As a fan of 18C French decorative arts, there’s nothing I love more than a Louis XV-style fauteuil, or armchair.  Naturally, the first exhibits in the Royal Ontario Museum’s New France collection that caught my eye were these 2 elegant Louis XV fauteuils.

Two handsome fauteuils from New France in the ROM.

The dates given for both pieces are 1760-1790.  To look at them, you would think they were from before 1760 — and you would be right if they were French.  In New France, however, Louis XV styles persisted well into the 19C.  This was the effect of being cut off from the mother country after the British conquest of 1759.

Let’s look more closely at each chair.