unity linking a series of related objects. All the popular decorative
motifs used in the various arts are described and their significance to
the times explained. Consequently, it is possible to become completely
familiar with the characteristic ornaments and decorative motifs of an
entire period, while gaining the ability to recognize typical forms, and
to place them accurately in their proper era.

Pictures of rare or unusual objects have been avoided; instead, emphasis
has been placed on truly representative examples.

For similar reasons, many more objets d'art than paintings are illus-
trated; since objets d'art, because of the part they played in the daily
life of the men and women of the XVIIIth century, are much more apt
to embody the fashions and attitudes their owners most appreciated.

Finally, the French XVIIIth century was selected because it was
the age when every art attained its highest perfection in France. At
that period, the whole world sought inspiration in French works of art,
or carefully copied them. When French artisans of the day attempted
to imitate works of foreign origin, they usually found that they had,
instead, completely assimilated the exotic style and had stamped the
resulting "copies" with their own individual characteristics. Imported
styles quickly became wholly French styles; imported techniques were
soon adapted or improved in France. Chinese and Dresden porcelains,
for example, were set in elegant gilt bronze mounts innovated in France.
Chinese and Japanese lacquers were used to decorate the finest pieces
of French furniture. French influence was so 'paramount and French
technical mastery so complete, that any excess might have been permitted
the craftsman of the day. And yet, they were imbued with a classic
sense of proportion and good taste that served to keep them well within
the proper limits imposed by their media; while imitators of French
works seldom showed a comparable degree of self-restraint. When
a connoisseur says, "It is not French," he usually means that a specimen
is a work of French inspiration, but that it lacks harmony, balance,
and restraint.

As the Régence period gradually liberated itself from the somewhat
ponderous opulence of the preceding Louis XIV style, it soon managed
to attain a perfection and elegance of its own. This style was succeeded
by the dramatic exuberance of the Louis XV rococo; but in France
the excesses of "rocaille" were never totally unrestrained. With the
arrival of the Louis XVI era, a new severity came into fashion, derived
from fundamentally architectural and intellectual concepts of style.
But despite its origins, Louis XVI décor was never academic or overly
conventionalized.

Every facet of French XVIIIth century art is still highly influential
today. Innumerable forms came into being then which are now indis-
pensable to the everyday scene, as well as many which will perhaps always
continue to be thought classic. The century was remarkable too, for
the astonishing degree of perfection achieved in almost every art form--a
perfection in conception and execution never surpassed since.

It is hoped that this book will make it possible to clearly distinguish
precisely those elements in French XVIIIth century art which are indispu-
tably perfect, and which have become the classics of today.

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