examines the rise of Colonial manufacturing By Danny Sinopoli There is a charming and well-known story among furniture aficionados about a spinster daughter of Louis XV, Mme Elisabeth, being asked why she had not entered a convent as had her sister, Mme Louise.

" C'est un fauteuil qui me perd ,'' the French noblewoman was said to have replied. "It was an armchair that was my undoing.'' As humorously suggestive as the story is, it is reflective as well of the major social and economic changes that were represented by the shifts in 18th-century furniture design, which not only inspired a new feeling for comfort among people but also resulted in a less self-conscious attitude toward the human body.

With such newly developed constructs as the low padded chairs of the mid-1700s, wrote Edward Lucie-Smith in his Concise History of Furniture, the body "was now, at least on more intimate occasions, allowed to relax from the stiff postures politeness had required earlier.

"Such furniture,'' the historian continued, "gives one a keen sense of that douceur de vivre which Talleyrand sighed for after the tempest of the French Revolution.'' And it remains, in short, " par excellence the ideal of those who interest themselves in antiques.'' Of course, the new emphasis on comfort and luxury that was characteristic of the period was not limited to France, whose craftsmen often competed with other furniture makers in Europe and America.

The furniture of England, for example, enjoyed a very high reputation for both the practicality of its design and the quality of its craftsmanship, and it was regularly and eagerly imported by enthusiastic customers in Russia, Denmark, Germany, Holland and Spain.

In America, moreover, Britain's northern US colonies were developing their own style of manufacturing, creating such recognisably local forms as the block-front bureau and giving the mother country a run for its money.

In addition to restricting the market for European furniture in the New World, the American designs resulted as well in a thriving venture cargo trade -- the practice of trading northern manufactured products with other parts of the world that will also be the subject of a Christie's lecture at the National Gallery next Thursday.

Called "Venture Cargo -- Treasures on the High Seas,'' the lecture will be given at 5.30 p.m. by Mr. John Hays, the senior vice-president and director of Christie's American furniture and decorative arts department in New York City.

Founded in 1766, Christie's is the world's oldest fine art auction house, currently serving clients from 103 offices in 37 countries.

Mr. Hays, whose company participated in the National Gallery's successful Appraisal Day and Bijoux Ball in Bermuda last year, will be focusing his lecture on the northern American export of furniture to such southern states as Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas and to such foreign ports of call as France, Spain, the West Indies, Brazil, South Africa and Bermuda.

At the height of the venture cargo trade -- generally the late 18th century and early to mid 19th -- the best of the American designs were equal to anything made in Britain at the same time.

In fact, Mr. Lucie-Smith wrote in his history, "America was the only region outside the British Isles where British furniture-makers had to compete with craftsmen of their own race and with a similar level of skill.'' According to the historian, the US manufacturing style was characterised by a mingling of English Regency and French Empire influences.

Furthermore, he pointed out, a very elegant original version of the Regency style was developed by the New York cabinet-maker Duncan Phyfe, whose designs had also to compete with the more elaborate French-influenced work of such European emigrants to America as Honore Lannuier and the ever-popular Greek revival style that had long persisted in American furniture.

As this wide variety of production in the America of the time would suggest, the field of northern US furniture-making comprises a rich historical subject for anyone with even a remote interest in design.

Consequently, the National Gallery has opened the lecture by Mr. Hays to both members and non-members alike.

Anyone who is interested in attending the lecture can do so by calling the Gallery at 295-9428.

MR. CHRISTIE'S -- Mr. John Hays (far right), the senior vice-president and director of Christie's American furniture and decorative arts department, will lecture on the US venture cargo trade of the 18th and 19th centuries at the National Gallery next week. For example, (below) this classical rosewood parcel-gilt card table, found in South Carolina, is attributed to Duncan Phyfe, whose furniture was exported to many points in the southern US and elsewhere. The Gallery has opend the lecture to members and non-members alike.