Jacques Jean-Baptiste (Jean-Baptiste II) Tilliard, maître in 1752.

This superb fauteuil, with its remarkably carved frame of a continuous zig-zag motif interspersed with flowers, can be firmly attributed to Jean-Baptiste II Tilliard on the basis of a virtually identical suite of seat furniture covered in Beauvais tapestry, comprising four fauteuils, a bergère and a canapé, three pieces of which were stamped 'TILLIARD', originally in the collection of Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford (daughter of Charles, Lord Stuart de Rothesay), sold Christie's, London, 29 April 1954, lots 107-8. Indeed, so close is the fauteuil offered here, save for the upholstery, that it might well have originally formed part of the same suite, as the model is such a rare and distinctive one. A further pair of fauteuils and pair of canapés, of the same scheme but slightly more richly carved, the canapé stamped 'TILLIARD' and sold from the Espirito Santo collection in 1955, is illustrated in Pallot, op. cit.

Pallot points out certain stylistic and structural features that are also typical of Jean-Baptiste II Tilliard's oeuvre, such as the outset front legs and the assured sweep of the arm where it meets the seat-frame.

In 1764 Tilliard took over the workshop of his father, Jean-Baptiste I Tilliard, and continued to use his simple stamp 'TILLIARD'. His father was one of the most celebrated menuisiers of the Louis XV period, and from the 1730's Menuisier ordinaire du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne. Jean-Baptiste II also worked extensively for the Royal Court, particularly for Louis XVI's sisters Mesdames Victoire and Elisabeth, and was able successfully to make the transition to the Louis XVI style, notable with a magnificent suite of furniture supplied in 1784 to the King of Sweden's apartment at Versailles.