Another of Marot’s designs for a bed is reproduced in Plate XLVIII. This is interesting on more than one account. The carving of the canopy shows the advent of the _rocaille_ work that ran mad during the periods of the Regency and Louis XV. The scrolls in the woodwork at the foot of the bed are of the same form as the stretchers in tables, chairs, stands and stools of the period. The decoration of the room is worth notice also. The walls are covered with tapestry, and the same lambrequin that adorns the bed is repeated all along the walls under the cornice. The same decoration is repeated around the seat of the armchair on either side of the bed. The low foot-posts of the bed are surmounted by “_pommes_,” which usually hold the positions above, here occupied by carved shells. Finally, the sconce mirror over the chair is graceful in form.
Queen Anne’s bed at Hampton Court Palace gives one a good idea of the Marot decoration. It has a square canopy and tester, below which hang curtains that when drawn enclose the entire bed. The head-board is upholstered. The furnishings of this bed are entirely of stamped or cut velvet, a white ground with formal patterns of crimson and orange. The chairs, tabourets and long forms are also covered with this material.
A beautiful chandelier of silver decorated with glass balls hangs from the ceiling, which was painted by Sir James Thornhill. The design depicts Aurora rising from the ocean in her chariot, drawn by four white horses and attended by cupids, while Night and Sleep sink away.
Figs. 40, 41 and 42.—“_Sophas._” Fig. 43.—_Lower part of Chair, by Marot._ Figs. 44 and 45.—_Lambrequins, by Marot._ ]
Marot’s armchairs owe their effect almost entirely to upholstery: the framework is certainly solid, heavy and ungainly. He prefers carved feet of animals’ claws to the popular Dutch bulb. A typical form of the seat and legs appears in Fig. 43. The top of the back is usually a straight line, though, if the chair is designed for a prince or noble, the centre sometimes rises in a carved crown or coronet. The woodwork is generally gilded.
Marot’s sconces usually had only one candle socket (_see_ Plate XLIX). When the mirror was of silver, or any burnished metal, its surface was generally convex. When it was of glass it was flat, but very often the edges were bevelled. The three examples on Plate XLIX show the characteristic ornamental details of mascarons, floral scrolls, and heavy _chutes_ of the bell-flower or wheat-ear. The same ornamentation, intermingled with “_pommes_,” geometrical lines and broken scrolls, distinguishes the two large mirrors above. Other handsome oval and rectangular mirrors appear on Plate L. The lower one on the right, with cornucopias disgorging _chutes_ of fruit, bears the crossed double L of Louis XIV, with a royal crown, and therefore must belong to Marot’s early period before he went to Holland. The mascarons and human figures on the other mirrors on this plate also belong to the early Louis Quatorze period.