Chaise longue after 1878

This print, made anonymously, depicts a chaise longue. The design is from Le Magasin de Meubles, a compendium of furniture designs published in Paris. In eighteenth-century France, furniture design was a crucial instrument of aristocratic culture. Pieces like this chaise were not merely functional, but key expressions of status and taste. The visual codes of the period are visible in the fabric, the elaborate trim, and the overall emphasis on luxury and comfort. One can consider the politics of imagery in the way such prints served both to record and to disseminate these exclusive fashions, effectively constructing a visual world of aspiration and desire. For the art historian, understanding this image requires not just an analysis of form, but also an investigation into the social conditions of its production, including the economic structures that sustained such opulence. Research resources such as trade records, inventories, and period publications are all essential to understanding the social life of this decorative design.