The eighteenth century was a period of great inventiveness and originality in French decorative arts and interior decoration. This book discusses in detail the creation and contents of the interiors of French aristocrats and financiers, including some that have never been photographed before. Using contemporary inventories, letters, and journals it brings to life the tastes and preoccupations of their creatorsthe Royal family, the aristocracy, the fashionable tourists, and the nouveaux riches, as well as the dealers and craftsmen who worked for them, the artists, designers andarchitects. In addition, it explores the wider context of the different styles of decoration, the effect upon them of changes in etiquette and social behavior, and the effect they had in turn upon the function and arrangement of rooms within the French interior.