Louis XV? Louis XVI? What’s all the fuss about I can’t tell the difference!

When I was small and my father tossed around the words Louis XV and XVI I have to confess to thinking they were the same thing. Only when I looked did I realise there are significant differences in the style of furniture, and for those that are looking to create a certain ‘look’ in their home it’s important to remember the difference. Lets start with Louis XV...

Louis XV is one of my favourite styles of furniture, with its curved ‘cabriole’ legs and elaborate carving and detail. I was doing some reading the other day to improve my history knowledge on the style that I so love.

Louis himself ruled as king of France from 1715 until his death in 1774 and his reign saw great prosperity for the wealthy. Not surprising then that the furniture from this period is so incredible. I was particularly pleased to read that womens power increased significantly during this time, and the result was that their influence was felt both in the court and in furniture design.

So how do you tell a Louis XV piece? Well you can basically follow a few simple rules...

Look out for:

- Gorgeous curves (cabriole leg) were used readily;
- Inlaid marquetry and hand painting;
- Intricate carving;
- Motifs of shells, ribbons and acanthus leaves;
- Gilt and ormalu (gilded bronze) mounts.

Happy hunting!

A scrub and a polish!

This beautiful pair of genuine French Louis XVI armchairs are a perfect example of how exciting the antique world can be.

We bought this pair of French Louis XVI chairs a little while ago and they’re virtually unrecognisable as the same pair of chairs. The carving on these chairs was so clogged with dirt you could barely make out that they had been carved at all and the gilt resembled a mucky brown rather than the beautiful gold leaf you can see here. You could easily have walked straight past them and not realised that underneath the filth and the stained fabric stood these stunners!

That’s the most exciting thing about antiques – being able to pluck the gems from the rubbish and when you do it’s an enormous rush. Even for the experienced though, this is becoming more and more difficult. With antiques becoming harder to find, fakes are becoming more prevalent and as an antique buyer you really have to be careful not to be caught in the trap. These are my favourites of the moment!