Sofa

The displayed item is part of a set consisting of a sofa and two armchairs imitating the Louis XVI style. In European culture, French classicism was the mark of fondness for the declining pre-revolutionary era of the French monarchy, known as 'ancien régime'. Held up as an example in interior design and furniture making in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Louis XVI style was an expression of the subtle, effortless elegance of the Enlightenment era. The forms of the furniture characterised by clear tectonics and compact lines, with ornamentation recalling motifs from antiquity, evoked a longing for the past, which had a fixed social hierarchy and an 'unwavering' pace of everyday life. Living rooms, both in private homes and hotel suites or in the more elegant public salon spaces, were often furnished with sets modelled on the Louis XVI style. In addition to the shapes of furniture, the fabrics used for its upholstery were also imitated. The upholstery of the displayed item, evoking the memory of the idyllic pastoral scenes fashionable in the time of Louis XVI, is made of factory-made jacquard fabric imitating tapestries from old royal manufactories. Edited by Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967