ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE VENTE, MID-18TH CENTURY

Bearing the coats-of-arms of Mesdames enclosing fleur-de-lys, the red Morocco leather trunk was almost certainly delivered by the Menus Plaisirs for the use of the Filles de France, daughters of Louis XV. Madame Marie-Adélaïde de France (d. 1800), fourth daughter of Louis XV and a noted bibliophile, is known to have had a liking for red morocco leather - her library contained more than 10,000 volumes bound in such material. The present box is particularly rare for its large size. For smaller similar coffers by Vente, also almost certainly delivered to Mesdames, see Christie’s, London, 4 July 2017, lot 3 and La Vie de Château: Collection Jean-Louis Remilleux, Christie’s, Paris, 28-29 September 2015, lot 400. Pierre Vente (b. 1722, active until 1792), initially worked under the patronage of the Maréchal de Richelieu and in 1753 became Relieur (bookbinder) for the Menus Plaisirs du Roi and in 1764 Libraire. Each year he supplied several coffers of different uses, such as for domestic storage or travel, to Mesdames, who passed them onto their entourage when they were considered too old.