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Lot Essay
Jean-Baptiste II Tilliard,maître in 1752.
With its unusual rectilinear shapes and bold carving of lion heads, this canapé is a superb example of the early neo-classical style of the 1760s and was undoubtedly a special commission. Similar severely geometic forms appear in the designs of 1754-'55 for a fauteuil de bureau by Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain as part of his celebrated designs for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, the earliest known designs of neo-classical furniture (B. Pallot, 'The art of the chair in 18th Century France', Paris, 1989, p. 170). The present canapé also relates to a design for a console table with similar lion heads executed by Pierre-Noel Rousset in 1765, which was part of his proposals for furnishings of the hôtel d'Uzes. Noteworthy is also the design for a canapé of similar proportions, included in Jean-Francois de Neufforge's 'Receuil d'architecture' of 1768 (S. Eriksen, 'Early Neoclassicism in France', London, 1974, pp. 389 and 394, figs. 396 and 434.
This canapé is stamped TILLIARD, probably for Jean-Jacques Tilliard, also known as Jean-Baptiste II. During his apprenticeship he worked for his father, Jean-Baptiste I, and remained there after he had become a master. In 1756 he is mentioned as being a building entrepeneur, a position probably equivilant to that of carpenter. It is likely that during the off-set of his career he was responsible for that part of his father's workshop probably only returning to making chairs after his father's death in 1766. The present canapé was probably made just after he took the reins of the workshop, and can be regarded as a bold and powerful statement of his new stature.
With its unusual rectilinear shapes and bold carving of lion heads, this canapé is a superb example of the early neo-classical style of the 1760s and was undoubtedly a special commission. Similar severely geometic forms appear in the designs of 1754-'55 for a fauteuil de bureau by Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain as part of his celebrated designs for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, the earliest known designs of neo-classical furniture (B. Pallot, 'The art of the chair in 18th Century France', Paris, 1989, p. 170). The present canapé also relates to a design for a console table with similar lion heads executed by Pierre-Noel Rousset in 1765, which was part of his proposals for furnishings of the hôtel d'Uzes. Noteworthy is also the design for a canapé of similar proportions, included in Jean-Francois de Neufforge's 'Receuil d'architecture' of 1768 (S. Eriksen, 'Early Neoclassicism in France', London, 1974, pp. 389 and 394, figs. 396 and 434.
This canapé is stamped TILLIARD, probably for Jean-Jacques Tilliard, also known as Jean-Baptiste II. During his apprenticeship he worked for his father, Jean-Baptiste I, and remained there after he had become a master. In 1756 he is mentioned as being a building entrepeneur, a position probably equivilant to that of carpenter. It is likely that during the off-set of his career he was responsible for that part of his father's workshop probably only returning to making chairs after his father's death in 1766. The present canapé was probably made just after he took the reins of the workshop, and can be regarded as a bold and powerful statement of his new stature.