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Lot Essay
The marque au feu 'TH' accompanied by three fleur-de-lys within an oval was that employed at the Palais des Tuileries following the Restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy.
In the absence of inventory numbers or the brand of the Tuileries from the Louis XVI period, it is impossible to determine the specifics of the original commsion for this console.
MARIE-ANTOINETTE'S APARTMENT IN THE TUILERIES
In 1784, Marie-Antoinette expressed a desire to have an apartment in Paris and the Château des Tuileries was a natural choice. Almost abandoned after Louis XV, it had been occupied for more than 60 years by Court pensioners. In order to accomodate Marie-Antoinette, the apartment of the marquise de Groslier first had to be emptied, and the layout of the rooms - which had undergone various changes and divisions through the years - had to be restored to their original plan.
Marie-Antoinette also expressed the desire to have a small appartement in the entresol above her main appartement, situated near the pavillon de Flore, on the river Seine. The favorite craftsmen of the Queen were chosen in order to furnish the rooms; Georges Jacob, Boulard and Foliot as menuisiers and Riesener for case furniture.
These furnishings and the remaining furniture at the Tuileries were supplemented by fresh orders from the Garde-Meuble and with existing pieces brought from the other Royal palaces. By 1790 Louis XVI appears to have realized that the Tuileries was to be their permanent residence and both he and Marie-Antoinette began ordering suitable permanent furnishings more in keeping with the palace's new role. For a further discussion of the Tuileries during this period see M. Battestin, 'La famille royale aux Tuileries et l'installation de mobilier', De Paris ' Versailles, Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, 1989, pp. 65-69.
Napoleon moved to the Tuileries in 1800 and made it his principal residence, as did all of France's rulers until it was destroyed by fire in 1870. He refurbished it in typically opulent style, employing the court architects Percier and Fontaine, although much of the Louis XVI furniture remained there into the Restauration period, the Palace as a whole acting as a large scale Royal Depôt.
ATTRIBUTION OF THE CONSOLE
This expertly and crisply carved console is likely the work of one of the foremost menuisiers of the period. Jean-Baptiste Sené (1748-1803), along with Georges Jacob (maître in 1765) dominated the production of carved furniture and menuiserie in Paris during the last years of the ancien régime. Their principal clients were the King and the Queen and from 1785-1791 they provided seat furniture, beds, consoles, folding stools, footstools, screens, etc. for Fontainebleau, the Tuileries, Versailles and particularly Saint-Cloud. Sené is known to have sub-contracted the carving of much of his Royal commisions to his favorite sculpteurs, Pierre Laurent, Nicolas Vallois and Alexandre Rignier and the gilding to Louis Chatard - who seems to have enjoyed a virtual monopoly on pieces destined for the Royal family.
A pair of Louis XVI console tables from the Tuileries palace, first recorded there in 1807, and probably originally moved there in 1790-2, was sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's, London, 14 December 2005, lot 72 (£254,500 inc. premium). The Wildenstein pair is identical to a further pair sold from the collection of the 5th Duke of Sutherland from Stafford House in 1913. Interestingly Lord Gower, later 1st Duke of Sutherland, was Ambassador to France between 1790-92, and is known at this time to have acquired pieces of Royal provenance from the Château de Saint Cloud.
In the absence of inventory numbers or the brand of the Tuileries from the Louis XVI period, it is impossible to determine the specifics of the original commsion for this console.
MARIE-ANTOINETTE'S APARTMENT IN THE TUILERIES
In 1784, Marie-Antoinette expressed a desire to have an apartment in Paris and the Château des Tuileries was a natural choice. Almost abandoned after Louis XV, it had been occupied for more than 60 years by Court pensioners. In order to accomodate Marie-Antoinette, the apartment of the marquise de Groslier first had to be emptied, and the layout of the rooms - which had undergone various changes and divisions through the years - had to be restored to their original plan.
Marie-Antoinette also expressed the desire to have a small appartement in the entresol above her main appartement, situated near the pavillon de Flore, on the river Seine. The favorite craftsmen of the Queen were chosen in order to furnish the rooms; Georges Jacob, Boulard and Foliot as menuisiers and Riesener for case furniture.
These furnishings and the remaining furniture at the Tuileries were supplemented by fresh orders from the Garde-Meuble and with existing pieces brought from the other Royal palaces. By 1790 Louis XVI appears to have realized that the Tuileries was to be their permanent residence and both he and Marie-Antoinette began ordering suitable permanent furnishings more in keeping with the palace's new role. For a further discussion of the Tuileries during this period see M. Battestin, 'La famille royale aux Tuileries et l'installation de mobilier', De Paris ' Versailles, Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, 1989, pp. 65-69.
Napoleon moved to the Tuileries in 1800 and made it his principal residence, as did all of France's rulers until it was destroyed by fire in 1870. He refurbished it in typically opulent style, employing the court architects Percier and Fontaine, although much of the Louis XVI furniture remained there into the Restauration period, the Palace as a whole acting as a large scale Royal Depôt.
ATTRIBUTION OF THE CONSOLE
This expertly and crisply carved console is likely the work of one of the foremost menuisiers of the period. Jean-Baptiste Sené (1748-1803), along with Georges Jacob (maître in 1765) dominated the production of carved furniture and menuiserie in Paris during the last years of the ancien régime. Their principal clients were the King and the Queen and from 1785-1791 they provided seat furniture, beds, consoles, folding stools, footstools, screens, etc. for Fontainebleau, the Tuileries, Versailles and particularly Saint-Cloud. Sené is known to have sub-contracted the carving of much of his Royal commisions to his favorite sculpteurs, Pierre Laurent, Nicolas Vallois and Alexandre Rignier and the gilding to Louis Chatard - who seems to have enjoyed a virtual monopoly on pieces destined for the Royal family.
A pair of Louis XVI console tables from the Tuileries palace, first recorded there in 1807, and probably originally moved there in 1790-2, was sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's, London, 14 December 2005, lot 72 (£254,500 inc. premium). The Wildenstein pair is identical to a further pair sold from the collection of the 5th Duke of Sutherland from Stafford House in 1913. Interestingly Lord Gower, later 1st Duke of Sutherland, was Ambassador to France between 1790-92, and is known at this time to have acquired pieces of Royal provenance from the Château de Saint Cloud.