Plattegrond van de tweede verdieping van het huis van Léon Berthous in Bayonne - Gabriel Huquier

An eighteenth-century architectural etching by Gabriel Huquier, detailing the floor plan of the second storey of the Léon Berthous residence in Bayonne.

This architectural etching by Gabriel Huquier presents the floor plan for the second storey of the residence belonging to Léon Berthous in Bayonne. Huquier, a prominent French engraver and art dealer during the eighteenth century, was instrumental in the dissemination of the Rococo style through his prints. His work often captured the domestic arrangements and decorative sensibilities of the period.

The plan illustrates a sophisticated spatial layout, typical of mid-eighteenth-century French urban townhouses. The rooms are labelled with letters, corresponding to a key at the bottom of the print: A for Antichambre, B for Chambre de Parade, C for Chambre à coucher, D for Cabinet, E for Grand Cabinet, and F for Antichambre. The drawing employs clean, precise lines to delineate the walls, with hatched shading used to indicate the thickness of the masonry. The irregular, trapezoidal footprint of the building suggests the constraints of the urban site in Bayonne, yet the interior configuration maintains a sense of order and symmetry.

Architectural prints of this nature were often produced to document contemporary design or to provide models for architects and builders. Huquier’s technical approach is clear and functional, prioritising the legibility of the room dimensions and the flow of the circulation spaces. The inclusion of the floor plan provides a glimpse into the private life and domestic hierarchy of the era, where specialised rooms such as the 'Chambre de Parade' and 'Grand Cabinet' served distinct social and personal functions. This print is a valuable record of historical domestic architecture, offering a view into the spatial organisation of a French provincial home during the Rococo period.