Where it all begins!

     Chers Amis,  Bonjour and bravo for today is the 7th year anniversaire of L’Ecole du Bon Gout!!

     With the idea of promoting the future of good taste, I would like to address today where it all starts.   Childhood is a period when so many life time perceptions, habits, attitudes, values and ways of looking at things are deeply set in an individual’s make up.   I propose that it would be better for a developing child to be interacting with mainly “real” and beautiful things rather than plastic toys and “virtual experiences” provided by computer games etc.  It is hard enough for a child to figure out the true realities of life when the things and experiences are the real ones.

     The first two photos below, I took last week at Musée Carnavalet in Paris. Note they are playing amongst their toys and furniture especially sized for their use!     What a privileged developmental life they must have had!

     Following these are photos of a number of child size pieces of furniture either currently in stock here in Breaux Bridge, or soon to arrive in the shipment from my recent trip to France.        Let the Bon Gout begin at an early age!

     Come by for a visit in person, call 337-332-2852 or view the web site at http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com 

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Louis XV ?? or Louis XVI ???

Chers Amis de L'Ecole du Bon Gout. Bonjour d'Uzes!

     If you look in the background of the first photo below , you will see, in a painting of the Marquis de Marigny, a bronze dore wall sconce which because of its obvious neoclassical design, would be labeled as "Louis XVI style" by most knowledgeable antique collectors. I propose this label needs to be rethought! The painting is dated 1769 and Louis XV is still alive and the king of France until 1774, SVP!

     Being "Director General of Royal Buildings , Gardens, Art, Academies, and Manufactories" made Marigny the most influential style setter of his time, second only possibly to his sister Mme. de Pompadour!! In 1749 he had taken, in the company of the architect Soufflot, the draftsman Cochin and the Abbe LeBlanc, a grand study tour of the ancient monuments of Italy. This "new" firsthand knowledge of the architecture and decorative arts of the ancient world was then infused into the architecture and decorative arts of France. The designs seen in these sconces, the Petite Trianon and even my next door neighbor here in Uzes, the Hotel de Ville (completed in 1772) are all a direct result of this infusion. In my opinion this style could be more accurately labeled: "Late Louis XV style"!

     See following photos of several very similar "Late Louis XV style" sconces, as well as some models with more completely "vegetal" forms of the Louis XV style, now in stock or coming in the summer shipment from here.

Call or come by for a visit in person (337 332 2852) or visit the website at www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Merci cordialement, Robert E. Smith d'Uzes

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com