Rococo is a playful, asymmetrical style of decoration that developed in France in the early eighteenth century as a lighter reaction against the grandeur of the Baroque. Its name derives from the French rocaille, the shell and rock work used in grottoes, and it is characterised by C- and S-scrolls, shells, foliage, flowers, ribbons and flowing, curving lines.
The style flourished in France under Louis XV and spread across Europe from around 1730 to 1770. In Britain it influenced silver, porcelain, carved giltwood mirrors, plasterwork and furniture, and appears in many designs in Thomas Chippendale's Director of 1754, often combined with Chinese and Gothic motifs. Rococo ornament is frequently light-hearted, with pastoral scenes, exotic birds and naturalistic flowers. The style returned to fashion in the nineteenth century as the Rococo Revival, popular in Victorian drawing rooms for balloon-back chairs, mirrors, ceramics and silver. Distinguishing an original eighteenth-century piece from a later revival depends on careful study of construction, materials and the crispness of the carving or casting.
