Lot Essay
This exuberantly carved frame is surmounted by the French Royal crown and coat of arms with the Order of the Saint Esprit which would imply that it was executed for a Royal portrait possibly given by the King as a Royal gift.
During the eighteenth century, frames were the domain of sculptors. As they were rarely stamped, it is very difficult to attribute them to a particular maker. Several names are listed in the archives of the Comptes des Btiments du Roi, including Robert de Laland, active until 1715, and also Mathieu Legoupil, who succeeded his father Andr Legoupil in 1720. Interestingly, a drawing of a frame with very similar scrolled cartouches in the corners and center as well as trailing foliate scrolls was executed by Michel Lange in 1730. That frame was headed by a ducal coronet and was designed for the Htel de Ville de Paris (see B. Pons, De Paris Versailles 1699-1736: Les sculpteurs ornemanistes parisiens et l'art dcoratif des Btiments du roi, Strasbourg, 1986, fig. 449.)
During the eighteenth century, frames were the domain of sculptors. As they were rarely stamped, it is very difficult to attribute them to a particular maker. Several names are listed in the archives of the Comptes des Btiments du Roi, including Robert de Laland, active until 1715, and also Mathieu Legoupil, who succeeded his father Andr Legoupil in 1720. Interestingly, a drawing of a frame with very similar scrolled cartouches in the corners and center as well as trailing foliate scrolls was executed by Michel Lange in 1730. That frame was headed by a ducal coronet and was designed for the Htel de Ville de Paris (see B. Pons, De Paris Versailles 1699-1736: Les sculpteurs ornemanistes parisiens et l'art dcoratif des Btiments du roi, Strasbourg, 1986, fig. 449.)