Lot Essay
This suite is closely comparable to the salon furniture supplied by the menuisier-sculpteur Pierre-Gaston Brion to the Garde-Meuble Impérial in 1811. Brion's suite remained in store until 1838 when it was re-gilded by the doreur Petrelle and recovered by the tapissier Laflèche for the use of Louis-Philippe at the Grand Trianon (D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Grand Trianon, Paris, 1975, Vol. I, pp.94-95). A further related suite supplied to the Garde-Meuble by Brion is in the deuxième salon of the Emperor's private apartments at Fontainebleau (S. Grandjean, Empire Furniture, London 1966, fig. 55).
An almost identical fauteuil from the Château de Valençay is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français, Tome II, Paris 1980, p.165, fig.152. Originally from a suite comprising: two canapés, six fauteuils and six chaises, (sold in Paris in 1952), they were probably sold from Valençay circa 1899 by the heirs of the duc de Talleyrand. One canapé, two fauteuils and two chairs were sold at Sotheby's Monaco, 30 November 1986, lot 982.
A closely related pair of fauteuils enriched with a dolphin cresting were sold in these Rooms, 14 June 1990, lot 75.
An almost identical fauteuil from the Château de Valençay is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français, Tome II, Paris 1980, p.165, fig.152. Originally from a suite comprising: two canapés, six fauteuils and six chaises, (sold in Paris in 1952), they were probably sold from Valençay circa 1899 by the heirs of the duc de Talleyrand. One canapé, two fauteuils and two chairs were sold at Sotheby's Monaco, 30 November 1986, lot 982.
A closely related pair of fauteuils enriched with a dolphin cresting were sold in these Rooms, 14 June 1990, lot 75.