“fauteuil à la reine” C. 1755-59 armchair by the carpenter Nicolas Heurtaut (1720-1771) in the symmetrical classical Rocaille style  

These armchairs have purer, slenderer lines, inspired by the growing interest in Greek and Roman Antiquity. The powerfully sculpted flowers, shells, and heart-shaped cartels are laid out in perfect symmetrical order, such symmetrical layout marks a turning point when ornamentation rebelled against the whimsical fantasies of Rocaille, as the Rococo style was known in France. Heurtaut played an important part in taming the excesses of the Rocaille style. The symmetrical  classical Rocaille style developed circa 1753 as a compromise between the Rocaille and  the Classical style. Nicolas Heurtaut’s design was very fashionable in the eighteenth century, and remained so for many years, as several nineteenth-century copies  are recorded.

Louvre Department of Decorative Arts