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Lot Essay
THE ‘PENTHIEVRE’ BERGERE
This spectacular chair, boldly carved in the finest quality solid mahogany in the à l’antique taste with Bacchic ram’s masks and the lion’s pelts of Hercules, embodies two powerful and related stylistic movements which inspired enlightened French connoisseurs in 1760s and 1770s : the goût gréc, a renewed taste for the antique forms of classical Greece and Rome, and the goût anglais, a taste for simple restrained forms embodied by a use of unadorned mahogany inspired by the English cabinet-makers of the period.
Madame de Pompadour’s brother the Marquis de Marigny, himself an important patron of the arts, not only commissioned one of the most spectacular commodes in the ‘antique’ style in ebony and Japanese lacquer by Joseph, for his Paris hôtel, (see A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 236, fig. 240), but also famously ordered mahogany furniture à l’anglaise from the cabinet-maker Pierre Garnier, demonstrating that both these fashionable stylistic currents could appeal to the same sophisticated amateurs.
THE PROVENANCE
Much speculation exists regarding the enigmatic marks on this superb à l’antique bergere, which is incised to the underside of the seat twice with an anchor framed by the letter A and the number 4, and with two fleurs de lys. Adding to their mystery is that the marks do not seem to have been applied with the normal method of a branded marque au feu, but appear to be individually incised- however this could perhaps be explained by the remarkable hardness of the mahogany used. Château brands with an anchor are most clearly associated with Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon (1725-1793), duc de Penthièvre, grandson of Louis XIV and grand amiral de France, hence the use of the anchor as an identifying mark on all his properties.
The father of the duc de Penthièvre, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon (1678-1737) was one of the legitimated children of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. He received the title of grand amiral de France which passed on his death to the duc, his only son, then twelve years old, along with the title grand veneur (Grand Hunter) de France. His Court positions and various legacies made him one of the wealthiest Princes, possessing dozens of properties as well as an immense inheritance. Penthièvre possessed a number of châteaux, notably Sceaux, Anet, Chanteloup, Amboise, Chateauneuf sur Loire and Rambouillet, which he was forced to sell to the king in 1783 and where Marie-Antoinette’s celebrated dairy was subsequently installed. The anchor is generally framed by two letters referring to each property: AT for Anet, AB for Amboise, CP for Chanteloup or SX for Sceaux. But the anchor could also be framed by a letter and a number as illustrated by the witty mark of C9 for Chateauneuf sur Loire.
PENTHIEVRE AND ANET
The mark A4 most likely references one of the properties of the Duke beginning with the letter A : Amboise, Anet, Arc-en-Barrois, Armainvilliers or the château d’Aumale. As referenced above, pieces from Anet usually bear the brand of AT with an anchor, while a tantalizing further possibility could be presented by an elegant hunting lodge in the grounds of Anet in the forest of Dreux, originally built by Penthièvre’s cousin the Comte d’Eu in 1756, known variously as the ‘Le Pavillon du Quarré Charmant’ or ‘Le Pavillon du Carré Charmant’ (the ‘Pavilion of the Charming Square’) in the 18th century, and ‘Le Pavillon du Carré’ (the ‘Pavilion of the Square’) in the 19th century. In the 1808 biography of Penthièvre, his manservant M. Fortaire describes a visit from Prince Henry of Prussia to Anet in 1784. He was the brother of Frederick the Great, and one of the most important royal foreigners to visit France: (In translation) ‘Prince Henry departed Anet on the third day, after dinner, in a brilliant procession of carriages and horsemen. He was accompanied to a beautiful pavillon named for the Quarré Charmant, erected in the middle of the forest. From the height of the pavillon where there is a beautiful platform or terrace made of lead and decorated with balustrades and vases, one can see a multitude of roads whose lengths are lost to view and which pierce the forest for its whole extent in all directions; there is nothing similar in any other forest. It was there that Prince Henry took leave of our princesses (the duke’s daughter-in law, the duchesse de Lamballe and his daughter, the duchesse de Penthièvre) and M. de Penthièvre. The prince made his way that evening to Versailles and saw M. de Penthièvre in Paris before leaving France on November 3, 1784.’ (M. Fortaire: Mémoires pour servir a la vie de M. de Penthièvre; Imprimerie Delance, Paris 1808.p. 157).
Could the use of of 4 in the brand therefore be a witty allusion to the name of this hunting pavilion (carré = square, ie four sides). Although the pavilion itself was octagonal, it was situated in a clearing or square, at the intersection of four roads leading into the forest, so ‘carré’ and therefore ‘4’ would be an entirely appropriate way to identify it. After being forced to sell the château de Rambouillet to Louis XVI, Anet became the favourite hunting property of Penthièvre, which he inherited in 1775 following the death of his cousin the Comte d’Eu . The Pavillon du Carré was sumptuously furnished with carved boiseries (later moved by the duc d’Aumale to Chantilly), and was appointed with a large room on the ground floor, several rooms on the first floor and an observation deck at the top.
The form of the chair, low to the ground and with a deeply curved seat, is undoubtedly highly specific- could it be that it was used by the Grand Veneur to remove his boots after the hunt, a process facilitated by the grip afforded by the projecting arm terminals? A suitably grand and antique throne for such an important function!
