DOUBLE VISION: French Leather Club Chairs

Need some interior design inspiration? See what we've found! Source your favorite finds at 

 Lolo French Antiques et More.

Elle Decor
Patrick Printy, Interior Designer
Laura Resen, Photographer

Lolo French Antiques et More
Item #LFALO649
Pair of French Leather Tufted Wing Chairs

À Bientôt!

Lolo & Mimi

SWEET TREATS FOR OUR VALENTINES

Lolo French Antiques et More is serving up some delicious "sweet treats" this Valentine's Day! 

We have a fabulous selection of chocolates for your Valentine this year — like this "burled brittle infused with orange liqueur dusted with chestnut shavings"

French Louis Philippe Side Table

and this "caramel truffle with a milk chocolate ganache infusion of borbon vanilla and sea salt"

French Art Deco Leather Club Chair

 and especially this "dark chocolate praliné, coated with roasted and caramelized almonds, enrobed in dark chocolate."  

French St. Antoine de Padoue Statue

  

Chocolat, whether it's the color or the candy, is a great gift for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day.

 One of our favorite chocolate candies, the truffe au chocolat (chocolate truffle), is synonymous with luxury and decadent indulgence. 

Truffes au Chocolate, La Maison du Chocolat, Paris

The chocolate truffle is a chocolate confection created by a pâtissier named Louis Dufour in the picturesque, mountainous region of southeastern France known as the Savoiea. While preparing Christmas sweets in the city of Chambéry in 1895, the French chocolatier realized he was missing some basic ingredients. Too proud to purchase supplies from a competitor, Dufour decided to blend crème fraîche, vanilla and cocoa powder — creating what we now call ganache — the traditional center of a truffle. To make his creation more appealing, Dufour rolled small amounts of the ganache into balls, dipped them into melted chocolate, and then dusted them with more cocoa powder. The irregular shaped chocolate confections looked a lot like the fancy mushrooms known as truffles, hence the name truffle was used to describe them. They were an instant success! 

Today, truffles are filled with everything from ganache to caramel to liqueur, 

and decorated with everything from cocoa powder to sea salt to coconut.

We hope you and your Valentine indulge in some decadent chocolate today!

Bonne Saint Valentin!

Lolo & Mimi

GATHER 'ROUND THE TABLE

Friends and family will soon gather together to celebrate the holidays. Our tables will be filled with merriment as we savor good food and fine wine.

Set of 8 Louis XIII Style Dining Chairs

 Italian Dining Table

Set of 8 Louis XVI Style Dining Chairs

 Washed Oak French Trestle Table

Os de Mouton Dining Chairs

French Monastery Table

French Refectory Table with Barley Twist Legs
Set of 6 Os de Mouton Dining Chairs

Set of 8 Henri II Style Leather Dining Chairs

Set of 6 Directoire Style Dining Chairs

Why not pull up a chair and gather 'round one of the beautiful tables Lolo found and enjoy some laughs, share old memories and make some new ones.

À Bientôt!

Lolo & Mimi

LOLO TAKES A SIDE TRIP TO MONT SAINT-MICHEL: PART 1

Lolo's morning started out like any other day, searching through warehouses hoping to find a treasure trove of French antiques. He managed to find a few new dealers and drove away with some beautiful pieces.

Louis XV Table with Cabriole Legs Ending in Pied de Biche

Antique French Grandfather Clocks

Hand Carved French Gueridon 

Louis XV Wing Back Bergeres

Louis XV Enfilade

Henri II Leather Armchairs

Antique Wooden French Planter

Louis XV Cabinet

Louis XV Chest

 
As he was off to his final destination, Lolo found himself near Mont Saint-Michel. Known as the Merveille de l’Occident  (Wonder of the West), it's one of France's most iconic sights. 

Mont Saint-Michel in the distance.

Lolo had always heard of the rocky islet and its tides, but had never been there. He decided to take some time off (something he's learning to do a little more often) and do some sight seeing. And WOW...what a sight to see!

Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel takes you back to the Middle Ages with its amazing architecture set against a backdrop of the area's incredible tides.

Mont Saint-Michel forms a tower in the heart of an immense bay invaded by the highest tides in Europe.

The actual abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is the reason to visit. Surrounded by rock, the abbey provides insight into religious life through 1000 years of architecture. It’s been an important pilgrimage center since 709 A.D. 

