Regence Period, Game Table Chairs. The Régence ( Regency) was the period in
French history between 1715 and 1723 when King Louis XV was considered a minor
and the country was instead governed by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (a nephew
of Louis XIV of France) as prince regent.
We have available TWO Pairs of these walnut chairs with flat
backs richly carved with acanthus leaves, shells, crosspieces.
They rest on curved legs, the front belt and the two sides
are scrolled and sculpted.
The upper crosspiece of the backrest have the same attention
to details.
Beautiful, rare, quality seats French Regency period work.
In the arts, the style of the Régence is marked by early
Rococo, characterised by the paintings of Antoine Watteau (1684–1721).
Rococo developed first in the decorative arts and interior
design. Louis XIV’s succession brought a change in the court artists and
general artistic fashion. By the end of the old king’s reign, rich Baroque
designs were giving way to lighter elements with more curves and natural
patterns. These elements are obvious in the architectural designs of Nicolas
Pineau. During the Régence, court life moved away from Versailles and this
artistic change became well established, first in the royal palace and then throughout
French high society. The delicacy and playfulness of Rococo designs is often
seen as perfectly in tune with the excesses of Louis XV’s regime.
The period represented the height of Rococo development in
France. The style had spread beyond architecture and furniture to painting and
sculpture, exemplified by the works of Watteau and François Boucher. Rococo
still maintained the Baroque taste for complex forms and intricate patterns,
but by this point, it had begun to integrate a variety of diverse
characteristics, including a taste for Oriental designs and asymmetric
compositions.
