Our Hopeful Home: Thrifted Vintage Louis XV French Bergere Chairs -- French Country Chic!

After a thrifting dry spell I was lucky enough to come across what I consider to be the holy grail of thrifting -- a vintage French bergere chair. Actually, it was two of them. AND they were affordable. Need I say more? I might normally include the chairs in a weekly Thrill of the Hunt post but they are SO above and beyond that. Which means that they need an entire post devoted to them because I'm so darn excited about it.

Vintage French Country Bergere Chairs thrifted living room fireplace

Here they are surrounding the fireplace in our living room. I'm thrilled with the mantel decor right now, but we still haven't put anything on the walls. Commitment, I know.

The cost? $14.99. Thinking it was a steal, I brought the chair up to the register where they told me that $14.99 was for two chairs. After they scraped me off the floor I said, gulp, "I'll take them!" They put the chairs aside while I drove home to get the van and then returned straight away to pick them up.

The funny thing is that two of my kids were with me and neither one of them found it odd that their mom was so excited about finding some old chairs at Goodwill. Obviously I've trained them well.

I've always been a fan of French decor. And I've always coveted the many vintage French Bergere chairs I've seen in blogland and on Pinterest. I thought that that particular vintage find would always escape me. Thankfully, I was wrong! So what is a Bergere, exactly? According to Dictionary.com:

bergère

noun

a type of French armchair made from about 1725 having a wide deep seat and upholstered sides and back. In later examples, woven cane is often used instead of upholstery
a sofa of a similar design

My Bergere can be classified as one of the "Louis" chairs, or Louis XV, to be exact. It can be a bit confusing at times to decipher between the Louis XIV, XV and XVI chairs that can be somewhat similar in style. I determined that mine was a Louis XV style chair after researching and finding this:

(The following excerpt was taken from Our Essential Guide To Louis Chair Styles.)

Louis XV: Comfortable Curves

Louis XV’s reign, from 1715 to 1774, aligned with the Rococo period in European art and design, characterized by a love of organic motifs and intricate ornamentation. Chair styles loosened up accordingly, with an increase in curvilinear shapes and a new emphasis on comfort. It’s easy to picture one of these elegant pieces in the lavish rooms of Louis XV’s mistress Madame de Pompadour.

To spot a Louis XV chair, look for…

Sensuality: Seat backs are often rounded and feature curved wood frames, typically with carved decorations. Chair legs, set at an angle, are often cabriole, or S-shape.
Romance: Wooden chair frames often feature a gilded finish.
Comfort factor: Seat backs are angled for increased comfort. Armrests shorten in length, ending before the edge of the seat, to better accommodate the era’s full-skirted fashions. (emphasis added)

I love that the arm rests were shortened to better accommodate that era's "full skirts"! I love even more that we don't wear those full skirts anymore.

And my chairs definitely have the beautiful carved decorations typical of the Louis XV style.

While they're not actually from the 18th century, my chairs are definitely vintage. The year 1972 is stamped on each of the down cushion inserts, so I'd say the chairs are at least 46 years old! The upholstery is in great shape for its age, although the fabric on one of the chair's arms needs some work.

I'll be sharing whatever I end up doing with it in a future post. If you want to know how I cleaned the chairs just leave your question in the comments and I'll get back to you.

vintage French bergere chair living room fireplace

As much as I've loved shopping there over the years, the last place I thought I would ever find a real-deal French Bergere chair was at Goodwill. I'm so happy to say that I was wrong. So what is your holy grail of thrifting? Have you found it yet?

Well, that's it until next time, friends!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my

Thrifted Vintage Louis XV

French Bergere Chairs.

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