Lot Essay
Jean-Jacques Pothier, maître in 1750.
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LOTS 182 - 184
The following three pairs of fauteuils by Jean-Jacques Pothier, maître in 1750, bear stencils to the seat-rails that are as yet unidentified. It is interesting to note that the both the 'LB' and 'CR' initals appear separated by coronets as Royal inventory brands and stencils.
The 'LB' initials are usually associated with Louis Henri II, duc de Bourbon and prince de Condé (1756 - 1830), who returned from exile to Paris after the Revolution and reclaimed all the furnishings and pictures that had been seized from the Palais Bourbon and Chantilly. Upon his death without heirs, his lands and wealth passed to his godson Henri d'Orléans, the fifth son of Louis-Philippe of France.
The 'CR' initals on the other hand are associated with the inventories taken at the Palazzo Colorno in Parma in 1855. Louise-Elisabeth de Bourbon (1727 - 1759), eldest daughter of Luis XV, moved to to Parma upon her marriage to the Infante Philippe of Spain, Duke of Parma, in 1739. The establishment of their court in Parma necessitated the refurbishment of the Palazzo Colorno in the Parisian style. Madame Infante made several trips to Paris (1749, 1752 and 1757) and brought back furnishings. Indeed on her first return she brought with her thirty-four wagons of furniture and clothes purchased from marchand-merciers. It is interesting to note that Henri d'Orléans, the heir to Louis Bourbon, is also the great-grandson of Louise-Elisabeth.
A PAIR OF LOUIS XV POLYCHROME-DECORATED FAUTEUILS
STAMPED 'I. POTHIER', MID-18TH CENTURY
Details
A PAIR OF LOUIS XV POLYCHROME-DECORATED FAUTEUILS
STAMPED 'I. POTHIER', MID-18TH CENTURY
Each with a chanelled frame with padded arched back, arms and bowed squab-cushion covered in polychrome flowers on cream-colored silk, the top and seat-rail centered by flowerheads, on cabriole legs headed by a floral spray and terminating in foliate feet, stamped to inside of back seat-rail, each stenciled 'CR702' and stenciled with double crossed-out 'LB530', redecorated (2)
STAMPED 'I. POTHIER', MID-18TH CENTURY
Each with a chanelled frame with padded arched back, arms and bowed squab-cushion covered in polychrome flowers on cream-colored silk, the top and seat-rail centered by flowerheads, on cabriole legs headed by a floral spray and terminating in foliate feet, stamped to inside of back seat-rail, each stenciled 'CR702' and stenciled with double crossed-out 'LB530', redecorated (2)
Provenance
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, 9 June 2004, lot 49.