PROBABLY PARMA, CIRCA 1750

This richly carved sgabello with typically Italian gilding is inspired by a set of five Louis XV pliants by Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot in the Palazzo Quirinale (illustrated in A. Gonzàlez-Palacios, Il Patrimonio Artistico del Quirinale: Gli Arredi Francesi, Milan, 1995, p. 58, pl. 57). The Parisian set by Foliot, bearing the royal inventory marks from the palaces of Parma, were part of the magnificent furnishings ordered in Paris in the 1750s by Madame Louise-Elisabeth (1727-1759), Madame Infante, eldest daugher of Louis XV, who in 1739 married Infant Don Philippe of Spain. In 1748, as a result of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, she became duchess of Parma and she and her husband established their court there in the most fashionable taste. Madame Infante made three visits to Paris - in 1749, from September 1752 until September 1753 and from September 1757 until her death there in December 1759 making purchases for her palaces. On her return from the first two visits she was accompanied by thirty-four and fourteen wagons respectively. Menuiserie was shipped from Paris largely dissasembled and ungilt and subsequently gilt upon their arrival in Parma by Francisco Ramoneda, official gilder to the court at Parma (op. cit. p. 35). A few finished examples were sent, however, and these finished examples were used as models, copied in Parma by local craftsmen. The present sgabello is very likely made by such a Parma chairmaker after an imported example. The inventory numbers on this stool unfortunately do not shed further light on its original commission.