this elite clientele are the subject offean-FranEois de T?oy's

La Lecture de Molidre (c. rZ2Si fig. r.ro), a painting whose

r.9 Adam Weisweiler, secretary, with Sdvres plaques after Boucher and Pater,

48'l x 30'/, x t 4'/. in (i21.4 x 75.9 x 36.2 cm), c. t787. Wallace Collection, London.

interior setting is less frequently depicted by De Tioy's contemporaries such as Boucher, fean-Baptiste-foseph Pater, Nicolas Lancret, or Jean-Honor6 Fragonard, artists who preferred scenes of music parties or picnics in park- like surroundings. The furniture depicted in De T?oy's interior contributes more than a measure of comfort and informality to the gathering and the participants' relaxed enjoyrnent of the pleasures of reading and listening.

Along with intimate reading and listening, interiors were also the setbing for cultivated conversation in the homes of the wealthy known as salons, named for the drawing rooms in which such gatherings occurred (not to be confused with the official "Salons" where sculpture and painting were exhibited in public; see page zo). Eighteenth-century salons were often organizedby women and offered an alternative to court formality and protocol. Salons also cultivated intellectual curiosity and freedom in the Age of Enlightenment. As art historian Leora Auslander has explained, features of eighteenth-century furniture relate both to the salon and to women, particu- larly the drawer mechanisms on secretaries or dressing tables that facilitated their ease of use (see page z4l.The intellectual climate of the period is suggested in the interior design ofthe Grand Salon ofthe H6tel Gaillard de la BouExidre in Paris (now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts) dating to the reign of Louis XV (c. r7j5; fr,g. Lrr).

t.ro Jean-FranEois de Troy, La Lecture de Moliire

(The Readingfrom Moliire),

oil on canvas, z9'/a x

35 5h in (7.7 x 93.4 cm),

c. 1725. Privale collection.

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The salon is an oval room decorated with cawed and gilded trophies and friezes relating to the arts, to nature's abundance, and to amusement - here in the form of monkeys inhabiting vine scrolls and playing musical instruments. Only an educated audience familiar with allusions to classical mythology would have appreciated the invention, skill, and literary associations inherent in the ensemble, in which a sophisticated and coordinated approach to design is evident.

As well as furniture and interior design, other decora- tive ob1'ects designed for the domestic interior demonstrate the cultivated sensibilities of the period, and in particular the close relationship between fine and applied art that existed in the luxury trade. In De Troy's Lq. Lecture de Molidre, a large clock rests on a table at the back of the room. Charles Cressent (1685-1768) was a master 6b6niste working in Paris; he was also trained as a sculptor and manufactured his own gilded metal mounts or fittings. Among his most intricate creations are clock cases, such as the cartel or wall clock made of gilded bronze illustrated

in figure rtz and dating Io r74o-r745 during the reign of Louis XV. Atop the clock is an allegorical figure represent- ing Time wielding a scythe above the circular clock. Below, contained within a C-shaped scroll, is Cupid, reaching out as if to interrupt the motion of Time. Asymmetrically surrounding the figures is a rich array of thick foliage that suggests an overgrowth in need of pruning. The ensemble suggests that love conquers time, appropriate for an object that keeps and measures time's passage and also reveals how we may defeat its ravages. Clocks combined the most complicated mechanical ingenuity of the period with reflection upon the meaning of time on a symbolic level.

ln ry9r, the revolutionary government in France abol- ished the monopolies enjoyed by the guilds for craft pro- duction as vestiges of monarchy and privilege. The guild system, which had been responsible both for the educa- tion of craftsmen and the protection of exclusive produc- tion values, had to adjust to a succession of new official patrons, from the revolutionary government to the

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Directory $792-t79), Consulate (r799-8o4\, Empire (r8o4-r8r4), and finally the restored monarchy after r8r5. Those governments continued to assume responsibility for patronage and education, sponsoring "official styles" and establishing schools for the training of designers to replace or supplement earlier workshop practice. At the same time, merchants and manufacturers were generally forced to adjust to more entrepreneurial conditions, including international trade and resulting competition. The return of centralized authority in France under Napoleon Bonaparte $769-t8zrl in r8o4 led to renewed royal patronage and an oflicial "Empire" style in the deco- rative arts, created in part by the architects Charles Percier

