E-22: French Provincial Bedroom of the Louis XV Period, 18th Century

c. 1937

Narcissa Niblack Thorne

"This bedroom of a country house in Normandy represents the provincial interpretation of the style of Louis XV," wrote Mrs. Thorne. She intended this interior to show the way in which a growing middle class outside of Paris adapted some of the innovations in comfort and style characteristic of Louis XV's reign for their relatively modest homes. A striving for beauty is demonstrated in the richly carved armoire against the left wall and in the sprigged wallpaper supplementing the paneling of the back wall.