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Lot Essay
Nicholas Denis Delaisement, maître in 1776.
Nicolas-Denis Delaisement received his maîtrise in 1776 and his oeuvre was strongly, and exclusively, influenced by Neoclassicism, which had been fully embraced by audiences and craftsmen by Louis XVI’s ascension to the throne. On the suite offered here, the pure Neoclassical form is further enriched by the crisp carving and the current luxurious silk upholstery, which was inspired by fabric supplied in 1786 by Desfarges for the furnishing of Louis XVI’s bedroom at Saint-Cloud (C. Gastinet-Coural, Soieries de Lyon: Commandes Royales au XVIIIe Siècle, Lyon, 1988, cat. no 42, pp. 46 and 121). Delaisement’s production can be divided into two parts: the more conventional and utilitarian, but still elegant, menuiserie, and the highly-refined and luxurious works, such as this suite. An example of the latter is a pair of giltwood canapés sold Christie’s, London, 21 September 2022, lot 32 (£302,400). Delaisement’s sumptuous pieces produced for his most discerning clientele was strongly influenced by the oeuvres of Georges Jacob, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené, and François Foliot, among others. These menuisiers produced refined works in the sophisticated taste admired at the French Court in the late 1770s and the 1780s. One of the main proponents of this lavish take on Neoclassicism was architect and dessinateur de la couronne Jacques Gondoin (1737-1818), whose oeuvre greatly influenced not only Jacob, Foliot, and Sené, but also Delaisement. Due to Delaisement’s innovative interpretation of models by his fellow makers working in Gondoin's high style, coupled with his high-quality craftsmanship, he is considered by leading scholars as one of the most creative master menuisiers of the Louis XVI period (see F. de Salverte, Les Ebénistes du XVIIIe Siècle: Leurs Oeuvres et leurs Marques, Paris, 1975, p. 84). The suite offered here, along with the abovementioned canapés and a pair of parcel-gilt fauteuils previously in the Rothschild and Beaumont collections that was sold Christie’s, New York, 22 October 2020, lot 191, belongs to Delaisement’s most luxurious output conceived in Gondoin’s high court style. The volutes terminating in oak leaves flanking the cresting and the volutes at the lower edges of the backs are specific design elements found on seat furniture recorded in different royal residences, including fauteuils by both Jacob and Sené included in the 1804 and 1861 inventories of the château de Fontainebleau (see Mobilier National, inv. GME-4999-002 and inv. GMT-30530-003, respectively). A canapé by Jacob carved with the same small volutes flanking the cresting was delivered for the comte de Provence at the Petit Luxembourg before 1781 (see Mobilier National, inv. GMT-14144-000). A closely-related fauteuil was sold Christie’s, New York, 24 November 1998, lot 48. This fauteuil belongs to a suite, of which a pair of fauteuils and a canapé are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, and a marquise was sold from the collection of Madame Polès in 1927. Other related examples by Sené include a set of four giltwood fauteuils almost identical to this suite, although with carved flowers to the back cresting, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (acc. no. 83.146.2); a richly-carved giltwood canapé of this model sold Christie’s, 26 November 2005, lot 328; and a giltwood suite containing fauteuils with shield-form backs featuring both small and large volutes that is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo (inv. no. CAM 198.3). A pair of identical fauteuils by an anonymous menuisier was sold from the Stroganoff collection by Lepke, Berlin, 12-13 May 1931, lots 204-205.
LES SCHLUMBERGERS
The fortunes of the Schlumberger family, originally from Alsace, were founded in the textile industry. One of the first investors in the Suez Canal, the family's shares later expanded into oil in Texas. Pierre Schlumberger married Maria da Diniz, nicknamed São, in 1961. The couple collected paintings by Seurat, Monet, Matisse, Braque, Picasso, Rothko, Reinhardt and Lichtenstein, among others, which they hung in their Parisian residences: an apartment decorated by Gabhan O'Keefe near the Eiffel Tower and in the hôtel de Luzy on rue Férou, as well as at the Clos Fiorentino in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. This suit was used in the hôtel de Luzy, the contents of which were partly dispersed at public auctions in Monaco in 1992 and in New York in 2014.
Born to a Portuguese father and a German mother, São Schlumberger (1929-2007) quickly gained entry into the circles of French aristocracy and Haute Société Protestante after marrying Pierre. Her friends included Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Yves Klein, François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, as well as members of the Rothschild, Thurn und Taxis, and Kennedy families. A philanthropist, she supported the work of Robert Wilson, and was among the first people to commission silkscreen portraits from Warhol. In addition to being a collector, Madame Schlumberger was also involved in the life of public art institutions, including serving on the boards of the Centre Pompidou and MoMA.
