Lot Essay
This remarkable canapé is part of a celebrated set of seat furniture. Three fauteuils from the suite are in the chambre du Roi at Versailles (Inv. V4082) - one (stripped of its gilding but subsequently regilded) was acquired at the sale of Lord Wharton's collection at Christie's London, 19 March 1970, lot 62, and the other two were presented by Arturo Lopez-Willshaw and the Baron de Redé. A fourth fauteuil sold in the Tannouri Collection, Ader Picard Tajan, Hotel George V, Paris, 15 November 1983, lot 34 (and previously sold Loudmer et Poulain, Nouveau Drouot, Paris, 12 November 1981, lot 461) is now in the Louis XIV Bedroom in the Wrightsman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1983.526 Gift of Mr and Mrs Charles B Wrightsman). Finally two pairs of stools were sold in the Patiño Collection, Sotheby's New York, 1 November 1986, lots 91 and 92.
Like the Metropolitan fauteuil the Johnson canapé retains the majority of its original surface. The cutting of the gesso in unusually untouched condition and the gilding, although worn and patched in particularly exposed areas such as the upper edge of the seatrail, is also the original.
Although it is not yet known for whom it was made, the sumptuous quality of the carving suggest a commission from a most important and discerning patron.
Stylistically the suite brilliantly illustrates the transitional style of the early Régence and in this it is in many ways comparable (but different) to Mobilier Crozat (Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1985-1989, Paris, 1990, no. 67, pp.140-142), commissioned by the famous collector Pierre Crozat. The profile, particularly of the fauteuils, retains the essential features of Louis XIV seat furniture such as the high, canted backs and the angular arms, although these are no longer set in direct line with the front legs. However the stretchers typical of Louis XIV chairs have been dispensed with and a consciously curvacious line has been superimposed on the Louis XIV form. Much greater stress is placed on the carved decoration which is extraordinarily rich. Much of the sculptural carved ornament, particularly the singeries on the canapé, prefigures the rococo whilst nonetheless retaining some Louis XIV elements such as the lambrequins on the arms. The more controlled carving on the Mobilier Crozat is less exuberant and the vocabulary remains in essence Louis XIV. The pierced decoration of the seatrail and of the legs with their delicate profile, which appear much too insubstantial to sustain the weight of the back and seat frame, are testimony to the skill of the menuisier and seem to anticipate the airy lightness of much Germanic rococo decoration.
Like the Metropolitan fauteuil the Johnson canapé retains the majority of its original surface. The cutting of the gesso in unusually untouched condition and the gilding, although worn and patched in particularly exposed areas such as the upper edge of the seatrail, is also the original.
Although it is not yet known for whom it was made, the sumptuous quality of the carving suggest a commission from a most important and discerning patron.
Stylistically the suite brilliantly illustrates the transitional style of the early Régence and in this it is in many ways comparable (but different) to Mobilier Crozat (Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1985-1989, Paris, 1990, no. 67, pp.140-142), commissioned by the famous collector Pierre Crozat. The profile, particularly of the fauteuils, retains the essential features of Louis XIV seat furniture such as the high, canted backs and the angular arms, although these are no longer set in direct line with the front legs. However the stretchers typical of Louis XIV chairs have been dispensed with and a consciously curvacious line has been superimposed on the Louis XIV form. Much greater stress is placed on the carved decoration which is extraordinarily rich. Much of the sculptural carved ornament, particularly the singeries on the canapé, prefigures the rococo whilst nonetheless retaining some Louis XIV elements such as the lambrequins on the arms. The more controlled carving on the Mobilier Crozat is less exuberant and the vocabulary remains in essence Louis XIV. The pierced decoration of the seatrail and of the legs with their delicate profile, which appear much too insubstantial to sustain the weight of the back and seat frame, are testimony to the skill of the menuisier and seem to anticipate the airy lightness of much Germanic rococo decoration.