However barbarous an interior of the Louis XIII. period might have been in comparison with one of the age of Charles VII., it certainly was changing for the better. Convenience was being sacrificed less for magnificence. There was an attempt to combine usefulness with elegance. Mme. de Rambouillet was one of the heads of this movement; and, according to Tallement des Reaux, was the originator of it. She established her salon as early as 1608. Tallement says that she was the first to arrange suites of rooms through which guests could move easily. "Being dissatisfied with the plans submitted to her (it was in the Marechal d'Ancre's time) for at that time they only knew how to make a hall on one side, a chamber on the other, and a staircase in the middle, one day, after long reflection, she cried: 'Quick! some paper! I have found how to do what I wanted.' She drew the plan, and it was followed exactly. . . . She it was who taught people how to put the staircases to one side, so as to have a large suite of rooms, to make high windows from the floor up and to make high and broad doorways opposite one another."

The decorative motives and accessories characteristic of this style are clearly defined. An analogy has been traced between the general lines of the furniture and the contemporary costume. In the latter, as shown in Abraham Bosse's engravings, the waist line is set unusually high, giving an appearance of a short bust. This division of the figure into two unequal parts, the upper one being disproportionately short, is carried into the furniture. The characteristic chair of the period (see Plate I.) is short in the back. The larger pieces of furniture follow the same general form, being divided into two bodies by a horizontal cornice, shelf, or other line at above half the total height of the piece of furniture. The cabinets, architectural in form, have greater width than height, and rest on a frame or table with legs turned spirally and connected. This style of cabinet was introduced early in the period.

One of the important decorative details and ornaments is the cartouche which also follows the prevailing taste: it is wider than it is high, and its field has always a somewhat exaggerated convex curve. The rounded form also predominates in the cut-work fringing the frame, and protuberance is also a noticeable feature of the balusters that are made use of in the various parts of furniture that require columns or supports. The vases also are very corpulent in form, which effect is exaggerated by their very small bases. The faces of the mascarons are very chubby, and are unusually lacking in expression. The decorative garlands, which are composed almost exclusively of leaves and fruits, very seldom of flowers, are arranged in heavy swags, almost always disposed in a semi-circle. Pears, and more especially apples, are the fruits most frequently met with. They are usually accompanied with short leaves without serrated edges. The garlands are of uniform thickness throughout; they are quite heavy. Cornucopias symmetrically disposed are often found on the frontons. It is a peculiarity of these cornucopias that notwithstanding the considerable size and quantity of the fruits overflowing their mouths, they are so slender that they might almost be taken for curved trumpets.

Though rich and very abundant in detail, this ornamentation does not show much relief, because the composition, as a rule, does not present any important or dominant motive. In the decoration it is seldom that the living form plays more than an entirely accessory part. The bold round mouldings now dispense with the ornaments and details of preceding styles. In many cases, these mouldings frame panels in which the square form predominates. When the square is extended into a rectangle, its dimensions are always greater horizontally than vertically. The hexagon, so much employed in the Henri II. style, is now supplanted by the octagon, which is frequently to be noticed.

Having now gone over the general characteristics and decorative features of this period, we may proceed to describe the separate pieces of furniture that are appropriate for a room of the Louis XIII. style.

First let it be said, however, that it is a mistake to suppose that a Louis XIII. room need be in any sense bare, cheerless, or lacking in comfort or convenience. The impression gained from the charming engravings of Abraham Bosse is one of cosiness as well as elegance.

The only sense of severity of this period in the interiors is produced by the massive chimney-pieces and the somewhat monumental forms of wardrobes, presses, cabinets, armoires, etc. These are usually in two tiers, the lower one usually being solid, as on Plate II., No. 4. The frame, or open lower part, however, was winning its way into favour. A good example of the latter appears on Plate III., No. I, and the more curious and ornate transitional form in No. 4 of the same plate. Another example of the armoire of this period, having drawers between two compartments of doors is shown on Plate IV., No. 4, the details of which are purely characteristic of this period. The full drawing on the same plate shows a smaller cabinet with drawers beneath the two doors. This is a very handsome example of marquetry work. The patterns of the inlaid wood under the cornice are very effective. It will be noticed that panelling plays a most important part in the decoration of these pieces of furniture. Many of them had pediments of an architectural character.

These pediments were frequently broken, and in the centre on a pedestal stood an allegorical figure, or similar ornament, such as that of Justice shown in Plate II., No. 2. The panels were frequently richly carved with characteristic Louis XIII. ornaments, or with Biblical, allegorical or mythological subjects, such as Juno and the peacock, Judith with the head of Holofernes (Plate IV., Nos. 2 and 1), and Paris with the golden apple (Plate II., No. 3). The important part played by pillars, whether straight or twisted, in the decorative scheme is readily seen by a glance at the pieces of furniture on Plates III. and IV. No. 4 (Plate III.), called a credence, has three varieties of columns on the same tier. The flat bulb foot, plain or carved, so typical of this period, is also shown on Plates II., III. and IV. The buffet credence (Plate IV.,No.4) shows a peculiar combination of straight and twisted column. The shield in its broken pediment is flanked by the peculiar ear decoration characteristic of this period which has already been referred to (page 5). The winged cherub, which is so often found as a decorative accessory, appears to splendid effect on the mirror on Plate II., under the cornice of No. 4 on the same plate and on Plate III., No. 4. Several varieties of mascarons also appear on Plates II. and III.