Louis XV Salon Fontainebleau
The Chateau de Fontainebleau was transformed into a palatial residence by Francois I in 1527. Each successive monarch up to Napoleon III added to the palace and remodelled the original rooms and furnishings. Kevin Mulvany and Susan Rogers have recreated the room in miniature. Denis Hillman exquisitely wrought this circa 1730 commode by Baumbauer (right wall) into a miniature format. Following the fluid lines of Louis XV design, circa 1730 to1760, Denis Hillman recreated Topino’s table de salon (centre front), which offers a delicate cabriole leg and floral marquetry.
Some of the rarest furnishings from the reign of Louis XV were made in the Transitional period, around 1760 to 1765. Hillman’s version of Martin Carlin’s petit coffre a bijoux (jewellery box) is inset with Sevres-style porcelain. The original is in the Wrightsman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
