ORNAMENTAL WOODCARVER Patrick Damiaens: 'French Furniture Styles'

Saturday, 1 August 2015

The CARNAVALET Museum in Paris | 18th century style WOODCARVING | Carved boiserie and paneling | Panelled rooms

Carnavalet in Paris

Carnavalet Museum in Paris

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This blog entry is about the visit to the Carnavalet Museum in Paris. A very nice museum with panelled rooms, boiserie and 17th and 18th century paneling. A real source of inspiration if you want to see examples of 18th century style woodcarving and its applications

The Carnavalet Museum is located in the fascinating neighborhood “The Marais”, known for its beautiful mansions, de private “hôtels” (city palaces), but also for the many boutiques, galleries and restaurants.

For anyone who wants to learn more about the rich and turbulent history of Paris, the Carnavalet museum is a must. Carnavalet is also the official museum of the City of Paris.

The collection is chronological and shows the history of Paris, its inhabitants and their troubled times with photographs, paintings and exhibitions.

Some rooms are not open all the time, the schedule with their opening hours hangs at the entrance of the Museum, every day. And something to take into consideration: the access is free of charge.

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The building

The Carnavalet Museum is housed in two adjacent buildings that were known as the Hôtel Carnavalet and the Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau. The entrance to the Museum is located in the main building, the Hôtel Carnavalet from the 16^th century. In 1548 Jacques des Ligneris, Paris Parlament chairman ordered the construction of the mansion, known as Hôtel Carnavalet; the construction was completed in 1560. In 1578 the widow of Francois de Kernevenoy bought the property, later known as the Carnavalet building.

During the 17^th century thebuilding was expandes and modernized by the “King’s Architect”, Francois Mansart (1598-1666). One of its well-known inhabitants of the Carnavalet was the Parisian aristocrat Madame de Sevigne (1626-1696), wife of the Marquis de Sevigne. She was part of the French nobility and became known as a writer through her letter, which are part of the classics of the French literature.

The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau, considered a masterpiece of the Renaissance, was built in the mid-16^th century. It was originally known as the Hôtel d'Orgeval. It was purchased by Michel Le Peletier and eventually passed to his grandson, Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau (a representative of the nobility in the States-General of 1789). In 1793, Le Peletier voted for the execution of Louis XVI. In revenge for his voting, the same day of the execution of the King, Le Peletier was assassinated.

Courtyard /gardens

In the center of the small courtyard at the entrance of the Carnavalet Museum is a statue of Louis XIV, the only statue from Louis XIV remained after the French Revolution. The beautiful gardens on the other courtyards are built in a typical formal French style.

Museum

The museum is mainly decorated with sculpted paneling or carved paneling took from another buildings. Within the two mansions there are particularly room styles that are furnished as in the past. For example, you will find rooms and lounges from the 17^th and the 8^th centuries; two rooms designed by the renowned classicist architect Nicolas Ledoux. Another highlight is the painted ceiling, made by Charles Le Brun.
I was very impressed by the décor of the Fouguet jewelry (1900). The interior design of the store was made by the famous Czech Art Nouveau designer and painter Alfonso Mucha (1860-1939). Well worth the reconstruction of the ballroom of the Hôtel de Wendel, from the early 20^th century.

Panelled Rooms

Besides the historical rooms, there are also objects from the Roman era, antique maps and paintings depicting Paris through the years are exhibit. Around 2,600 paintings; 20,000 drawings and 300,000 engravings; 2,000 sculptures and 800 pieces of furniture are included in the collection of the Museum and together with thousands of other object, are the base of the collection. There are even some rooms decorated with personal items and belongings of some Parisian celebrities, such as Marcel Proust.

The beautiful style rooms with sculpted -carved paneling in Louis-styles are magnificent decorated with many works of art (paintings, drawings, and graphic work), applied art and archaeological objects. For those who are only interested in the most important art collections, he better skips this museum.

