From 1800 to 1825, we read of "Fancy and Windsor chairs; chairs with rattan bottoms; rosewood and Fancy painted chairs; chairs with cane and rush seats; bamboo; Grecian back; elegant mahogany chairs, eagle pattern; Trafalgar with landscapes; Fancy Chairs, richly gilt, with real gold and bronze; rosewood covered with yellow plush; mahogany with plain and figured hair seating; Grecian sofas with scroll ends; imitation rosewood chairs, cane seats; square and round front Fancy gilt chairs; Grecian sofas, inlaid with rose and satin-wood; three banded back and scroll-end sofas; two superb settees with elegant damask cushions, pillows, etc., and twelve cane seat, white and gold chairs to match; rosewood sofa covered with yellow plush and twelve chairs to match; and six scroll-end sofas covered with red damask, inlaid with rosewood, gilt and bronzed feet."

Chaise A Volutes, Restoration Period

Plate CI - Early Nineteenth Century Chairs - Metropolitan Museum

Black haircloth seating is especially advertised in 1824, but haircloth for seats had been in use since the middle of the Eighteenth Century.

During the Restoration, which lasted from 1815 to 1830, the chairs followed the general character of the Empire. The square backs, however, became slightly more curved, and the rounded arms were terminated by a dolphin's head, a volute or scroll, or the neck or head of a swan. The feet were either straight and grooved, or were in the form of a scroll, and very little carving was used.

Some models were imported from England and Germany, such as the gondola; but these were more suitable for the boudoir and sitting-room than the stately drawing-room.

The chief woods were mahogany and palissandre. The latter was often enriched with threads of copper. Maple was also used, inlaid with amaranth and elm-root.

The chairs and sofas were upholstered like those of the Empire and covered with similar materials, but the damask was frequently decorated with motives of yellow or white or silver. Damask and silk from Lyons and Tours was in great demand, and "English " and "Persian." Braid and borders were used to hide the nails, as in the days of the Empire.

Under the Directoire and the Empire every drawingroom had a sofa on either side of the chimney. One of the favorite forms was the meridienne, which was not abandoned until about 1830. (See page 89.) At that date the causeuse and the tete-a-tete replaced the meridienne on either side of the hearth. The meridienne was never tufted and was usually covered with tapestry called "Henry," or worsted damask, also called "English damask." The covering was put on plain with an ornamental braid for a border.

Vis-A-Visorsia-Moise, By Lalonde

The form of the chaise longue of the period varied according to the style of the fauteuils that accompanied it, and also according to the fancy of the maker. It was often of the rounded or gondola form, the back elevated on one side and ending on the other, with an elbow that extended the whole length of the chair. On the other side the back terminated in a long rail (rampe) or cushion that stopped as it turned on the side opposite the back. These chaises tongues were made left and right.

During the early days of the Restoration bergeres were used; but they soon gave place to the fauteuils gondoles. Deep arm-chairs appeared and then the popular fauteuil, called Voltaire, which seems to have been taken from England or Germany. How it got its name is a mystery, for Voltaire is never represented in one; and, indeed, it does not seem to have appeared until 1825. The Voltaire was an easy-chair, deep and low with an inclined back that could be adjusted at the pleasure of the lounger. It was generally supplied with extra cushions. About 1838 the chaises confortables appeared. Havard says that much as seats had been padded and covered in former days it was Dervilliers who, in 1838, originated furniture that was completely upholstered and perfected later by Jeanselme and Sellier. "A throng of pieces sprung from this innovation: all the crapauds, poufs, seymours, and bebes date from this epoch, if not in name, at least in form as 'confortable.'"

Fauteuil A Voltaire

Causeuse

Plate CII Nineteenth Century Chairs, by George Smith (1804-1810)

The chaises confortables appeared in all forms - gondola, square, oval, Voltaire, anglaise, and the peculiar "Spanischer," which was probably German. The feet were grooved or in the sabre form. The sofas were of peculiar shapes and names. The canape Marcus enjoyed a certain vogue, receiving its name from a popular maker of the Restoration period. The seat was much lower and deeper than that of the ordinary sofa, and the back and cheeks were curved, and sides and elbows were very high. The framework was visible and carved or plain. The canape Marcus was a sort of divan-canape.

Then there was the Borne, a round or oval canape or sofa that came into fashion after the Empire. It was like a row of chairs placed back to back in a circle, with a column or pedestal in the centre for a vase of flowers or a statue. It was much used in drawing-rooms and galleries, and was made square, octagon, pentagon, round or oval, and in all sizes.