9764-fi38) and Pierre Fontaine $762-r8y), who pro- duced severe Neoclassical designs for furniture and fur- nishings, meant to embody the enduring spirit of reason and repudiate the decorative excess associated with the a.ncien rdgime. Percier and Fontaine published their designs in Receuil d,es d.dcorqtions intdrieures in r8or. The engraved plates from this work (fig. r.r3) show forms inspired by the study of Greek as well as Roman imperial art, and decoration ulilizing Classical figures alluding to time-honored themes such as military victory fame, and love. By invoking the sober forms of an ancient past, the designers and craftsmen of the decorative arts under the Empire believed that transforrning taste would restore and promote values of reason embodied in the forms of Classical art.

r.r3 Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, interior, from Receutl des ddcorations intdrieures, Paris, r8rz (first published r8oi).

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Although the royal laws that protected the guilds from competition had been abolished after the Revolution, fur- nishings designed and manufactured during the Empire show remarkable continuity with the traditions of luxury craft: the techniques of woodworking and metals contin- ued to be practiced at the highest and most demanding levels of skill and with patronage provided by a restored central authority. Design remained a tool of statecraft under Napoleon and designers such as Percier and Fontaine were responsible for creating his public image, transforming Neoclassicism into a style of authority and of a new rational order extending to Ihe organization of French society. Indeed, the fine q.nd decorative arts were an important part of Napoleon s ambitions to reshape French society after the Revolution.

Despite the restoration of centralized political author- ity, the new circumstances created in the aftermath of the French Revolution were not always conducive to main- taining an effective and progressive collaboration and interchange between craftsmen, artists, mercers, and clients that had contributed to the quality and reputation for luxury goods both in France and abroad during most of the eighteenth century. Tracing the history of the deco- rative arts in the aftermath of the revolutionary period involves a consideration of many factors, such as intro- ducing steam power in production technologies for some industries (for instance in weaving), promoting efforts on the part of government to identify and maintain standards for design, supporting the French reputation for luxury goods, as well as developing new commercial strategies in retailing and merchandising for expanding consumption in a more competitive international economic climate. The effects of such developments are more fully explored in the next chapter.

Despite the exclusivity that dominated the production

and consumption of the decorative arts during the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the efforts of the guilds to limit competition, and the tensions between gov- ernment and guild, between court and salon, and between fine and mechanical arts, the ancien rdginte provided the political, social, and aesthetic context for the development of a highly successful approach to luxury design that was the enly of other nations during the eighteenth century. Whether through rhe rnarchq.nd n+ercier who catered to the tastes of a cultivated elite, or through Le Brun or Percier and Fontaine, who established through their efforts the prestige and aura ofroyal and aristocratic authority, design emerged as a task or skill related to and yet distinct from making, connecting finished products to the ideals and aspirations of their audience. Those values linked manu- factured goods to art, to industry to nationalism, and to the quality of life in a society with a hierarchical social and

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political order; in time that order came under pressure from the democratic forces of political revolution and its economic as well as social consequences.

Tu e PntNTER's ART

Diderot and dAlemberl's EncyclopAiie is noteworthy not only for what its engraved plates reveal about the complex organization and practice of many industries, including the decorative arts, but also for its ambitious scope as a publishing venture. In its fiffit edition, the Encyclopddie comprised 17 volumes of text and thousands of engraved illustrations released over 2r years, and earned a consider- able profit for its publisher through subscription sales. The search for and dissemination of knowledge, the for- mation of private libraries by aristocratic and other wealthy patrons, the pastime of reading aloud or privately (as illustrated in fig. r.ro), as well as the emergence of newspapers (broadsides) and other popular and ephemer- al printed materials, stimulated significant changes in the craft of printing that also form a part of the history of modern design. While the Encyclopddie generated interest for the currency of information it contained on the widest range of subjects, its publisher was also concerned with the quality of its production in terms of printing, binding, and the overall presentation of the text and images for a wealthy and disciminating clientele. Each aspect of print- ing production, from papermaking (from boiling rags into pulp rather than from wood) to punch-cutting, matrix- casting, page design, and scrupulous editing, had become a specialized task by the eighteenth century achieving high levels of expertise and skill for a market that valued the book as an object of beauty and a sign of cultivation as

well as a product of use. The types for the Encyclopddie were purchased from

Pierre Simon Fournier le jeune ("the younger," rTrz-ry68), among the best-known tfpe founders of the period. Fournier developed an early version of the point system for measuring type, and had published his own specimens of type and printers' decorations for borders and frames (known as fleurons) in his Moddles des Ca.ractiresinry4z. He also published a manual presenting

and celebrating the achievements of the printing profes- sion. Fournier's types display refined characteristics derived from the "King's Roman' (romain du roi) designed, at the direction of Louis XIV for the exclusive use of the crown. Historians of type often use the adjective "mechan- .

