PORT FURNITURE / BORDELAIS FURNITURE
We call port furniture furniture made of exotic wood - mainly mahogany - made in certain French port cities throughout the 18th century. The three main production centers were Saint-Malo, Nantes and Bordeaux. Port furniture has a particularity: It is made of solid exotic wood, right down to the frame, sometimes even down to the battens.
Mahogany, a key figure in port furniture, appeared around 1520 in Spain, transported in the form of planks and blocks on board caravels and introduced around 1595 in England where it was used in the construction of boats. The frequent name “mahogany” to designate mahogany is indicative of the English preponderance in the use of this wood.
In the 18th century, Bordeaux was a rich city with a port open to the sea, which favored trade with Africa, the West Indies and America. In Bordeaux there were shipowners, slave traders and large merchants who owned very beautiful, sumptuously furnished private mansions. The style of "Bordelais" furniture of this period contributes to the Baroque: The furniture is rich, exuberant....It is thanks to the development of the trade in precious woods that we see the appearance of furniture in solid mahogany, a wood that comes from Cuba, the West Indies and Central America. Used to hold goods at sea, enormous quantities of mahogany logs are thrown on the quays. Recovered by local craftsmen, these stowage woods are most often used in solid form and not in veneer.
Taking advantage of the veins, the cabinetmakers thus exploit the particular properties of Cuban mahogany and create elegant port furniture in tune with the refined and discreet luxury of Bordeaux residences. The common characteristics of Bordeaux furniture The style of the furniture is often Louis marquetry. The ornamentation is essentially floral with gadroons and scrolls of foliage.
The feet are volute. The art of ironwork flourished in the 18th century in Bordeaux, we find superb ironwork on Bordeaux furniture.