Louis XVI and the goût grec

The Greek taste: straight legs, antique ornament and the masterpieces of the great cabinetmakers.

In the 1760s the goût grec, the Greek taste, became fashionable in Paris. Furniture got straight, fluted legs and antique ornament. Jean-Henri Riesener made veneered furniture for Marie-Antoinette, and Georges Jacob chairs with carved frames.

Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie described the techniques of the crafts in text and image. The Revolution of 1789 ended the court's commissions, and the guilds were abolished in 1791.