In 1667, the manufactory of the Gobelins was established with the painter Le Brun as director. The beautiful work of all kinds that was sent from there was greatly responsible for changing the styles of the day. French taste began to dominate Europe; and when the French Court removed to Versailles in 1682, the furnishing of which had cost the king a fortune, and for which nearly everything had been supplied by the Gobelins works, the eyes of the world were turned to the splendors of the Sun-King.

The characteristic design of this period consists of the straight line and the curve. The curve is bold. Interlaced bars, or bars ending in scrolls, are found in the forms of furniture, in the inlays of brass and wood and upon the walls of rooms. The architectural mouldings are stout and wide and are rich in such classic ornaments as palm-leaves and ovolos. The geometrical ensemble is always simple: furniture is often rectangular, put together very solidly and is always rather heavy. The bases and supports rest firmly on the floor and are usually close to it and the straining-rails are heavy as will be noticed in the chair on Plate XXV. Tables are supported on pilasters, or massive columns; and the bombe sweep often appears in such articles as consoles and commodes (see Plate XXVI.).

Plate XIX - Seventeenth Century Arm-Chair covered with Cordovan Leather Lucca

The general style of the ornamentation, particularly when Lepautre dominated the general taste, was Roman, according perfectly with the style of the architecture, which was also Roman and heroic. Classic trophies are massed together like the spoils of battle. We find cuirasses, plumed helmets, shields, lictor's fasces, laurel wreaths, clubs and swords; allegorical divinities representing vanquished Rivers; mythological dieties; winged Victories; Victories blowing trumpets; River-gods leaning on their urns; and the cornucopia, which is much heavier than the horn of plenty used in the days of Louis XIII. and has a wider mouth. The acanthus, like every other leaf, becomes broad, bloated and strong, and the garlands, or swags of fruits, flowers or leaves, are exceedingly heavy. On the cartouche, which is both circular, or a perfect oval, is displayed the coat-of-arms, the fleur-de-lys, or the double L - the cypher of the King. The mascaron is omnipresent; and a combination of scroll and shell is much used. The anthemion, or honeysuckle pattern, is a favorite central ornament.

In furniture, the newest and most striking articles are the supports of the tables, the consoles, and the gueridons des-, tined to support crystal girandoles; the Italian mosaics of stones and the ebony furniture and French furniture consisting of incrustations of metal and shell on a bed of wood, or marquetry of colored woods. Notable are the supports and architectural members of furniture ornamented by plump figures - men and women, figures en game, chimaerae, groups of children or genies holding garlands and festoons. The standing screen (ecran) is quite popular.

Some critics think that the splendid silver furniture that came into the French Court with Anne of Austria was responsible for developing a taste for carved and gilded furniture. However that may be, it is a fact that the taste for the latter was not confined to the wealthy. The frames of the chairs and sofas, the tables, the mirrors (now being made at the Gobelin manufactory), were elaborately carved and gilded and adorned comparatively modest dwellings.

The heavy and enormous chimney-piece of the foregoing reign was abandoned for the "little chimney-piece"; mirrors brightened the walls, the panels of which were painted and gilt, carved and gilt, or hung with tapestries of bright hues; the floors were inlaid with handsome woods and the rich brocades, damasks and velvets from Lyons, Genoa and Flanders that were used to cover the seats and drape the beds were of bright colors. Among the new hues, a flame color, called aurora, and a purplish red, called amaranth, were especially popular.

. During the reign of Louis XIV. there was a rage for fine marbles. Colored marbles were brought to France from Italy and Africa; and some old quarries in France were opened; Verde antique (Egyptian marble), Violet Broca-telle; alabaster; blue marbles; yellow marbles; red marbles; yellow marbles with red veins; speckled marbles; and many other varieties were employed, not only for chimney-pieces and other decorations, but for the tops of commodes, bureaus, etc.

The first part of this period was dominated by Le Brun, and the last by Berain.

Le Brun was a marvel of industry: "Between 1663 and 1690, he drew the cartoons after which were woven nineteen hangings, that is to say, 84,000 ells of tapestry; and at the same time, he was executing or directing the decorations at Versailles, Saint-Germain and Marly, making designs for the royal plate, architectural plans, such as those for the church of Saint Eustache, the Gates of Paris, the Fountains of Versailles, making suggestions for the decoration of ships, and collaborating with numerous sculptors in the erection of various monuments. All this personal work was got through in addition to the daily official duties of the superintendent of the manufactory, in which lived not only a whole population of artists and workmen, but also sixty poor children apprenticed to the trade by the Treasury. It is greatly to the credit of Le Brun that he knew how to gather about him to aid him in carrying out the vast commissions of Louis XIV. all the most eminent artists of the day; in fact we may almost say he was instrumental in their rise; and when we see the list of their names, it is impossible to help admiring the liberal-mindedness of this great man and his skill in associating with each other men of the most varied gifts, and of leading them by the force of his own example to collaborate in works of a most diverse character. At the Gobelins Manufactory, Le Brun induced the painters Van der Meulen, Monnoyer, Yvart, the two Boullognes, Noel and Antoine Coypel, with the sculptors Coysevox, Anguier, Tuby and Caffieri, and the engravers, Le Clerc, Audran and Rousselet, to work side by side with the ebenists Cucci, Pierre, Poitou, the jewellers Alexis Loir, Claude de Villers and Dutel, the lapidaries Gracetti, Branchi, Horatio and Ferdinando, Mighorini and the tapestry-makers Jans and his son. These are but a few amongst the many employees of the manufactory, and to them must be added the artists who lodged in the Louvre and were under the control of the chief superintendent, such as the jeweller Bellin, the ebenist Charles Andre Boulle and the engraver Varin; whilst beyond his direct authority, though within the sphere of his activity, were yet other workers, whom we must not neglect to notice, such as Marot, Lepautre and Berain." 1

1 Andre Saglio.

Plate XX - Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Venetian and Roman Chairs and a Tyrolean Stool (Escarbeau)