ica1" in describing these letterforms, signaling a shift from the freer forms of calligraphically inspired letters (derived from traditions of writing with a quill pen) toward more precise and rational ("typographic") letters featuring hair- line (rather than bracketed) serifs, stronger contrasts

between thick and thin strokes, vertical rather than slant- ed shading or stress of letters, and greater uniformity in the width of all thick strokes. Following Fournier, the Didot family of printers in Paris, beginning with Franqois- Ambroise $:3o-fio4) and spanning several generations from the later eighteenth to the early nineteenth centuries, also mastered the new concerns with typography, page design, and the overall quaiity of production. The portabil-

ity of books and the printers' practice of publishing speci- men books of their typefaces and fleurons for publishers and workshop use (or for posierity in the more luxurious examples) created a good deal of communication and cross-fertilization both in Europe and across the Atlantic. The reputation of the Didot family, for instance, was rec- ognized by the American printer and statesman Benjamin Franklin, himself a printer, who apprenticed his grandson to a branch of the Parisian firm in ry85.

Generally, historians of qpography, such as Philip Meggs, view the late eighteenth century as "an epoch of typographic genius." Examining a leather-bound volume published by the firm of Didot more than justifies this claim. The reduction of crowding between letters as well as lines, the ample margins, and the precise contours of letterforms result from careful planning and execution, and from attention to the role of each element both sepa- rately and in relation to one another. Letters of the Didot typeface, illustrated in a volume of the poetry of Virgil (fig. r.r4) published in ry98 by Pierre Didot (FranEois- Ambroise's son, 176o-r853), are crisply cut and employ hairline serifs and a distinct contrast between thick and thin strokes of uniform width. Uniformity was also appiied to the height of each line of text (sometimes known as the x-height, the heights of capital letters being the same as iower-case ascenders) and to the repetition of shapes among the bodies of individual letterforms. Careful examination and comparison with earlier eigh- teenth-century books also shows that faces such as Didot increase the length of lower-case letters like "g" or "d" that reach above or below the x-height, creating the impression of wider space between lines and less crowding of the text. Pierre Didot and other typographers aiso devoted attention to the serifs or letter endings of their fonts. While retain- ing cuwed brackets on capital letterforms such as the hor- izontal arms of the "l' or "E," such transitional elements were eliminated at the bases and tops of other letters. These changes are usually atiributed to the printers' desire to reduce the calligraphic character offonts and their asso- ciation with the inconsistency of handwritten letters. Considered together, the characteristics of the Didot font are usually described as "Modern" (or "Didonic" in anoth- er system ofclassification), whereas less contrast between thick and thin strokes, shorter ascenders and descenders,

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r.r4 Page from Virgil's Bucolica, Ceorgico, et Aeneis, Paits (Pierre Didot), 6'/,sx j'/. in (r53 x 8.9 cm), r798. Hagerty L brary, Drexel Un versity, Philade phla.

angled shading or stress, and bracketed serifs are features associated with "Old Face" (Humanistic and Garaldic). Both families of fonts belong to the broad category of type- faces known as "Roman," based in the upper case upon the canred inscriptions (epigraphy) known from Roman Imperial monuments such as the Pantheon and ?ajan's Column and in the lower case upon early medieval scripts revived by writing masters and early printers in Italy at the end of the fifteenth century.

