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Lot Essay
This exceptionally richly-carved canapé was conceived in the 'style rocaille' or early Louis XV style of the late 1730s and 1740s. When it was sold in 1986 it was attributed to the menuisier Nicolas Heurtaut (maître in 1753) but subsequent research suggests that this superb canapé was more probably executed by his contemporary Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot, who became master in 1729.
A 'tour de force' of the art of the 'sculpteur', the present canapé is profusely and densely carved with sculptural rockwork clasps, scrolls and foliage, each modelled individually and entirely asymmetric in outline. It closely relates to the design for a canapé by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, executed 1734-35 (B. Pallot, Le Siège Français, Paris, 1989, p. 122), which has similar rockwork clasps and asymmetric forms. However, the undulated back of the present piece is framed by a reeded moulding reminiscent of Régence furniture and appears, for instance, on the celebrated Crozat suite of seat-furniture, part of which was sold at Christie's Monaco, 7 December 1987, lot 116. A further pair of fauteuils from the Crozat suite is in the Louvre, discussed by B. Pallot, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, vol. II, Dijon, 1993, no. 5, pp. 32-33. With its more human proportions and vigorous asymmetric carving, the present canapé has evolved from the Régence idiom but retains, apart from the reeded moulding to the back, some of its forms, whereby back, arms and seat are clearly defined. Pallot therefore dates the present canapé, and its companion from the Grog-Carven bequest in the Louvre, to circa 1730-40 (ibid., no. 12, pp. 48-49).
Both the canapé in the Louvre and the present example were not stamped by their maker. The guild rule obliging Parisian furniture-makers to stamp their work was not enforced until 1743 and items executed before this date which bear a maker's stamp are rare. The most talented menuisiers active in the years when the present canapé was executed and who were able to achieve this exceptional level of craftsmanship include Jean-Baptiste I Tilliard (maître in 1717), members of the Cresson family, including Louis and René Cresson (both maître in 1738), and Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot (maître in 1729). Close comparison with several pieces by Foliot suggests the present canapé was possibly executed by him. This includes the magnificent giltwood seat-furniture supplied in 1749 to Madame Infante, daughter of Louis XV, for the Ducal Palace in Parma, but particularly a suite of giltwood fauteuils and chairs stamped by Foliot which have the same legs with inwardly scrolling volutes (B. Pallot, 1987, op. cit., pp. 136, 138, 142-147). This distinctive feature would later develop into a bold decorative element of chairs in the so-called Transitional style, but in the 1740s, this type of carved leg was apparently unique to Foliot.
A 'tour de force' of the art of the 'sculpteur', the present canapé is profusely and densely carved with sculptural rockwork clasps, scrolls and foliage, each modelled individually and entirely asymmetric in outline. It closely relates to the design for a canapé by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, executed 1734-35 (B. Pallot, Le Siège Français, Paris, 1989, p. 122), which has similar rockwork clasps and asymmetric forms. However, the undulated back of the present piece is framed by a reeded moulding reminiscent of Régence furniture and appears, for instance, on the celebrated Crozat suite of seat-furniture, part of which was sold at Christie's Monaco, 7 December 1987, lot 116. A further pair of fauteuils from the Crozat suite is in the Louvre, discussed by B. Pallot, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, vol. II, Dijon, 1993, no. 5, pp. 32-33. With its more human proportions and vigorous asymmetric carving, the present canapé has evolved from the Régence idiom but retains, apart from the reeded moulding to the back, some of its forms, whereby back, arms and seat are clearly defined. Pallot therefore dates the present canapé, and its companion from the Grog-Carven bequest in the Louvre, to circa 1730-40 (ibid., no. 12, pp. 48-49).
Both the canapé in the Louvre and the present example were not stamped by their maker. The guild rule obliging Parisian furniture-makers to stamp their work was not enforced until 1743 and items executed before this date which bear a maker's stamp are rare. The most talented menuisiers active in the years when the present canapé was executed and who were able to achieve this exceptional level of craftsmanship include Jean-Baptiste I Tilliard (maître in 1717), members of the Cresson family, including Louis and René Cresson (both maître in 1738), and Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot (maître in 1729). Close comparison with several pieces by Foliot suggests the present canapé was possibly executed by him. This includes the magnificent giltwood seat-furniture supplied in 1749 to Madame Infante, daughter of Louis XV, for the Ducal Palace in Parma, but particularly a suite of giltwood fauteuils and chairs stamped by Foliot which have the same legs with inwardly scrolling volutes (B. Pallot, 1987, op. cit., pp. 136, 138, 142-147). This distinctive feature would later develop into a bold decorative element of chairs in the so-called Transitional style, but in the 1740s, this type of carved leg was apparently unique to Foliot.