Lot 123
123
A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI CREAM-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT FAUTEUILS
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN (LOTS 123-124) The distinctive embroidery of these chairs is of a type known as satin brodé aux Indes. It seems that the term refers more to a type of embroidery than to a place of origin. It is probably best understood as embroidered in the style called des Indes. These motifs were inspired by designs of the Fables de la Fontaine probably executed for the Manufacture d'Aubusson (a set of this design was sold Hôtel Drouot, 16-17 June, 1911, lot 212). The original embroidery has been restored, cut and re-upholstered onto a modern silk backing. This embroidery closely resembles that on a suite of six chairs and two bergères by Nicolas Quinibert Foliot from the collections of the duc de Penthièvre at the château de Chanteloup and previously at the château de Sceaux, now at Waddesdon Manor (see G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, 1974, vol. II, pp. 596-601). The Foliot suite is described in an inventory at Chanteloup in the cabinet of apartment no. 2: 'deux bergères à carreaux six chaises en plein, à châsis et gros de Tours broché fond blanc représentant les fables de la Fontaine. Les bois sculptés rechampis en or'. On the third of March 1794 they were again mentioned being 'couverts de gros de Naples, fond blanc, brodé aux Indes, représentant les Fables de La Fontaine.' The duc de Penthièvre must have had a particular fondness for that type of embroidery as in the salon of château de Chanteloup there were twenty one chairs upholstered in yellow satin des Indes, and the duc's oratory was also furnished with 'gros de Naples brodé fond soucy Fables de La Fontaine'. Furthermore, in July of 1778, the embroiderers Bauduin and Boucher delivered for the duc's apartment at the château de Sceaux a 'meuble de satin blanc brodé de soie créme'. This set was executed by Georges Jacob, who was the menuisier of the duc. One of the armchairs in this set was also embroidered with a subject taken from Fables de la Fontaine: The stork and the fox. Two chairs were decorated with birds and garden trophies and the screen was embellished with a panel decorated with goats and sheep. In January of that same year these embroiderers also supplied more than 16000 livres of embroideries with motifs of knotted bunches of silk for a room at Sceaux. It seems likely that the label on the canapé relates to the hôtel of Baron James Mayer de Rothschild, the founder of the Parisian branch of the Rothschild family who died in 1868 in his hôtel on 19 rue Lafitte. It is interesting to note that there were two blue salons in this hôtel.
A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI CREAM-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT FAUTEUILS

BY GEORGES JACOB, CIRCA 1780

Details
A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI CREAM-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT FAUTEUILS
By Georges Jacob, circa 1780
Each with oval back, padded arms and seat covered in ivory satin brodé aux Indes embroidered with animals in wooded landscapes representing scenes from the Fables de la Fontaine, within ribbon-tied floral branches on ivory coloured backgrounds, the frame carved with trailing husks and surmounted by a garlanded musical trophy, the acanthus-wrapped arms above similarly carved tapering stop-fluted legs headed by patterae and ending in toupie feet, redecorated, the embroidery rebacked, each stamped 'G.IACOB' (2)
Provenance
By repute, Baron James Mayer de Rothschild (1792-1868).
His son, Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827-1905).
Baron Edouard de Rothschild, Avenue Foch, Paris.
A distinguished private collection, sold Christie's New York, 23 October 1998, lot 123 (the suite).
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Georges Jacob, maître in 1765.

More from Important European Furniture, Sculpture and Tapestries

View All
View All