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Lot Essay
Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené (d. 1803), mâitre in 1769.
Of outstanding historical value, this spectacular pliant was part of a large commission comprising around one hundred pieces of furnishings delivered to the royal châteaux of Compiègne and Fontainebleau in the 1780s. Intended for Marie Antoinette’s salons des jeux at these residences, sixty-four of these stools were ordered, forty for Compiègne and twenty-four for Fontainebleau, at the cost of 726 livres each. Stools of all types were used extensively at the French royal court by courtiers, who were not allowed to sit on a chair in the presence of the ruler. This long-standing tradition became the rule under the reign of Louis XIV, whose Garde Meuble contained well over 1,000 stools at Versailles. Marie Antoinette herself was well aware of this custom, and was keen to decorate her private apartments with pliants and tabourets of the latest fashion.
THE REFURBISHMENT OF COMPIEGNE AND FONTAINEBLEAU
Although Compiègne was already a prominent Royal residence under Louis XIV, who enjoyed it as a seat for hunting and favored it for military camps, it was not until in 1751, under the reign of Louis XV, that a large-scale renovation was launched under the supervision of Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698-1782), the King's principal architect. Work halted, however, during the Seven Years' War, and was not completed until the eve of the Revolution. In 1776, Jérôme Charles Bellicard (1726-1786), Contrôleur des Bâtiments, retired and was replaced by Gabriel’s pupil, Louis Le Dreux de la Châtre (1721-1792), who designed the central wing with the cour d’honneur and the Queen's wing, site of the salon des jeux. With the appointment of Thierry de Ville d'Avray (1732-1792) as director of the Garde Meuble de la Couronne in 1784, the refurbishment of the newly constructed interiors at Compiègne and Fontainebleau could begin, supervised by the sculptor Jean Hauré (active 1774-1796). The Queen herself took great interest in the projects, and ordered that her cabinet intérieur, grand cabinet and bedroom at Fontainebleau also be renovated and refurbished.
THE SALON DES JEUX AT COMPIEGNE
In 1786, work began on refurbishing Compiègne. On 1 May of that year, the Garde-Meuble placed an order for forty pliants, twelve tabourets and two screens from Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené to be delivered to Marie Antoinette’s salon des jeux. Sené was entrusted with the menuiserie, Nicolas François Vallois with the carving, Louis François Chatard with the painting and gilding, and Claude François Chapin with the upholstery, which was to be executed in silk taffetas chiné gros de Tour... dessein à arbres, berceaux et rose tremiere, manufactured by Pernon in Lyon (see P. Verlet, Le Mobilier Royal Français, vol. I, Paris, 1990, p. 84). For the suite, Sené was inspired, unsurprisingly, by ancient models and both the pliants and the tabourets follow the form of antique curule chairs, a model of which the Queen was particularly fond. Indeed, the new tabourets very much resemble the lower section of Georges Jacob’s iconic bergères made after Hubert Robert’s design and delivered for Marie Antoinette’s laiterie at Rambouillet.
In the fall of 1786, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI stayed at the château de Fontainebleau, where work was yet to be completed, and the grand cabinet still unfurnished. To remedy the situation, on 1 October, Hauré ordered that the twelve tabourets, the two screens and twenty-four of the forty pliants at Compiègne be transferred to Fontainebleau. An inventory of Fontainebleau from later that year lists these newly-arrived furnishings were placed in the grand cabinet del la Reine, which was transformed into her salon des jeux earlier that year. After the transfer, Hauré placed a second order with Sené for an additional twenty-four pliants, twelve tabourets and two more screens to refurnish the games room at Compiègne (see ibid., p. 85). As the Aitken stool is numbered '27,' we can ascertain that it was executed as part of the original order of forty for Compiègne placed by Hauré on 1 May 1786, and not the second order of twenty-four placed later that year for Fontainebleau. It is not, however, possible to determine whether the pliant was transferred to Fontainebleau in October that year, or is one of the sixteen that remained at Compiègne.
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY
Both suites remained in place until the Revolution. Part of the Compiègne set was subsequently dispersed and sold in Paris on 2 May 1797, while the rest was eventually transferred to Fontainebleau, where twelve of the pliants were placed in the Emperor's bedroom in April 1806. For the rest of the nineteenth century, the remaining twenty-four pieces of the entire set remained at Fontainebleau, where they are still kept today (inv. F595C). Outside of Fontainebleau, a number of surviving pieces from the suite are known. Those in institutional collections include a pair of stools in the Cleveland Museum of Art (inv. no. 1954.385); a pair in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in New York (obj. no. 1977.102.9); a pair formerly in the collection of Anna Thomson Dodge and now at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (obj. no. 71.DA.94); and a pair in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (inv. no. 1986-26-85). Stools from the set sold at auction include a pair from the collection of Juan de Beistegui sold Christie’s, Paris, 10 September 2018, lot 56; three from the Akram Ojjeh Collection sold Sotheby’s, Monaco, 24-25 June 1979, lots 40 and 41; and a final set of three (together with a later copy) sold Sotheby’s, London, 6 July 2010, lot 20, which are now in the appartement intérieur du Roi, nouvelle chambre at Versailles.
