Gantseva Nina N.

The article outlines scientific methods and approaches to studying traditional Chinese cabinet-making, as this sphere of knowledge is definitely lacking in well-grounded ways of interpreting, classifying, and restoring the pieces of furniture being part of cultural. Furniture from the Southwest region of China is selected to be the material for this research. The studies of this aspect are limited by the typological characteristics of the period when the subject-spatial environment was formed by co-natural factors. At the early stages of history the cabinet-maker's attempts at forming the subject-spatial environment were predetermined by natural conditions. These conditions were imposed by the actual state of technology and the existing manual equipment. At the same time, the world picture concerning the cosmic universe organization functioned as another limitation.

The peculiarity of Chinese art and its scientific presentation is bound by a unique historical periodization system, which differs from the one used in Western Europe. The Chinese periodical scale is based on dynastic distribution. In addition, Chinese art theory is greatly influenced by ancestral authentic roots of the culture, as well as history, philosophy and religious provisions of Buddhism. In this regard, a well-organised approach is required to further investigate the ideological grounds of the Chinese artistic and cultural paradigm. More specifically, the principles underlying form design are to be revealed and described, which are bound by the environmental conditions and related householding, on the one hand, and the paradigms of "traditional art" and "folk art", on the other. It is important to evaluate the level of their identity.

The aforementioned criteria persist today due to the stable cultural and archetypal mentality, which is supposed to contribute to studying the subject-spatial environment.

The significance of this research lies in the need to develop a new approach to the study of French furniture within the broader framework of the social history of art. Such an approach is particularly relevant in light of the distinctive socio-political conditions that shaped attitudes toward the material and spatial environment in France during the age of absolute monarchy. In this context, the creation of interior settings and furnishings was closely linked to the interests of the state and, above all, to those of the sovereign, whose patronage played a decisive role in artistic production.

Against this background, the present study examines the conceptual and visual dimensions of artistic practice in French furniture-making. Particular attention is given to the functional principles underlying form, ornament, and artistic design in the masterpieces of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French furniture. A key analytical framework is the role of individual agency in history, explored through the relationship between the sovereign as patron and the craftsman as creator.

Eighteenth-century French furniture exerted a profound influence on the development of furniture design across Europe, establishing stylistic models that shaped the evolution of the decorative arts well beyond the borders of France.