A visit to this museum is for sure more than worthy.
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The museum began to take its present form when the Hôtel Carnavalet was expanded in 1989 when it started using some rooms of the het Hôtel Le Peletier. Within each of the two mansions are entire rooms from certain periods in history on display.

The collection is primary organized chronologically and shows the history of Paris till all the way back to 1789, in more than 100 rooms.

© Text and pictures, Patrick Damiaens

Translation Lis Alvarado

Website:
http://www.carnavalet.paris.fr/en/museum-carnavalet

Some pictures from my last visit

to this charming Parisian Museum (2014).

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Carved boiserie and paneling | The Carnavalet Museum Paris

Carved Panelling

Carved and gilded panelling | Boiserie | Carnavalet Paris

Oak carved Panelling

Panelled Rooms

18th century style WOODCARVING

The CARNAVALET Museum in Paris

18th century style WOODCARVING

The CARNAVALET Museum in Paris

18th century style WOODCARVING

A book about the carved wall panelling

A book about the carved wall panels or 'Les Boiseries' Musee Carnavalet, for sale in the museum shop, highly recommended.

Editions Vial, Les boiseries du Musée Carnavalet (2010)
ISBN: 978-2-85101-147-3

Musée Carnavalet
16, rue des Francs-Bourgeois
75003 Paris

Opening hours
From Tuesday to Sunday 10: 00-18: 00
Last entrance at 17:30.
Closed Monday and holidays

website
http://www.carnavalet.paris.fr

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info

LINK FB PAGE

Monday, 10 November 2014

CARVING A ROSETTE IN WOOD | Louis XVI-style rosette ornament | Decoration and Wood Carved Appliques | Hand Carved Wood Rosettes

Patrick Damiaens
Ornamental Woodcarver

CARVING A ROSETTE IN WOOD

Rosette, Ornament

A rosette is a practical ornament, for which the possibilities for application are nearly endless. This ornament can already be found in the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, where it is mainly used as an architectural decoration.

In the Netherlands, the term rosette is commonly used, but in Flanders, people also tend to refer to the rosette as “Rosace”, a word originating from France.

In the Gothic style period, this ornament can be found, for instance, as the keystone of ribbed vaults. The rosette can be found throughout almost every style period in history, each time embodying the specific features and characteristics of these periods. But the period between 1750 and 1850 marks an era in which this ornament became even more popular, resulting in a wider use and a more imaginative variety of combinations and applications. It became a distinguishing feature for the Louis XVI style.
Rosettes come in all shapes and sizes. Most common is a round-shaped rosette, but square, rectangular or even diamond-shaped rosettes aren’t that uncommon either.

Several rosettes, Don Bosco Liège

As I mentioned before, this ornament was widely used during the Classicistic period (1750-1850). Classicism is a reaction to Baroque and Rococo and combines elements of Greek and Roman art or elements from the classical antiquity in general. The rosette is a separately placed flower-shaped ornament, with flower petals, acanthus leaves, oak leaves or even laurel leaves stretching outward from a central point.
There are more sophisticated rosette designs, which consist of a combination of several motifs (e.g. a combination of acanthus leaves and laurel leaves) and then there’s the twisted rosette design, which consists of various types of leaf motifs as well.

Rosette ,this ornament is typical Louis XVI style, Versailles

From the 17th century onward we notice that rosettes are often used as a decorative ornament on tables and chairs. They can particularly be found on twisted wooden designs or on baluster-shaped legs and form the central part of the H- or X-shaped joints between the legs of tables or chairs. (See picture)
By the end of the 18th century, during the French classicistic Louis XVI style period, this ornament is widely applied to furniture and other interior elements. It is used so often that it becomes a characteristic feature of this period.

Below you will find a short impression of the carving of this ornament. The design for this rosette was provided by the client, which is quite common practice. The design is inspired by an existing piece of furniture, which was carved in walnut.

CARVING A ROSETTE,various stages

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