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Lot Essay
Executed by the celebrated menuisier Georges Jacob circa 1785, these finely carved fauteuils à la reine were likely to have been supplied to a member of the French Royal family, possibly Louis XVI’s brother Charles-Philippe, comte d’Artois (1757-1836). In the early 19th century, they were placed in the Palais des Tuileries in the second salon of the apartments of général Géraud-Christophe-Michel Duroc (1772-1813), Grand Maréchal du Palais de S.M. l’Empereur Napoléon where they were inventoried in 1807:
Six Fauteuils en bois sculpté et doré accotoir à balustre dossier carré, garni en plein avec crin à l’anglaise, le fond à place forme à carreaux de plume couvert en gourgouran rayé bleu bordé et à clous d’une […] en soie et corde à pied tressé – Etoffe 3,50 chaque - (Archives Nationales AJ/19/140)
The stencilled number of the royal Garde-Meuble ‘16783’ visible on one of the seat rails corresponds to an entry of the journal du Garde-Meuble when the fauteuils returned from the Tuileries to the Royal Wardrobe in 1822:
‘rentrée du 20 mai 1822, du palais des Tuileries / trois fauteuils bois sculpté et doré, couverts en gourgouran bleu avec crête en soie blanche à 185f / 555 // renvoi à 3557 (inventaire du magasin de 1825)’
They were then sold by the French Domaine under the Restauration period in 1826 (A.N., AJ 19 614) and later in the 19th century reappeared in the collection of Hector Lefuel (1810-1880), the famous architect, scholar and author of the monographs on Georges Jacob and Jacob-Desmalter.
GENERAL GERAUD-CHRISTOPHE-MICHEL DUROC, DUC DE FRIOUL
The son of Claude de Michel chevalier du Roc, who was a cavalry officer, Duroc attended the Châlons artillery school and emigrated during the Revolution in 1792. Having a change of heart, he returned to France in 1793, entered the Metz School, and was drafted to the Italian artillery. In 1796 Napoleon took Duroc as his aide and made him a major in Egypt, a colonel in Syria, and, after the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), senior aide-de-camp. All contemporaries praised this reserved, unambitious man who, as his best friend, so often tempered Napoleon’s impulses.
From 1804 he was appointed Grand Maréchal (lord high steward of the empire) and kept good order in the Imperial residences. It is under these circumstances that he was given his own appartments in the Palais des Tuileries which were furnished by the Imperial Garde-Meuble. For this apartment, furnished with newly designed Empire furniture but also Ancien Régime pieces including some items from the comte de Provence's appartments in the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris where the comte had lived exclusively between October 1789 and June 1791. This included a clock mentioned in the April 1793 inventory of the comte de Provence's furniture in the Palais du Luxembourg which was also later listed in the 1807 inventory of the Palais des Tuileries in the Grand Maréchal's bedroom, sold at Christie's, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 226.
In addition to his role as Grand Maréchal, Duroc was often on diplomatic missions, and it was he who signed the treaties of Fontainebleau and Bayonne (1807–08) determining the French intervention in Spain. He was also general of division (1803), led a division at the Battle of Austerlitz, and was took part in all the campaigns. He was usually consulted by Napoleon on questions of promotion and became the best channel by which Napoleon’s lieutenants could approach him.
On his journey back from Russia in 1812, the emperor chose Armand de Caulaincourt as his immediate companion; Duroc followed in another sledge. Back in France, Duroc was made a senator in 1813. He was heavily involved in the organisation of the new French army and was present at the battles of Lutzen (umlaut!) and Bautzen (1813). In the outposts in Silesia he came, by chance, under artillery fire and was mortally wounded. Napoleon deeply lamented his death.
Executed by the celebrated menuisier Georges Jacob circa 1785, these finely carved fauteuils à la reine were likely to have been supplied to a member of the French Royal family, possibly Louis XVI’s brother Charles-Philippe, comte d’Artois (1757-1836). In the early 19th century, they were placed in the Palais des Tuileries in the second salon of the apartments of général Géraud-Christophe-Michel Duroc (1772-1813), Grand Maréchal du Palais de S.M. l’Empereur Napoléon where they were inventoried in 1807:
Six Fauteuils en bois sculpté et doré accotoir à balustre dossier carré, garni en plein avec crin à l’anglaise, le fond à place forme à carreaux de plume couvert en gourgouran rayé bleu bordé et à clous d’une […] en soie et corde à pied tressé – Etoffe 3,50 chaque - (Archives Nationales AJ/19/140)
The stencilled number of the royal Garde-Meuble ‘16783’ visible on one of the seat rails corresponds to an entry of the journal du Garde-Meuble when the fauteuils returned from the Tuileries to the Royal Wardrobe in 1822:
‘rentrée du 20 mai 1822, du palais des Tuileries / trois fauteuils bois sculpté et doré, couverts en gourgouran bleu avec crête en soie blanche à 185f / 555 // renvoi à 3557 (inventaire du magasin de 1825)’
They were then sold by the French Domaine under the Restauration period in 1826 (A.N., AJ 19 614) and later in the 19th century reappeared in the collection of Hector Lefuel (1810-1880), the famous architect, scholar and author of the monographs on Georges Jacob and Jacob-Desmalter.
GENERAL GERAUD-CHRISTOPHE-MICHEL DUROC, DUC DE FRIOUL
The son of Claude de Michel chevalier du Roc, who was a cavalry officer, Duroc attended the Châlons artillery school and emigrated during the Revolution in 1792. Having a change of heart, he returned to France in 1793, entered the Metz School, and was drafted to the Italian artillery. In 1796 Napoleon took Duroc as his aide and made him a major in Egypt, a colonel in Syria, and, after the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), senior aide-de-camp. All contemporaries praised this reserved, unambitious man who, as his best friend, so often tempered Napoleon’s impulses.
From 1804 he was appointed Grand Maréchal (lord high steward of the empire) and kept good order in the Imperial residences. It is under these circumstances that he was given his own appartments in the Palais des Tuileries which were furnished by the Imperial Garde-Meuble. For this apartment, furnished with newly designed Empire furniture but also Ancien Régime pieces including some items from the comte de Provence's appartments in the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris where the comte had lived exclusively between October 1789 and June 1791. This included a clock mentioned in the April 1793 inventory of the comte de Provence's furniture in the Palais du Luxembourg which was also later listed in the 1807 inventory of the Palais des Tuileries in the Grand Maréchal's bedroom, sold at Christie's, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 226.
In addition to his role as Grand Maréchal, Duroc was often on diplomatic missions, and it was he who signed the treaties of Fontainebleau and Bayonne (1807–08) determining the French intervention in Spain. He was also general of division (1803), led a division at the Battle of Austerlitz, and was took part in all the campaigns. He was usually consulted by Napoleon on questions of promotion and became the best channel by which Napoleon’s lieutenants could approach him.
On his journey back from Russia in 1812, the emperor chose Armand de Caulaincourt as his immediate companion; Duroc followed in another sledge. Back in France, Duroc was made a senator in 1813. He was heavily involved in the organisation of the new French army and was present at the battles of Lutzen (umlaut!) and Bautzen (1813). In the outposts in Silesia he came, by chance, under artillery fire and was mortally wounded. Napoleon deeply lamented his death.