This spectacular chair, boldly carved in the finest quality solid mahogany in the à l’antique taste with Bacchic ram’s masks and the lion’s pelts of Hercules, embodies two powerful and related stylistic movements which inspired enlightened French connoisseurs in 1760s and 1770s : the goût gréc, a renewed taste for the antique forms of classical Greece and Rome, and the goût anglais, a taste for simple restrained forms embodied by a use of unadorned mahogany inspired by the English cabinet-makers of the period.
Madame de Pompadour’s brother the Marquis de Marigny, himself an important patron of the arts, not only commissioned one of the most spectacular commodes in the ‘antique’ style in ebony and Japanese lacquer by Joseph, for his Paris hôtel, (see A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 236, fig. 240), but also famously ordered mahogany furniture à l’anglaise from the cabinet-maker Pierre Garnier, demonstrating that both these fashionable stylistic currents could appeal to the same sophisticated amateurs.
THE PROVENANCE
Much speculation exists regarding the enigmatic marks on this superb à l’antique bergere, which is incised to the underside of the seat twice with an anchor framed by the letter A and the number 4, and with two fleurs de lys. Adding to their mystery is that the marks do not seem to have been applied with the normal method of a branded marque au feu, but appear to be individually incised- however this could perhaps be explained by the remarkable hardness of the mahogany used. Château brands with an anchor are most clearly associated with Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon (1725-1793), duc de Penthièvre, grandson of Louis XIV and grand amiral de France, hence the use of the anchor as an identifying mark on all his properties.
The father of the duc de Penthièvre, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon (1678-1737) was one of the legitimated children of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. He received the title of grand amiral de France which passed on his death to the duc, his only son, then twelve years old, along with the title grand veneur (Grand Hunter) de France. His Court positions and various legacies made him one of the wealthiest Princes, possessing dozens of properties as well as an immense inheritance. Penthièvre possessed a number of châteaux, notably Sceaux, Anet, Chanteloup, Amboise, Chateauneuf sur Loire and Rambouillet, which he was forced to sell to the king in 1783 and where Marie-Antoinette’s celebrated dairy was subsequently installed. The anchor is generally framed by two letters referring to each property: AT for Anet, AB for Amboise, CP for Chanteloup or SX for Sceaux. But the anchor could also be framed by a letter and a number as illustrated by the witty mark of C9 for Chateauneuf sur Loire.
PENTHIEVRE AND ANET
The mark A4 most likely references one of the properties of the Duke beginning with the letter A : Amboise, Anet, Arc-en-Barrois, Armainvilliers or the château d’Aumale. As referenced above, pieces from Anet usually bear the brand of AT with an anchor, while a tantalizing further possibility could be presented by an elegant hunting lodge in the grounds of Anet in the forest of Dreux, originally built by Penthièvre’s cousin the Comte d’Eu in 1756, known variously as the ‘Le Pavillon du Quarré Charmant’ or ‘Le Pavillon du Carré Charmant’ (the ‘Pavilion of the Charming Square’) in the 18th century, and ‘Le Pavillon du Carré’ (the ‘Pavilion of the Square’) in the 19th century. In the 1808 biography of Penthièvre, his manservant M. Fortaire describes a visit from Prince Henry of Prussia to Anet in 1784. He was the brother of Frederick the Great, and one of the most important royal foreigners to visit France: (In translation) ‘Prince Henry departed Anet on the third day, after dinner, in a brilliant procession of carriages and horsemen. He was accompanied to a beautiful pavillon named for the Quarré Charmant, erected in the middle of the forest. From the height of the pavillon where there is a beautiful platform or terrace made of lead and decorated with balustrades and vases, one can see a multitude of roads whose lengths are lost to view and which pierce the forest for its whole extent in all directions; there is nothing similar in any other forest. It was there that Prince Henry took leave of our princesses (the duke’s daughter-in law, the duchesse de Lamballe and his daughter, the duchesse de Penthièvre) and M. de Penthièvre. The prince made his way that evening to Versailles and saw M. de Penthièvre in Paris before leaving France on November 3, 1784.’ (M. Fortaire: Mémoires pour servir a la vie de M. de Penthièvre; Imprimerie Delance, Paris 1808.p. 157).
Could the use of of 4 in the brand therefore be a witty allusion to the name of this hunting pavilion (carré = square, ie four sides). Although the pavilion itself was octagonal, it was situated in a clearing or square, at the intersection of four roads leading into the forest, so ‘carré’ and therefore ‘4’ would be an entirely appropriate way to identify it. After being forced to sell the château de Rambouillet to Louis XVI, Anet became the favourite hunting property of Penthièvre, which he inherited in 1775 following the death of his cousin the Comte d’Eu . The Pavillon du Carré was sumptuously furnished with carved boiseries (later moved by the duc d’Aumale to Chantilly), and was appointed with a large room on the ground floor, several rooms on the first floor and an observation deck at the top.
The form of the chair, low to the ground and with a deeply curved seat, is undoubtedly highly specific- could it be that it was used by the Grand Veneur to remove his boots after the hunt, a process facilitated by the grip afforded by the projecting arm terminals? A suitably grand and antique throne for such an important function!