LATE 19TH CENTURY

These bergères once formed part of the legendary collection assembled by Mrs. Anna Thomson Dodge (1871-1970) for Rose Terrace, her Grosse Pointe residence modelled on the Petit Trianon at Versailles. Widow of the patrician head of the great car manufacturing dynasty, Mrs. Dodge's passion for the ancien régime was matched by her great generosity to her adopted city and the furnishings of the Music Room from Rose Terrace today form the core of the great decorative arts collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts. A leading philanthropic benefactor, Mrs. Dodge enlisted the celebrated art dealer Joseph Duveen to help form the collection. His unrivalled access to the finest examples available on the market led to the acquistion of a series of masterpieces, many with Royal provenance, including the famous jewel coffer by Carlin which belonged to Empress Maria Feodorovna and the Riesener commode supplied to Madame Elizabeth of France for the château de Fontainebleau. These four bergères were placed extremely prominently in the Reception Room at Grosse Pointe, balanced by a pair of chaises executed for Marie-Antoinette's Petit Hameau at the Trianon and flanking the famous porcelain-mounted bureau by Carlin from Empress Maria Feodorovna's collection - both of which are now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Lord Duveen worked in conjunction with the decorator L. Alavoine for Mrs. Dodge in the early 1930s. They were equally minded to combine period menuiserie alongside superlative copies, some of which are known to have been executed after 18th century patterns by Maison Carlhian of Paris. Established in the rue Beaurepaire, Maison Carlhian specialised in 'menuiserie, peinture et de tapisserie' and owned an extensive collection of period specimen chairs, whose models they faithfully copied.