The rococo (from _rocaille_, rock, and _coquille_, shell) ran its extravagant course with increasing exaggeration and license during the first half of the reign of Louis XV; but it should not be thought of as affecting all the furniture even of this period, for its manifestations were mainly in the field of the carver and bronze worker, and the outlines of furniture were very little influenced, except in the case of the smaller and lighter pieces, such as console tables. About the middle of the reign the limit of artistic license had been passed and a reaction set in. The ormolu, which had reached excessive size and had become overloaded on the surface, was withdrawn to the edges, and made smaller and more suitable for the delicate proportions of the pieces. In its place marquetry of beautiful colored woods, more or less practised for over a century, was brought to a perfection never before equaled.
The reaction against the excesses of the rococo which had set in as early as the middle of the eighteenth century continued to gain strength during the next two decades, and to carry the design of furniture farther and farther from the fashion of the early years of Louis XV.
The new impulse turned naturally to the straight contour. This meant almost inevitably the adoption of classic lines. At first the change showed itself in the straightened bodies of commodes, cabinets, and writing tables, which still retained their curved supports. Finally the legs themselves were made straight or rather tapering; until by the end of the reign of Louis XV the curved outline had quite disappeared and the style called Louis XVI was fairly launched.
The ormolu takes new forms. It is limited to the edges and to frames of panels, to friezes, and to important centers, and follows the classic spirit: not an outright imitation of Roman or Greek forms, but a charming French interpretation of the antique. The designs of the metal worker had never been more delicate, or his execution finer. Delicacy and appropriateness of ornament, fineness of proportion, and sobriety of treatment were the ideals of the new cabinetmakers. The art of marquetry was still further advanced, and reached perhaps its culminating expression in the fine examples of Riesener and Röntgen.