Details Make the Difference in Baroque, Rococo Style Furniture
It’s golden with ornate decorations, upholstered in beautiful silk: It’s a baroque sofa. Or is it a Rococo-style sofa? Both of these furniture styles are beautiful and in-demand, but do you know the difference between Baroque and Rococo?
When looking at these styles, clearly, you can see why it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between Baroque and Rococo. Each has defining features, even though the two styles also have a lot in common.
Baroque style definition
The term “baroque” refers to a period spanning from the 17th century until the beginning of the 18th century. This is when the style that started in Italy around 1600 became popular throughout Europe and beyond.
- According to Stip International – and Webster’s dictionary — the term baroque likely comes from the Portuguese word, “barocco.” It means “uneven pearl.”
- The style above all uses classical orders and ornaments in a free and sculptural way. Its features evoke movement and have a dramatic effect.
- Baroque style found its way into most parts of culture. This particularly includes gardens, architecture, music and art.
What Does Baroque Architecture Look Like?
Baroque architecture emphasized bold massing, colonnades, domes, light-and-shade ‘painterly’ colors. The style also uses the bold play of volume and void. This is the era when huge staircases came into fashion too – Wikipedia.
What Makes Furniture Baroque Style?
A number of features make a piece of furniture baroque.
It’s Very Ornate.
You can identify furniture from the Baroque era by its ornate and luxurious look. Elements include intricate, complicated and exaggerated decorations. As a result, often they are flowers, leaves, and cherubs.
It’s also Luxurious
Baroque style furniture is very detailed and overly decorated. The overall look is grand and lavish but equally symmetrical and balanced.
According to the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, Baroque era interiors were luxe: Furniture was upholstered in rich velvet and damask, often with gilt-wood and marquetry framing. The style remained fashionable until about 1725.
5 Specific Features of Baroque Furniture
The museum explains that Baroque style furniture has several defining characteristics:
Foliage Motifs
The baroque style uses a lot of plant life in its decoration. In view of this, some of the most common ones are scrolling foliage and flower garlands.
Marquetry
Marquetry involves laying different-colored wood veneers onto the surface of furniture. Actually, French and Dutch cabinetmakers were the ones who started this technique.
Putti
This is an Italian word that means “boys.” Commonly tt refers to the chubby infants used in much of Baroque décor.
Crests and initials
Monograms used for decoration were common in Baroque-style furniture. Likewise, heraldic crests are also seen in this style.
Lambrequin motif
We’ve already pointed out that that rich textiles were common in the Baroque era. The features of these fabrics were used in other media as well. For example, one of the most common is a tasseled cloth motif, called a lambrequin.
Who Used Baroque Style?
The French were the main adopters of the Baroque style. Louis the XIV’s reign marked the end of the Renaissance and the rise of this very influential style. This was often considered the most magnificent of the French period styles, writes the V&A.
Why Was Baroque Important?
- Great furniture designers and cabinetmakers thrived in this era.
- Andre Charles Boulle was the cabinetmaker to King Louis XIV. Boulle was one of the greatest artists in the field of inlaying ebony wood with tortoiseshell, brass and other metals.
- He created the beautiful pieces that belong to the Baroque Louis XIV age.
What Makes Furniture Baroque?
- Unique legs — Originally, Baroque era furniture had turned or pedestal feet. Later, curved legs were the main element, becoming a hallmark of the period.
- Smaller tables — This is the period when small, round and oblong tables and consoles became common, according to the V&A Museum.
- Inlaid features — Chests and cabinets, many with inlaid wood panels, were very popular.
- Quality wood — These pieces were made from the best woods and came mainly from Italy. Cabinetmakers mainly used oak, walnut, chestnut, and ebony. Rosewood, sandalwood, tulipwood, and other exotic woods are used for much of the ornamentation.
- Wood elements — Upholstered pieces can be covered in cloth or leather, but wood is always a prominent feature.
