Four upholstery panels for a settee 1754 - 1756

Curator: Oh my! Well, isn’t this just a frilly bit of gorgeousness. All it needs is someone wearing silk stockings and a powdered wig lounging upon it. Editor: Precisely! We’re looking at four of the original upholstery panels for a settee, crafted between 1754 and 1756 by the Beauvais Manufactory. Curator: Ah, Beauvais, purveyors of plushness and pastoral fantasies! Those panels... it's like a woven dream, isn't it? Teeming with flora, fauna, and what appear to be cherubic mischief-makers? Honestly, I want to sink into it. Editor: Rococo excess at its finest! Note the symbolic interplay: the idealized nature scenes evoke a pre-industrial idyll, reflecting a longing for a simpler, perhaps more innocent time. Of course, this ideal was only available for the upper crust to literally lounge upon. Curator: There’s definitely some pointed commentary about social escapism wrapped in silken thread! All those roses, I see it as a pre-revolution statement, all those blushing beauties that conceal hidden thorns. Do you think so? Editor: I think it does more than concealing hidden thorns! Roses can symbolize love, secrecy, even perfection depending on how you read their cultural symbolism. In this time, the wealthy and Royal classes tried to live up to those perceived ideas through this ideal representation. It makes you think about how perception changes through class. Curator: What do you think these panels whispers about the world of leisure and longing during the pre-revolution? It would make one believe everything was nothing but a pretty bird and rose. I'm now looking closer and I think I notice a theme with birds. It seems every panel has a bird. Do you know if that is of significance? Editor: Birds are interesting because they symbolize different meanings based on cultures and beliefs. When one thinks of Rococo artwork, it's usually never more than face value and pleasing the eye. Considering the fact there is some deeper meanings, these upholstery panels do more than what they lead on! Curator: Yes, it looks a great textile art in decorative art context! Overall, an invitation to rest—maybe not so peaceful at all, a kind of luxurious battleground of symbols and social yearnings woven into the fabric. Editor: Exactly!