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Lot Essay
Jean-Baptiste Tilliard (1686-1766), maître in 1717, menuisier du Garde-Meuble du Roi from 1728 and Jacques-Jean-Baptiste Tilliard (1723-1798), maître in 1752, menuisier du Garde-Meuble du Roi from 1766.
Jean-Baptiste Petrus, tapissier.
This remarkable model chair originally formed part of Lord Coventry's purchases made in paris between 1763-8. A discerning patron with a highly refined and adventurous taste, particularly for the newly-emerging Gôut Grec style, Coventry's purchases, many of which are recorded in a surviving 1763 bill from the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, are of enormous importance both in the study of French early Neoclassicism and in the history of taste amongst English milords.
Arguably Lord Coventry's most spectacular purchase was the 'Croome Court Tapestry Room', the superb Tentures de Boucher tapestries woven under Jacques Neilsen's direction at the Gobelins Manufactory and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. At the same time he also commissioned tapestry covers from Neilson for six armchairs and two sofas, woven with bouquets of flowers on a damas cramoisi ground, to match. Maurice Jacques had made the initial designs for a chair and a sofa tapestry in 1760 and Louis Tessier was probably responsible for the remainder, produced at stages during the 1760's. The covers were designed to be used with any of the Gobelins damas cramoisi tapestries - the Portières des Dieux and Don Quixote series as well as the Tentures de Boucher.
It is possible that Lord Coventry considered commissioning the chair frames for his damas cramoisi upholstery in France as well, and this raises the possibility that this remarkable chair might be a scale model of a proposed fauteuil commissioned through the marchand-tapissier Petrus in the most advanced goût grec, a style favoured by Lord Coventry.
There was apparently a painting at the factory, executed by Maurice Jacques in 1762, designed to show prospective clients how a room hung with tapestries might look, with seat-furniture and a bed en suite. It is probable that the chairs in Jacques' room view were an oval-back, straight-legged chair in the most up-to-date neo-classical taste, which would have echoed the oval medallions in the tapestries. The surviving Jacques/Tessier cartoons show the traditional cartouche-shaped back - such as those (circa 1768) on the suite of seat-furniture by Nicolas Heurtaut for the duchesse d'Enville at the château de la Roche-Guyon (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, fig. 174) - but they were obviously ideal for an oval back. Eileen Harris has pointed out that all Neilson's English clients commissioned oval-back straight-leg chairs for their tapestry covers (Lord Coventry, Sir Lawrence Dundas, William Weddell and Robert Child) (E. Harris, 'The Moor Park Tapestries', Apollo, September 1967, pp.180-189)
Eriksen has also suggested that the seat-furniture ordered by the marquis de Marigny, Surintendant et Directeur des Bâtiments in charge of the Gobelins workshops, in 1763 from the marchand-tapissier Antoine Godefroy for the pavilion in the Faubourg du Roule designed for him by Soufflot may perhaps have served as a pattern for the Manufacture des Gobelins. The earliest known representation of an oval-back chair is in Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's engraving, Le Lever, published in 1765. Baudouin had close links with the Gobelins and he may well have known either Marigny's chairs or similar chairs at the Gobelins (S. Eriksen, op. cit., pp.86-87, fig. 389).
Amongst the seat-furniture designed in 1765-66 by Jean-Louis Prieur for the Royal Palace, Warsaw is an oval-back straight-legged chair, probably executed by Louis Delanois (S. Eriksen, op. cit., p.392 and fig. 415). It is interesting that Prieur's drawings for the Royal Palace are annotated, showing that models were made of each design, some in wax and some apparently full-scale - the comment that in the case of the bed they had even gilded the model suggests that it was normal to leave the carved surface in the natural wood. Evidently it was fairly common practice with an important commission to make a preparatory model, especially where complex upholstery was involved. Obviously a model (of wood rather than fragile wax) would have been particularly useful to a foreign client, such as Lord Coventry, to show the architects and craftsmen working for them. Adam's drawing of the proposed Tapestry Room, dated 1764 shows that he must have seen some sort of sketch of the tapestries and so it would be entirely consistent that Lord Coventry should have required a model of a proposed chair to show him. Alternatively he may also have intended to use chair-frames made in England, but wanted an absolutely up-to-date pattern to show to his English craftsmen.
For whatever reason, Lord Coventry ultimately decided to have his chair-frames made in England and he entrusted them to his principal cabinet-makers in the 1760's and 1770's, Mayhew and Ince. The furniture was ready in October 1769 but because of Neilson's problems with shipping, it was not covered with Neilson's tapestry until June 1771. Mayhew and Ince's frames, carved with overlapping laurel foliage headed by ribbon-ties echoing in wood the illusionistic frames in the tapestries, must have had a decidedly French appearance to contemporary English eyes. Indeed they may perhaps have even been shown this model which has very similar laurel foliage framing the back and similar foliate baluster arm-supports.
Jean-Baptiste Tilliard was one of the pre-eminent menuisiers of his day. He worked in conjunction with his brother Nicolas (until 1750) and from 1752 with his son Jean-Baptiste II, all three using the same stamp. He received regular royal commissions as well as from a large number of distinguished clients. Jean-Baptiste II worked under his father's direction until 1766, probably dealing with boiseries and room decoration.
One of the three magnificent fauteuils d'apparat attributed to Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot supplied circa 1749 to Louise-Elisabeth, duchesse de Parme, daughter of Louis XV, bears the signature of Petrus (B. Pallot, L'Art du Siège au XVIII. Siècle en France, Paris, 1987, p.142).
