Lot Essay
Jean Boucault, maître in 1728
Jean Boucault (c.1705-1786) was the principal member of a distinguished family of menuisiers. Amongst his clients were such prestigious figures as the duc de Choiseul and Louis XV's daughter Louise-Élisabeth, the duchesse de Parme. In 1763 Boucault supplied a suite of seat furniture for Choiseul's house in Paris--the hôtel Crozat. Some of the chairs were depicted on a remarkable snuff box painted by Louis-Nicolas van Blarenberghe which illustrated various rooms of the residence. The present chair is closely related to a fauteuil de bureau shown on the snuff box in the bedroom of the duc de Choiseul (see J. Whitehead, The French Interior in the Eighteenth Century, 1993, p. 26).
Jean Boucault (c.1705-1786) was the principal member of a distinguished family of menuisiers. Amongst his clients were such prestigious figures as the duc de Choiseul and Louis XV's daughter Louise-Élisabeth, the duchesse de Parme. In 1763 Boucault supplied a suite of seat furniture for Choiseul's house in Paris--the hôtel Crozat. Some of the chairs were depicted on a remarkable snuff box painted by Louis-Nicolas van Blarenberghe which illustrated various rooms of the residence. The present chair is closely related to a fauteuil de bureau shown on the snuff box in the bedroom of the duc de Choiseul (see J. Whitehead, The French Interior in the Eighteenth Century, 1993, p. 26).