The Abbey

According to legend, the Archangel Michael told Saint-Aubert, the local Bishop of Avranches, to “build here and build high.” Saint-Aubert built and consecrated a small church on October 16, 709.  Archangel Michael reassured the bishop, “If you build it...they will come.” In 966 A.D., a community of Benedictine monks settled on the rock at the request of the Duke of Normandy and the Carolingian church named Chapelle Notre-Dame-sous-Terre (Our Lady underground) was built on the grounds of the oratory erected by Saint-Aubert in the early VIIIth century. Today's abbey is built on the remains of this pre-Romanesque church. Saint-Michel, whose gilded statue decorates the top of the abbey’s spire, was the patron saint of many French kings, making this a favored sight for French royalty through the ages.  

The Archangel Michel by sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet sits atop the neo-gothic spire,
 rising over 550 feet above sea level, that was added in 1896.

The abbey was closed in 1791 and used as a prison during the French Revolution. Napoleon finally shut down the prison in 1863 after several influential figures, including Victor Hugo, launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural treasure. An extensive restoration was required. The abbey was turned over to the Historic Monuments department in 1874 and has been open to the public year round since then. The setting and fine architecture make it one of the major monuments for visitors in France.

'Mont-Saint-Michel: La salle des Chevaliers'

Tomorrow, Lolo takes us through a maze of narrow streets leading through areas of shops, restaurants, and hotels. He'll show us the windlass, installed during the use of the site as a prison, which six workers once powered hamster-style to haul two-ton loads of stones and supplies from the landing below. We'll take a look at the beautiful architecture of Mont Saint-Michel and the little village that flourishes on the rock.

Lolo and the Windlass

Á Bientôt!

Lolo & Mimi

WEDNESDAY'S WORD OF THE WEEK: TABOURET

 

TABOURET

tab·ou·ret [tab-er-it, tab-uh-ret, -rey]

noun [tab-er-it, tab-uh-ret, -rey]

1.   a low seat without back or arms, for one person; stool.

2.   a frame for embroidery.

3.   a small, usually portable stand, cabinet, or chest of drawers, as for holding work supplies.

4.   a small tabor.

Origin:
mid 17th century < French tabouret literally, small drum, from Middle French, diminutive of tabor, tabour drum, from Old French.

The French word tabouret refers to an upholstered footstool or bench.

Louis XIV Tabourets with Tassels and Lavish Carvings. From the Collection of Jacques Doucet, 1912.

The history of stools in Europe can be traced back to the late 1500's. During the reign of King Louis XIV, when chairs were status symbols and no ordinary person could aspire to own one, a hierarchical seating system featured a fauteuil (an armchair) for the king and queen to sit upon. One did not just take a seat when the King or Queen was present. This was dictated by etiquette.

Tabouret and Fauteuil in Louis XIV Style

No one else was allowed an armchair in their presence, except for another monarch visiting the French court. He or she would be offered an armchair as well. A chair with a back but no arms was considered appropriate for those closest in rank to the king, such as his brother, sister or children, and a tabouret was provided only for the more privileged ladies of the court to sit upon in the royal presence. Everyone else was required to stand, no matter their age or fortune.

Illustrated History of Furniture: From the Earliest to Present Time.
By Frederick Litchfield, 1893.

The court tabouret was an elaborate, upholstered stool with curved wooden legs and tassels, carried by a liveried and wigged servant. It was a much desired honor to sit in the presence of the royal family and a lady’s rank determined how lavishly her tabouret was decorated.  A duchess was automatically granted the honor of sitting in front of the queen.

Pair of Louis XV Tabourets. Circa 1735-1740. Realized $216,000 at Christie's Auction.

This little French stool was such a highly treasured stool and symbol of privilege that when Louis XIV's mother, the Regent Anne of Austria granted the tabouret to two non-duchesses, it caused a disturbance like no other. Such a protest was made that she had to revoke them.

Fig. 4032. Tabouret Loius XIII. Prix, en noyer ciré : 20 francs.
Fig. 4033. Tabouret Louis XIV. Prix, en noyer ciré : 25 francs.
Fig. 4034. Tabouret Louis XVI. Prix, en noyer ciré : 20 francs.
From Le Dictionnaire Pratique de Menuiserie - Ebénisterie - Charpente 
By J. Justin Stoeck, 1900

Tabourets of various designs later became fashionable as household furniture, particularly in France and England.

Louis XVI Needlepoint Tabouret

Louis XIII Style Tabouret

Louis XIII Tabouret

Henri II Tabouret. Circa 1890. Leather Seat with Nailhead Trim.

Country French Tabourets with Rush Seats

Louis XIII Os de Mouton Tabouret

Louis XIII Barley Twist Tabouret

Modern Tabouret with Acrylic Legs and Natural Hide Seat

Remember, next time you "take a seat" on what you thought was just an ordinary stool, you're sitting pretty...like royalty.

But Lolo, he gets the back and the arms...a seat fit for a king!

Á Bientôt!

Lolo & Mimi