Bayliss & Booth have a heritage of sourcing and selling French furniture pieces, both antique and vintage for over twenty years. We love finding pieces, large and small, and giving them a new purpose and relevance practical as well as beautiful.
Glossary of Terms
Armoire – Wardrobe
Unlike English pieces – armoires where traditionally used to store folded clothes and household linens
Chevet– pot cupboard – often used as bedside tables
Coiffeuse – dressing table
Ebeniste – Cabinet Maker
Directoire – The brief phase in furniture design lasting from 1795-1799 and characterised by clarity, geometry and simplicity of form.
Foire de Brocantes – Open air Antique and bric a brac fair.
Henri II – A formal and rather severe architecturally-influenced style. Developed by the Fontainebleau school from 1530, it achieved popularity during the reign of Henri II, some fifty years later.
Louis XV – Developed from 1730 until 1735, this style lasted 30 years during the ‘Golden Age’ of French furniture. Characterised by lightness of decoration , asymmetry and graceful lines.
Napoleon III – Furniture of this era features an eclectic mix of styles. Ebenistes looked o the design forms and styles of the past 500 years for inspiration.
Ormolu – Pale yellow gilt or bronzed metal ware normally covered with a protective coat of clear lacquer
Restoration – A period extending from 1815 to 1830, when ebenistes began to draw heavily on styles from previous eras. The technical perfect of Restoration furniture is justly applauded – it is the last period before furniture makers adopted machine tools.
Vide Grenier – literally ‘attic emptying’
