ormolu mount

…lacquer decoration, again combined with ormolu mounts. The most celebrated makers of mounts during Louis XV’s reign were Jacques Caffieri and his son Philippe. Jean-François Oeben was made ébéniste du roi (cabinetmaker to the king) in 1754; a pupil of Boulle, he was the most celebrated cabinetmaker of the period.

Mahogany-veneered furniture with ormolu mounts assumed the shapes of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian chairs and tables, with winged-lion supports and pilasters headed with sphinxes’ busts or palm leaves; where no Classical prototypes existed, contemporary designs were enlivened with Classical ornament.