- A gilded finish — The first pieces of baroque furniture were coated in a clear layer of varnish. Over time, preferences changed and different types of Baroque style furniture were made. The wealthy favored pieces with gold-painted wood as a status symbol. Sometimes, this paint had a crackled finish.
The Difference Between Baroque and Rococo Style
Rococo
The lighter, more graceful Rococo style originated in France at the end of the Baroque period. Furthermore, it is generally considered a subset of the Baroque era, notes SF Gate HomeGuides. In fact, some historians call it late Baroque.
Interior designers and artists used the Rococo style, but not architects. Regardless, it was a shorter stylistic period: The Baroque era spanned the 17th century, but the Rococo era lasted from the 1730s to the 1760s. This coincided with the reign of Louis XV.
The term Rococo comes from the French word rocaille. The word denotes the shell-covered rock work that was used to decorate artificial grottoes, writes Britannica. Rocaille also refers to how the French love arranging stone gardens in the shape of seashells.
Rococo Style Characteristics
A number of details and features can help distinguish Rococo style:
- While Baroque is opulent and heavier –more “serious” – Rococo is lighthearted, frivolous and whimsical.
- Decoration, especially abstract and asymmetrical detail, was typically used to create a sense of flow.
- Often, it includes Asian influences like chinoiseries. Trade with the Far East influenced decorative motifs, and these patterns and lacquer work became very fashionable.
Rococo is Rebellious Design
This style originated as a “revolt against the dull and solemn Baroque designs of the royal courts of France in Versailles.” Just as today’s interior designs tend to be more casual, the Rococo age was more informal than the Baroque style. The general mood was all about comfort, warmth and privacy.
Rococo Meant Unified Design
According to DenGarden, the Rococo interior and its elements are meant to be one organism, creating a unified effect. Custom-made pieces were part of the effort to create interior décor that went together. Much planning went into furniture placement, the shapes of the pieces and the decorative features.
Rococo Gave Rise to Personal Space
Rococo style also promoted a one-story salon to create intimacy. It was not as focused on impressing guests, as was the Baroque era with its two-story rooms.
This era also saw the rise of the boudoir, as well as rooms devoted to pleasures like games, music and reading. This era gave us the chaise longue.
Rococo Was an Interior Update
Instead of starting over entirely, wealthy estate owners kept the baroque architecture of their homes, but renovated in the interiors with the plasterwork, murals, mirrors, furniture, and porcelain in a lighter, more feminine style.
Rococo and Baroque Have Much in Common
When you look at Baroque and Rococo furniture, they seem quite similar.
- Both are heavily decorated.
- They also have curvy legs in common – and sometimes animal legs.
- They both feature intricate embellishments of scrolls, leaves and shells.
But look closer and the differences start to emerge:
- Rococo furniture is more delicate and feminine and uses lighter shades of ivory, gold and pastel colors.
- Chairs legs are thinner, seats have an organic form and wider arms.
- Moreover, symmetry is not critical.
- Upholstery in the Rococo style is similar to that of Baroque, however, it includes brocatelle and flowered or painted silks.
- Rococo uses serpentine curves and features lighter topics such as romantic love and portraiture.
- Baroque art is darker, more dramatic and theatrical.
- Rococo interiors often highlight large candelabras, magnificent chandeliers and wall sconces, chiefly used to create a cozy space.
- Mirrors also feature prominently to intensify the feeling of open space.
Falling Out of Favor
Rococo style started to drop in popularity by the 1750s. Critics in France attacked its trivia focus and over-the-top decoration, thus leading to the more austere Neoclassic movement in the 1760s.
Rococo grew out of the Baroque era, so while the two styles have different characteristics they nonetheless have quite a few similarities. These common elements make it easy to mix and match the pieces.
Those who love the ornate nature of these styles may be happy to go full-on Baroque in a space. On the other hand, it’s quite alright to incorporate just a few pieces of Baroque and Rococo furniture into today’s modern interiors. This means that people who prefer cleaner lines can still have some gilded whimsy in an interior.