The Louis-Philippe style was created for a busy but coddled bourgeoisie. It was less preoccupied with originality than it was with comfort and new techniques and production. It sought to reconcile the new large-scale production techniques of the day with the tradition of great French craftsmanship. The Louis-Philippe furniture was less expensive, yet made with just as much care as, furniture from preceding periods. Comfort was the priority for the newly rich bankers and industrialists and thus, practicality was a must. The new social class often lived in small apartments and so needed smaller furniture. The resulting pieces are sought after today since they are well suited to today's Parisian apartments.

Abroad
England: The Victorian style
Italy: Beginning of the Ottocento style
Spain: End of Ferdinand and beginning of Isabellin

Furniture
The Louis-Philippe style is an extension of the Restoration style. The same basic structures prevail but without the same elegance and refinement. Forms become heavy and ornament becomes formulaic.

Materials and Techniques
Dark woods replaced blond ones. Machine tools enter widespread use. Thus, execution of a piece is more rapid. Bronze fittings and marquetry work were eliminated since they added to production expenses. However, craftsmen still took great pride in quality workmanship. They selected woods with great care and still assembled and finished their pieces by hand.

Mahogany, rosewood and ebony are favored. Blond woods such as sycamore, burled elm, citronnier and maple are favored for the interior veneers of certain pieces such as secretaries. Brass fittings are rare but keyholes are sometimes surrounded by copper inlay ornament. Marble tops are gray black, or white and have molded cyma fore-edges. Inlay work is rare.

Ornament
Moldings disappear. Panels become flat and lack moldings. Support posts are straight and smooth and are bare of ornament. Their corners are rounded. Decorative motifs are few. Large leaf foliage and palmettes are carved on chair arms and table legs. The "frog's leg" motif often figures on the legs of Louis-Philippe chairs, settees and case furniture.


Source: Chadenet, Sylvie. French Furniture from Louis XIII to Art Deco. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001.