Details
A LOUIS XIV GILTWOOD LIT DE REPOS
CIRCA 1690
The pierced interlaced back with cypher of interlaced initials and floral swags above a rectangular padded seat on square tapering legs, joined by foliate-carved stretchers, the underside of frame with a label inscribed SO1094
77 in. (195.5 cm.) long
Provenance
'J.A.S.' sale; Palais Galleria, Paris, 11 December 1933, lot 99.
Collection of Baronne Cassel Van Doorn; Palais Galliera, Paris, 30 May 1956, lot 114.
Anonymous sale; Palais Galleria, Paris, 20 June 1961, lot 150.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 12 November 1981, lot 176.
Property from the Collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra; Sotheby's, New York, 3 November 2005, lot 129.

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Lot Essay

A rare survivor, this luxurious Louis XIV lit du repos would have played an important role in the etiquette of the day, as the nobility received company in their beds. Over forty-eight examples appear in the inventories for Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, including one in the 'cabinet où le Roy tint conseil' covered in red velvet. The artist Jean Le Pautre published elaborate designs for daybeds as early as 1670 of which a related model was sold from a private collection at Christie's, New York, 21 May 1996, lot 352. A lit du repos with a script monogram was sold from the collections of Baron de Redé and Baron Guy de Rothschild at Sotheby's, Monaco, 25-26 May 1975, lot 302. Another related example was sold from the collection of Jacques Garcia at Sotheby's, New York, 27 October 1990, lot 77. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, showed a similar lit du repos which was formerly in the collection of Madame Lopez-Willshaw in their 1960 exhibition Louis XIV Fast et Décors May-October 1960 (No.4) which was subsequently sold at Sotheby's, Monaco, 26-27 May 1980, lot 612.

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