Of outstanding historical value, this spectacular pliant was part of a large commission comprising around one hundred pieces of furnishings delivered to the royal châteaux of Compiègne and Fontainebleau in the 1780s. Intended for Marie Antoinette’s salons des jeux at these residences, sixty-four of these stools were ordered, forty for Compiègne and twenty-four for Fontainebleau, at the cost of 726 livres each. Stools of all types were used extensively at the French royal court by courtiers, who were not allowed to sit on a chair in the presence of the ruler. This long-standing tradition became the rule under the reign of Louis XIV, whose Garde Meuble contained well over 1,000 stools at Versailles. Marie Antoinette herself was well aware of this custom, and was keen to decorate her private apartments with pliants and tabourets of the latest fashion.
THE REFURBISHMENT OF COMPIEGNE AND FONTAINEBLEAU
Although Compiègne was already a prominent Royal residence under Louis XIV, who enjoyed it as a seat for hunting and favored it for military camps, it was not until in 1751, under the reign of Louis XV, that a large-scale renovation was launched under the supervision of Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698-1782), the King's principal architect. Work halted, however, during the Seven Years' War, and was not completed until the eve of the Revolution. In 1776, Jérôme Charles Bellicard (1726-1786), Contrôleur des Bâtiments, retired and was replaced by Gabriel’s pupil, Louis Le Dreux de la Châtre (1721-1792), who designed the central wing with the cour d’honneur and the Queen's wing, site of the salon des jeux. With the appointment of Thierry de Ville d'Avray (1732-1792) as director of the Garde Meuble de la Couronne in 1784, the refurbishment of the newly constructed interiors at Compiègne and Fontainebleau could begin, supervised by the sculptor Jean Hauré (active 1774-1796). The Queen herself took great interest in the projects, and ordered that her cabinet intérieur, grand cabinet and bedroom at Fontainebleau also be renovated and refurbished.
THE SALON DES JEUX AT COMPIEGNE
In 1786, work began on refurbishing Compiègne. On 1 May of that year, the Garde-Meuble placed an order for forty pliants, twelve tabourets and two screens from Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené to be delivered to Marie Antoinette’s salon des jeux. Sené was entrusted with the menuiserie, Nicolas François Vallois with the carving, Louis François Chatard with the painting and gilding, and Claude François Chapin with the upholstery, which was to be executed in silk taffetas chiné gros de Tour... dessein à arbres, berceaux et rose tremiere, manufactured by Pernon in Lyon (see P. Verlet, Le Mobilier Royal Français, vol. I, Paris, 1990, p. 84). For the suite, Sené was inspired, unsurprisingly, by ancient models and both the pliants and the tabourets follow the form of antique curule chairs, a model of which the Queen was particularly fond. Indeed, the new tabourets very much resemble the lower section of Georges Jacob’s iconic bergères made after Hubert Robert’s design and delivered for Marie Antoinette’s laiterie at Rambouillet.
In the fall of 1786, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI stayed at the château de Fontainebleau, where work was yet to be completed, and the grand cabinet still unfurnished. To remedy the situation, on 1 October, Hauré ordered that the twelve tabourets, the two screens and twenty-four of the forty pliants at Compiègne be transferred to Fontainebleau. An inventory of Fontainebleau from later that year lists these newly-arrived furnishings were placed in the grand cabinet del la Reine, which was transformed into her salon des jeux earlier that year. After the transfer, Hauré placed a second order with Sené for an additional twenty-four pliants, twelve tabourets and two more screens to refurnish the games room at Compiègne (see ibid., p. 85). As the Aitken stool is numbered '27,' we can ascertain that it was executed as part of the original order of forty for Compiègne placed by Hauré on 1 May 1786, and not the second order of twenty-four placed later that year for Fontainebleau. It is not, however, possible to determine whether the pliant was transferred to Fontainebleau in October that year, or is one of the sixteen that remained at Compiègne.
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY
Both suites remained in place until the Revolution. Part of the Compiègne set was subsequently dispersed and sold in Paris on 2 May 1797, while the rest was eventually transferred to Fontainebleau, where twelve of the pliants were placed in the Emperor's bedroom in April 1806. For the rest of the nineteenth century, the remaining twenty-four pieces of the entire set remained at Fontainebleau, where they are still kept today (inv. F595C). Outside of Fontainebleau, a number of surviving pieces from the suite are known. Those in institutional collections include a pair of stools in the Cleveland Museum of Art (inv. no. 1954.385); a pair in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in New York (obj. no. 1977.102.9); a pair formerly in the collection of Anna Thomson Dodge and now at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (obj. no. 71.DA.94); and a pair in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (inv. no. 1986-26-85). Stools from the set sold at auction include a pair from the collection of Juan de Beistegui sold Christie’s, Paris, 10 September 2018, lot 56; three from the Akram Ojjeh Collection sold Sotheby’s, Monaco, 24-25 June 1979, lots 40 and 41; and a final set of three (together with a later copy) sold Sotheby’s, London, 6 July 2010, lot 20, which are now in the appartement intérieur du Roi, nouvelle chambre at Versailles.