Historians of tlpography have also noted that printers were interested in achieving a balance betr,veen the elegance of the letterforms, the organization of the page, and the leg- ibility of the text. This in turn may be seen as a parallel to transformations in other crafts where specialized expertise and experiment led to new leve1s of practical as well as aes- thetic achievement. Increasing the amount of white space on a page of printed type tends to make it more inviting to the reader - something that appears to have been taken into account by the printer in the design of the page layout. On the other hand, thin strokes may lack the strength to stand out on the page and consequently may tire the read- er's eye. Creating the desired effect - the balance between delicate effect and legibility - constitutes an important part of the printer's art and has remained a subject of debate among typographers and typographic historians.

As mentioned above, a number of eighteenth-century printers published extensive specimen books exhibiting the range of their achievement and providing modeis for others to follow. Among the most comprehensive is Giambattista Bodoni's (r74o-firy\ Manuqle Tipograf.co, published in two volumes in r8r8 (fig. r.r5) by his wife after the printer's death. Recruited as court printer to the duke of Parma (who was at the same time acquiring an important collection of books for his private library), Bodoni enjoyed the creative freedom to produce the Manuqle as a luxury work, with examples of dozens of typefaces in standard and italic fonts, as well as alphabets in Greek and Hebrew. The text of each page is framed by a bold double band with very wide margins on all sides. Other contemporary printers often employed borders around their texts, but also developed a vocabulary of patterned geometric or floral patterns (fleurons) that complemented the visual weight of the typeface, and recalled the intricate decorative flourishes of medieval scribes who copied their texts by hand in manuscripts. Bodoni limited this practice inhis Manuale, concenrralrng more upon the letterforms themselves and the overall design or architecture ofthe page.

Other typographic innovations were meant to ensure consistency in measurement and standards among the fonts developed by diflerent printers. Drawing upon earli- er initiatives to create families of type (fonts) in standard- ized sizes of uniform quality, Frangois-Ambroise Didot further developed a standard system of measurement in which the sizes of letters were referred to by points, 7z to

an inch. The point system gained currency in France, was later adopted in Britain and in Germany, and is still in use today (the type sizes that we effortlessly manipulate on

our computer screens are based on the same system). Innovations in eighteenth-century printing occurred in an exclusive milieu dominated by wealthy patrons with dis- criminating and exclusive taste. It is hardly surprising that the model for so-called "Modem" or "Didonic" typefaces emerged from the court of Louis XIV and was yet another aspect of the monarchy's effort to brand the products of the court, control their production and use, and monitor printed materials and their dissemination through official channels of production. Even in his admiration for the King's Roman, Fournier had to be careful not to raise the eyebrows of government officials by imitating too closely the types of the National Printing House (Imprim6rie Royale). Modern typefaces, like the contemporary crafts of the 1beniste or worker in precious metals (ciseleur), exemplified the progress of the mechanical arts through specialization, skill, and rationally developed methods of professional design and practice.

30 Part I : Semand, Suppty, and Desig* {:7*o--r8c*}

Quousque tan- dem abutdre,Ca-

tilina, patientie

Quousque t?"rr- dC abutdre, Ca- tilina, patientiA

Quousque tan- dem abutdre, Catilina, pati-

r.t5 Specimen of Ducale in three weights, detail from ManualeTipogra.fco del cavaliere

Ciambattista Bodoni, Parma, t8t}.

Fine printing, as practiced and perfected by Fournier, Didot, or Bodoni, was not the only achievement of eigh- teenth-century publishing. While it is dif{icult to trace and study the history of decorative arts for a non-elite audience

during this period, the existence of a popular art for a broader public can be appreciated in the practice ofprint- ing. While perhaps less aesthetically refined and not always exhibiting the highest levels of craftsmanship, more topical forms of print, such as newspapers or broad- sides, almanacs, or the expression of controversial reli- gious and political opinions in the form of pamphlets or inexpensively bound volumes, reached a broad and increasingly literate public during the eighteenth century and constitute an equally important and inspiring legacy of printing as a popular, accessible medium for expression and communication. Such material reminds us that the mechanical arts, however rudimentary reached beyond the authority of oflicial policy and served needs beyond those of a cultural elite. Works such as foseph Moxon s Mechqnick's Exercises on the Whole Art of Pnnting, pttb- lished in England in 1683-1684 to provide an i4ustrated guide to the practice of printing, informed readers that knowledge was something to be shared rather than too closely guarded. These democratizrngviews will be treated in relation to the American colonies, where the press was less regulated and printed opinion circulated more freely and publicly (see page 19 and fig. z.ro).