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Lot Essay
Louis Delanois, maître in 1761
These elegant fauteuils were conceived in the early phase of neo-classicism, probably circa 1768-1770, and relate to designs for seat-furniture by Jean-Louis Prieur (c.1725-c.1785). Prieur's earliest known work is a series of drawings for furniture and bronzes intended for the Polish Court at Warsaw in 1766. These included designs for chairs with medallion backs and scrolling arm-supports, which are perhaps the most characteristic feature of the present fauteuils. Delanois probably executed the fashionable model shortly after and 'fauteuils oval sculpté à la Grec' first appear in his ledger on 28 June 1768, when a large consignment was supplied to the Comte Grimod d'Orsay (S. Eriksen, Louis Delanois, Paris, 1968, p. 32 and p. 52 and S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, p. 337 and p. 392, fig. 165 and figs. 411-414). A closely related fauteuil was sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1992, lot 82 ($ 60,500).
These elegant fauteuils were conceived in the early phase of neo-classicism, probably circa 1768-1770, and relate to designs for seat-furniture by Jean-Louis Prieur (c.1725-c.1785). Prieur's earliest known work is a series of drawings for furniture and bronzes intended for the Polish Court at Warsaw in 1766. These included designs for chairs with medallion backs and scrolling arm-supports, which are perhaps the most characteristic feature of the present fauteuils. Delanois probably executed the fashionable model shortly after and 'fauteuils oval sculpté à la Grec' first appear in his ledger on 28 June 1768, when a large consignment was supplied to the Comte Grimod d'Orsay (S. Eriksen, Louis Delanois, Paris, 1968, p. 32 and p. 52 and S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, p. 337 and p. 392, fig. 165 and figs. 411-414). A closely related fauteuil was sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1992, lot 82 ($ 60,500).