Nicolas-Denis Delaisement received his maîtrise in 1776 and his oeuvre was strongly, and exclusively, influenced by Neoclassicism, which had been fully embraced by audiences and craftsmen by Louis XVI’s ascension to the throne. On the suite offered here, the pure Neoclassical form is further enriched by the crisp carving and the current luxurious silk upholstery, which was inspired by fabric supplied in 1786 by Desfarges for the furnishing of Louis XVI’s bedroom at Saint-Cloud (C. Gastinet-Coural, Soieries de Lyon: Commandes Royales au XVIIIe Siècle, Lyon, 1988, cat. no 42, pp. 46 and 121). Delaisement’s production can be divided into two parts: the more conventional and utilitarian, but still elegant, menuiserie, and the highly-refined and luxurious works, such as this suite. An example of the latter is a pair of giltwood canapés sold Christie’s, London, 21 September 2022, lot 32 (£302,400). Delaisement’s sumptuous pieces produced for his most discerning clientele was strongly influenced by the oeuvres of Georges Jacob, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené, and François Foliot, among others. These menuisiers produced refined works in the sophisticated taste admired at the French Court in the late 1770s and the 1780s. One of the main proponents of this lavish take on Neoclassicism was architect and dessinateur de la couronne Jacques Gondoin (1737-1818), whose oeuvre greatly influenced not only Jacob, Foliot, and Sené, but also Delaisement. Due to Delaisement’s innovative interpretation of models by his fellow makers working in Gondoin's high style, coupled with his high-quality craftsmanship, he is considered by leading scholars as one of the most creative master menuisiers of the Louis XVI period (see F. de Salverte, Les Ebénistes du XVIIIe Siècle: Leurs Oeuvres et leurs Marques, Paris, 1975, p. 84). The suite offered here, along with the abovementioned canapés and a pair of parcel-gilt fauteuils previously in the Rothschild and Beaumont collections that was sold Christie’s, New York, 22 October 2020, lot 191, belongs to Delaisement’s most luxurious output conceived in Gondoin’s high court style. The volutes terminating in oak leaves flanking the cresting and the volutes at the lower edges of the backs are specific design elements found on seat furniture recorded in different royal residences, including fauteuils by both Jacob and Sené included in the 1804 and 1861 inventories of the château de Fontainebleau (see Mobilier National, inv. GME-4999-002 and inv. GMT-30530-003, respectively). A canapé by Jacob carved with the same small volutes flanking the cresting was delivered for the comte de Provence at the Petit Luxembourg before 1781 (see Mobilier National, inv. GMT-14144-000). A closely-related fauteuil was sold Christie’s, New York, 24 November 1998, lot 48. This fauteuil belongs to a suite, of which a pair of fauteuils and a canapé are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, and a marquise was sold from the collection of Madame Polès in 1927. Other related examples by Sené include a set of four giltwood fauteuils almost identical to this suite, although with carved flowers to the back cresting, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (acc. no. 83.146.2); a richly-carved giltwood canapé of this model sold Christie’s, 26 November 2005, lot 328; and a giltwood suite containing fauteuils with shield-form backs featuring both small and large volutes that is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo (inv. no. CAM 198.3). A pair of identical fauteuils by an anonymous menuisier was sold from the Stroganoff collection by Lepke, Berlin, 12-13 May 1931, lots 204-205.
LES SCHLUMBERGERS
The fortunes of the Schlumberger family, originally from Alsace, were founded in the textile industry. One of the first investors in the Suez Canal, the family's shares later expanded into oil in Texas. Pierre Schlumberger married Maria da Diniz, nicknamed São, in 1961. The couple collected paintings by Seurat, Monet, Matisse, Braque, Picasso, Rothko, Reinhardt and Lichtenstein, among others, which they hung in their Parisian residences: an apartment decorated by Gabhan O'Keefe near the Eiffel Tower and in the hôtel de Luzy on rue Férou, as well as at the Clos Fiorentino in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. This suit was used in the hôtel de Luzy, the contents of which were partly dispersed at public auctions in Monaco in 1992 and in New York in 2014.
Born to a Portuguese father and a German mother, São Schlumberger (1929-2007) quickly gained entry into the circles of French aristocracy and Haute Société Protestante after marrying Pierre. Her friends included Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Yves Klein, François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, as well as members of the Rothschild, Thurn und Taxis, and Kennedy families. A philanthropist, she supported the work of Robert Wilson, and was among the first people to commission silkscreen portraits from Warhol. In addition to being a collector, Madame Schlumberger was also involved in the life of public art institutions, including serving on the boards of the Centre Pompidou and MoMA.