Lot Essay
François Laurent Reuze, maître in 1743.
The son of the maître-menuisier Pierre, François Laurent Reuze flourished in the rue de Cléry for over 50 years and enjoyed the extensive patronage of both Queen Marie-Antoinette and the Swedish Court. Working alongside his father in the same atelier, in 1751 he supplied seat-furniture to Monsieur Montgeron and Monsieur d'Aguesseoui.
The profile of these fauteuils is close in inspiration to a drawing in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (no.13577) attributed to Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695-1750), goldsmith to Louis XV and in 1726 appointed architecte-dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi.
With their distinctive double C-scroll to the front seat-rail, these fauteuils are characteristic of Renze's oeuvre and relate closely to both the pair of fauteuils, also stamped by Reuze, sold by Baron Guy de Rothschild at Sotheby's London, 24 Novemeber 1972, lot 20 (originally from the collection of the Marquis de Nicolay), as well as to those from the collection of Henry Ford II, sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet, 2 February 1978, lot 72. A further suite of six similar fauteuils by Reuze was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 17 June 1987, lot 7 (£160,000).
The son of the maître-menuisier Pierre, François Laurent Reuze flourished in the rue de Cléry for over 50 years and enjoyed the extensive patronage of both Queen Marie-Antoinette and the Swedish Court. Working alongside his father in the same atelier, in 1751 he supplied seat-furniture to Monsieur Montgeron and Monsieur d'Aguesseoui.
The profile of these fauteuils is close in inspiration to a drawing in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (no.13577) attributed to Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695-1750), goldsmith to Louis XV and in 1726 appointed architecte-dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi.
With their distinctive double C-scroll to the front seat-rail, these fauteuils are characteristic of Renze's oeuvre and relate closely to both the pair of fauteuils, also stamped by Reuze, sold by Baron Guy de Rothschild at Sotheby's London, 24 Novemeber 1972, lot 20 (originally from the collection of the Marquis de Nicolay), as well as to those from the collection of Henry Ford II, sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet, 2 February 1978, lot 72. A further suite of six similar fauteuils by Reuze was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 17 June 1987, lot 7 (£160,000).