Lot Essay
Richly carved with sculptural scrolls and volutes around prominent cabochon motifs, this suberp fauteuil can be attributed to the the celebrated menuisier Jean-Baptiste Tilliard (1685-1766), who established one of the most important workshops in Paris in the rue de Cléry, 'Aux Armes de France'. Working closely with his son Jacques-Jean-Baptiste, maître in 1752, who continued to use the same stamp after his father's retirement, Tilliard often employed other skilled sculpteurs such as Nicolas Heurtaut, Damien Quintel and Toussaint Foliot, whilst he retailed much of his oeuvre through the marchand-mercier Julien-Etienne Olivier. In 1728, he received the title of maître menuisier du Garde-Meuble du Roi, and his distinguished clientèle included the Prince de Soubise and the marquise de Pompadour.
The distinctive and characteristic heart-shaped cabochon motif features on much of Tilliard's documented oeuvre, including the pairs of fauteuils, bergères and chaises 'à la reine' in the Wrightsman Collection (illustrated in F.J.B Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol.I, p.48, p.66-67), as well as in G. Jeanneau, Les Sièges, Paris, 1967, pls.130, 175, 190.
The distinctive and characteristic heart-shaped cabochon motif features on much of Tilliard's documented oeuvre, including the pairs of fauteuils, bergères and chaises 'à la reine' in the Wrightsman Collection (illustrated in F.J.B Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol.I, p.48, p.66-67), as well as in G. Jeanneau, Les Sièges, Paris, 1967, pls.130, 175, 190.