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Lot Essay
This distinctive suite of seat-furniture by Georges Jacob (maître in 1765) with eagle-headed terminals to the top rail, has traditionally always been associated with Marie-Antoinette. Surviving both in bois doré and mahogany, it includes two bergères formerly in the de Ganay and then Schneider Collection, one of which is illustrated in H. Lefuel, Georges Jacob, Paris, 1923, pl. XIII.
Although the chairs bear no Royal inventory marks, they have been included in two exhibitions where an association with Queen Marie-Antoinette has been made. Firstly at the Victoria and Albert Museum (formerly the South Kensington Museum) London, in 1871. Four of the chairs from this suite were displayed in ‘Marie-Antoinette’s Boudoir,’ which was the name given to the newly acquired period room created in 1778 for Anne-Marie-Louise-Jeanne Thomas de Dommangeville, Marquise de Sérilly (1762–99) which had been purchased by the Museum in 1869. It was believed that Marie-Antoinette had assisted with the decorative scheme and furnishings as the Marquise de Sérilly had been a close friend.
The suite was presented again in an exhibition at the Château de Versailles in 1955, Marie-Antoinette, Archiduchess, dauphine et reine. At this exhibition, the chairs were shown alongside the pair of corresponding bergères from the Schneider collection (no. 713), along with four voyeuses also believed to be en suite with the present lot (no. 715).
The lyre-form splat, as seen in the present lot, is particularly associated with Georges Jacob’s work for the Royal household around 1788. This includes the suite of lyre-back voyeuses delivered to the comte d'Artois for the salon de musique at Bagatelle, as well a related pair of voyeuses supplied to Jean-Baptiste Tourteau de Septeuil, premier Valet de Chambre du Roi from 1779 to 1792, which were sold at Christie's, Monaco, 18 June 1989, lot 188.
ALEXANDER BARKER (1797-1873)
From humble beginnings, starting as an apprentice bootmaker in his father’s shop, by 1850, Alexander Barker had established himself as one of the leading collectors of his generation and was a founding member of the Burlington Fine Art Club. His network included continental dealers, aristocratic collectors and museum officials, he enjoyed a particularly close relationship throughout his life with the former South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) loaning approximately 500 objects to the museum between 1859-1867, including the present suite. Following his death, his vast collection was sold at Christie’s, London in 1874. The sale included Piero della Francesca’s The Nativity and Sandro Botticelli’s Venus and Mars both of which were acquired for the National Gallery, London (inv. NG908 and NG915), rather serving to verify the somewhat egotistical declaration he had reputedly made ‘whatever I have is the best, were I to have a jackass, it would be the best jackass in England’ (N. Smith, Alexander Barker and the South Kensington Museum, V&A Archive, London, 2017).
SIR ALFRED CHESTER BEATTY (1875-1968)
Another self-made man, Chester Beatty was an American mining magnate who, together with his wife Edith Beatty (née Dunn 1886-1952), became one of the most important collectors of African, Asian, European and Middle Eastern manuscripts. He founded the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin in 1950 to house his collection which was opened to the public in 1954. Upon his death he bequeathed his wife’s collection of Marie-Antoinette’s personal furniture to the Louvre.
Although the chairs bear no Royal inventory marks, they have been included in two exhibitions where an association with Queen Marie-Antoinette has been made. Firstly at the Victoria and Albert Museum (formerly the South Kensington Museum) London, in 1871. Four of the chairs from this suite were displayed in ‘Marie-Antoinette’s Boudoir,’ which was the name given to the newly acquired period room created in 1778 for Anne-Marie-Louise-Jeanne Thomas de Dommangeville, Marquise de Sérilly (1762–99) which had been purchased by the Museum in 1869. It was believed that Marie-Antoinette had assisted with the decorative scheme and furnishings as the Marquise de Sérilly had been a close friend.
The suite was presented again in an exhibition at the Château de Versailles in 1955, Marie-Antoinette, Archiduchess, dauphine et reine. At this exhibition, the chairs were shown alongside the pair of corresponding bergères from the Schneider collection (no. 713), along with four voyeuses also believed to be en suite with the present lot (no. 715).
The lyre-form splat, as seen in the present lot, is particularly associated with Georges Jacob’s work for the Royal household around 1788. This includes the suite of lyre-back voyeuses delivered to the comte d'Artois for the salon de musique at Bagatelle, as well a related pair of voyeuses supplied to Jean-Baptiste Tourteau de Septeuil, premier Valet de Chambre du Roi from 1779 to 1792, which were sold at Christie's, Monaco, 18 June 1989, lot 188.
ALEXANDER BARKER (1797-1873)
From humble beginnings, starting as an apprentice bootmaker in his father’s shop, by 1850, Alexander Barker had established himself as one of the leading collectors of his generation and was a founding member of the Burlington Fine Art Club. His network included continental dealers, aristocratic collectors and museum officials, he enjoyed a particularly close relationship throughout his life with the former South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) loaning approximately 500 objects to the museum between 1859-1867, including the present suite. Following his death, his vast collection was sold at Christie’s, London in 1874. The sale included Piero della Francesca’s The Nativity and Sandro Botticelli’s Venus and Mars both of which were acquired for the National Gallery, London (inv. NG908 and NG915), rather serving to verify the somewhat egotistical declaration he had reputedly made ‘whatever I have is the best, were I to have a jackass, it would be the best jackass in England’ (N. Smith, Alexander Barker and the South Kensington Museum, V&A Archive, London, 2017).
SIR ALFRED CHESTER BEATTY (1875-1968)
Another self-made man, Chester Beatty was an American mining magnate who, together with his wife Edith Beatty (née Dunn 1886-1952), became one of the most important collectors of African, Asian, European and Middle Eastern manuscripts. He founded the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin in 1950 to house his collection which was opened to the public in 1954. Upon his death he bequeathed his wife’s collection of Marie-Antoinette’s personal furniture to the Louvre.