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Lot Essay
Louis Cresson, maître in 1738.
Designed in the early Louis XV 'pittoresque' style, these generous and beautifully-carved bergères, with their distinctive pomegranate spray to the seat-rail, foliate and rockwork carving throughout the frames and bold proportions, are characteristic of the oeuvre of Louis Cresson, the most talented of the Cresson dynasty of menuisiers. Founded by Charles and Jean Cresson during the Régence and continued by Louis, Michel and René during the first half of the 18th Century, this family of chair-makers was based in the rue de Cléry. Louis, whose work stands out for its refined carving and bold proportions, was patronised by the duc d'Orléans and the prince de Condé.
This remarkably extensive suite of seat-furniture was almost certainly commissioned for the Coigny family for one of their country residences, the château de Mareuil en Brie. The imposing country seat was constructed in the 17th century and was occupied at the end of the 18th century by Aimée de Coigny, the duchesse de Fleury, who inspired the poet André Chenier for his most famous work, 'La Jeune Captive' in the 1790s. Much of the Coigny collection was sold in the Revolutionary sales in Paris in the 1790s, but some pieces did pass by inheritance into English aristocratic collections - to the Earl of Stair at Lochinch Castle, and Earl Manvers.
When sold in the Luttrellstown sale in 1983, the suite included two pairs of bergères (including the present lot), a set of four chaises, a pair of canapés and twelve fauteuils. Of the chaises, three were stamped 'M' and one inscribed in ink 'Mareuil en Brie'. The fauteuils and chaises have since been re-sold at Christie's London (5 July 2001, lots 257-260) and are all inscribed with numbers to the seat-rails - the fauteuils numbering 15-26, and the chaises numbering 27, 29, 31 and 32. The numbers beneath the canapés and other pair of bergères are sadly unrecorded, but given that the present pair are numbered 37 and 40, it is highly probable that the suite originally supplied to Mareuil en Brie totalled at least forty pieces.
The Hon. Mrs. Aileen Plunket acquired Luttrellstown Castle, Co. Dublin, through her father the Hon. Ernest Guinness in 1927. Felix Harbord, Mrs Plunket's decorator, worked closely with her on the decoration of Luttrellstown and they almost certainly made many of the main purchases together. The Cresson suite was clearly chosen by them specifically to furnish the grand ball-room, which became a 'tour-de-force' of Adam and Louis XV styles, with yellows and blues prevailing. When the suite was acquired by Mrs. Plunket it was thought to have originally come from the château de Maintenon, a tradition that had been attached to it for some years.
A paint analysis undertaken by Catherine Hassall of University College London showed that the original decoration was a blue with a varnished top coat, based on a Prussian blue and lead white, which has since been overpainted using grey-blue. The second grey-blue layer used lead white and dates to no later than the 1930s/40s.
Designed in the early Louis XV 'pittoresque' style, these generous and beautifully-carved bergères, with their distinctive pomegranate spray to the seat-rail, foliate and rockwork carving throughout the frames and bold proportions, are characteristic of the oeuvre of Louis Cresson, the most talented of the Cresson dynasty of menuisiers. Founded by Charles and Jean Cresson during the Régence and continued by Louis, Michel and René during the first half of the 18th Century, this family of chair-makers was based in the rue de Cléry. Louis, whose work stands out for its refined carving and bold proportions, was patronised by the duc d'Orléans and the prince de Condé.
This remarkably extensive suite of seat-furniture was almost certainly commissioned for the Coigny family for one of their country residences, the château de Mareuil en Brie. The imposing country seat was constructed in the 17th century and was occupied at the end of the 18th century by Aimée de Coigny, the duchesse de Fleury, who inspired the poet André Chenier for his most famous work, 'La Jeune Captive' in the 1790s. Much of the Coigny collection was sold in the Revolutionary sales in Paris in the 1790s, but some pieces did pass by inheritance into English aristocratic collections - to the Earl of Stair at Lochinch Castle, and Earl Manvers.
When sold in the Luttrellstown sale in 1983, the suite included two pairs of bergères (including the present lot), a set of four chaises, a pair of canapés and twelve fauteuils. Of the chaises, three were stamped 'M' and one inscribed in ink 'Mareuil en Brie'. The fauteuils and chaises have since been re-sold at Christie's London (5 July 2001, lots 257-260) and are all inscribed with numbers to the seat-rails - the fauteuils numbering 15-26, and the chaises numbering 27, 29, 31 and 32. The numbers beneath the canapés and other pair of bergères are sadly unrecorded, but given that the present pair are numbered 37 and 40, it is highly probable that the suite originally supplied to Mareuil en Brie totalled at least forty pieces.
The Hon. Mrs. Aileen Plunket acquired Luttrellstown Castle, Co. Dublin, through her father the Hon. Ernest Guinness in 1927. Felix Harbord, Mrs Plunket's decorator, worked closely with her on the decoration of Luttrellstown and they almost certainly made many of the main purchases together. The Cresson suite was clearly chosen by them specifically to furnish the grand ball-room, which became a 'tour-de-force' of Adam and Louis XV styles, with yellows and blues prevailing. When the suite was acquired by Mrs. Plunket it was thought to have originally come from the château de Maintenon, a tradition that had been attached to it for some years.
A paint analysis undertaken by Catherine Hassall of University College London showed that the original decoration was a blue with a varnished top coat, based on a Prussian blue and lead white, which has since been overpainted using grey-blue. The second grey-blue layer used lead white and dates to no later than the 1930s/40s.