Imagination is the basis of this decorative style, in which rocks and shells, with flowers and foliage, provide the dominant theme. Contrast and asymmetry are its essential features. From around 1730 the movement was expanded and accelerated by the work of such ornamentists as Gilles Marie Oppenord and Jules Aurèle Meissonnier, who were among the principal designers of these more extravagant forms. Fervent in his devotion to the rocaille is such a craftsman as Gaudreaux, who was one of the leading ébénistes in the employ of the Crown at this period.