The méridienne was an alternative to the small sofa in the Rococo Revival parlor set. The form derives ultimately from French Neoclassical sources, featuring one high and one open end. The Bayou Bend example is made with laminated rosewood, but the absence of the elaborate openwork carving that characterizes other production of John Henry Belter (see B.81.9.1–.10,) indicates it was a less ambitious and thus less expensive piece.

Technical notes: Rosewood, rosewood veneer; ash.  

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.