A bergère is an enclosed upholstered French armchair ('' fauteuil'') with an

upholstered Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wo ...

back and

armrest An armrest is a part of a chair, where a person can rest their arms on. Armrests are built into a large variety of chairs such as automotive chairs, armchairs, sofas, and more. Adjustable armrests are commonly found in ergonomic office chairs. ...

s on upholstered frames. The seat frame is over-upholstered, but the rest of the wooden framing is exposed: it may be moulded or

carved Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and ...

, and of

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

, painted or

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was trad ...

, or of fruitwood, walnut or mahogany with a waxed finish. Padded elbowrests may stand upon the armrests. A ''bergère'' is fitted with a loose, but tailored, seat cushion. It is designed for lounging in comfort, with a deeper, wider seat than that of a regular ''fauteuil'', though the ''bergères'' by Bellangé in the White House are more formal. A ''bergère'' in the eighteenth century was essentially a ''meuble courant'', designed to be moved about to suit convenience, rather than being ranged permanently formally along the walls as part of the decor. Bergeres

The fanciful name, "shepherdess chair", was coined in mid-eighteenth century

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, where the model developed without a notable break from the late-seventeenth century ''chaise de commodité'', a version of the

wing chair A wing chair (also, wing-back chair or wing-back) is an easy chair or club chair with "wings" attached to the back of the chair, typically, but not always, stretching down to the arm rest. The purpose of the "wings" was to shield the occupant of ...

, whose upholstered "wings" shielding the face from fireplace heat or from draughts were retained in the ''bergère à oreilles'' ("with ears"), or, fancifully, ''bergère confessionale'', as if the occupant were hidden from view, as in a

confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but si ...

. A ''bergère'' may have a flat, raked back, in which case it is ''à la reine'', or, more usually in Louis XV furnishings, it has a coved back, ''en cabriolet''. A ''bergère'' with a low coved back that sweeps without a break into the armrests is a ''marquise''.Model timeline in Madeleine Jarry, ''Le siège français'' (Fribourg: Office du Livre) 1973, following p. 356 Appearing first in Paris during the

Régence The ''Régence'' (, ''Regency'') was the period in French history between 1715 and 1723 when King Louis XV was considered a minor and the country was instead governed by Philippe d'Orléans (a nephew of Louis XIV of France) as prince regen ...

(1715–23), the form reaches its full development in the unifying curves of the

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style, then continues in a more architectural rectilinear style in the

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

, Directoire, and French and American

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 dur ...

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergere Chairs

See also

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