Jean-Baptiste Petrus, tapissier.
This remarkable model chair originally formed part of Lord Coventry's purchases made in paris between 1763-8. A discerning patron with a highly refined and adventurous taste, particularly for the newly-emerging Gôut Grec style, Coventry's purchases, many of which are recorded in a surviving 1763 bill from the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, are of enormous importance both in the study of French early Neoclassicism and in the history of taste amongst English milords.
Arguably Lord Coventry's most spectacular purchase was the 'Croome Court Tapestry Room', the superb Tentures de Boucher tapestries woven under Jacques Neilsen's direction at the Gobelins Manufactory and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. At the same time he also commissioned tapestry covers from Neilson for six armchairs and two sofas, woven with bouquets of flowers on a damas cramoisi ground, to match. Maurice Jacques had made the initial designs for a chair and a sofa tapestry in 1760 and Louis Tessier was probably responsible for the remainder, produced at stages during the 1760's. The covers were designed to be used with any of the Gobelins damas cramoisi tapestries - the Portières des Dieux and Don Quixote series as well as the Tentures de Boucher.
It is possible that Lord Coventry considered commissioning the chair frames for his damas cramoisi upholstery in France as well, and this raises the possibility that this remarkable chair might be a scale model of a proposed fauteuil commissioned through the marchand-tapissier Petrus in the most advanced goût grec, a style favoured by Lord Coventry.
There was apparently a painting at the factory, executed by Maurice Jacques in 1762, designed to show prospective clients how a room hung with tapestries might look, with seat-furniture and a bed en suite. It is probable that the chairs in Jacques' room view were an oval-back, straight-legged chair in the most up-to-date neo-classical taste, which would have echoed the oval medallions in the tapestries. The surviving Jacques/Tessier cartoons show the traditional cartouche-shaped back - such as those (circa 1768) on the suite of seat-furniture by Nicolas Heurtaut for the duchesse d'Enville at the château de la Roche-Guyon (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, fig. 174) - but they were obviously ideal for an oval back. Eileen Harris has pointed out that all Neilson's English clients commissioned oval-back straight-leg chairs for their tapestry covers (Lord Coventry, Sir Lawrence Dundas, William Weddell and Robert Child) (E. Harris, 'The Moor Park Tapestries', Apollo, September 1967, pp.180-189)
Eriksen has also suggested that the seat-furniture ordered by the marquis de Marigny, Surintendant et Directeur des Bâtiments in charge of the Gobelins workshops, in 1763 from the marchand-tapissier Antoine Godefroy for the pavilion in the Faubourg du Roule designed for him by Soufflot may perhaps have served as a pattern for the Manufacture des Gobelins. The earliest known representation of an oval-back chair is in Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's engraving, Le Lever, published in 1765. Baudouin had close links with the Gobelins and he may well have known either Marigny's chairs or similar chairs at the Gobelins (S. Eriksen, op. cit., pp.86-87, fig. 389).
Amongst the seat-furniture designed in 1765-66 by Jean-Louis Prieur for the Royal Palace, Warsaw is an oval-back straight-legged chair, probably executed by Louis Delanois (S. Eriksen, op. cit., p.392 and fig. 415). It is interesting that Prieur's drawings for the Royal Palace are annotated, showing that models were made of each design, some in wax and some apparently full-scale - the comment that in the case of the bed they had even gilded the model suggests that it was normal to leave the carved surface in the natural wood. Evidently it was fairly common practice with an important commission to make a preparatory model, especially where complex upholstery was involved. Obviously a model (of wood rather than fragile wax) would have been particularly useful to a foreign client, such as Lord Coventry, to show the architects and craftsmen working for them. Adam's drawing of the proposed Tapestry Room, dated 1764 shows that he must have seen some sort of sketch of the tapestries and so it would be entirely consistent that Lord Coventry should have required a model of a proposed chair to show him. Alternatively he may also have intended to use chair-frames made in England, but wanted an absolutely up-to-date pattern to show to his English craftsmen.
For whatever reason, Lord Coventry ultimately decided to have his chair-frames made in England and he entrusted them to his principal cabinet-makers in the 1760's and 1770's, Mayhew and Ince. The furniture was ready in October 1769 but because of Neilson's problems with shipping, it was not covered with Neilson's tapestry until June 1771. Mayhew and Ince's frames, carved with overlapping laurel foliage headed by ribbon-ties echoing in wood the illusionistic frames in the tapestries, must have had a decidedly French appearance to contemporary English eyes. Indeed they may perhaps have even been shown this model which has very similar laurel foliage framing the back and similar foliate baluster arm-supports.
Jean-Baptiste Tilliard was one of the pre-eminent menuisiers of his day. He worked in conjunction with his brother Nicolas (until 1750) and from 1752 with his son Jean-Baptiste II, all three using the same stamp. He received regular royal commissions as well as from a large number of distinguished clients. Jean-Baptiste II worked under his father's direction until 1766, probably dealing with boiseries and room decoration.
One of the three magnificent fauteuils d'apparat attributed to Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot supplied circa 1749 to Louise-Elisabeth, duchesse de Parme, daughter of Louis XV, bears the signature of Petrus (B. Pallot, L'Art du Siège au XVIII. Siècle en France, Paris, 1987, p.142).