BY JEAN-BAPTISTE LEBAS, CIRCA 1760

Details

A PAIR OF LOUIS XV GILTWOOD BERGERES
BY JEAN-BAPTISTE LEBAS, CIRCA 1760
Each with a chanelled serpentine frame, the padded back, sides and seat covered in white and pink floral silk, the toprail and seatrail carved with confronting foliate trails, with downswept channelled scrolled arms, on foliate-headed cabriole legs and scrolled feet, each stamped 'I. LEBAS', with restorations, regilt
34½ in. (87.5 cm.) high; 27 in. (69 cm.) wide; 25 in. (64 cm.) deep (2)

Provenance

Almost certainly bought by John Alexander, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831-1896) for Longleat, Wiltshire and by descent at Longleat.
Furniture, Porcelain and Silver from Longleat, Christie's, London, 13-14 June 2002, lot 367, where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

Literature for the suite:
1896 Inventory (4th Marquess' Heirlooms) 'Two gilt frame easy chairs upholstered in olive green plush velvet furnished with cord and loose holland covers'.
J. Leyland, 'Country Homes: Longleat', Country Life Illustrated, 14 August 1897, p. 154.
C. Hussey, 'Longleat, Wiltshire-IV', Country Life, 29 April 1949, p. 991, fig. 4.
H. Granville Fell (ed.), The Connoisseur Year Book, 1951, London, p. 41, fig. V.
M. Aldrich, 'The Marquess and the Decorator', Country Life, 7 December 1989, p. 167, fig. 9.

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Lot Essay

Jean-Baptiste Lebas, maître in 1756.

The comtesse du Barry and the comte d'Artois ranked amongst hist most important patrons. He produced chairs in both the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. His sons Barthélemy and Jean-Jacques both became maîtres-ébénistes and worked with their father in the rue de Cléry.

An important set of eight fauteuils by Lebas was sold Christies, London, 19 May 1983, lot 76. A set of six Louis XV fauteuils also by Lebas, with similarly carved serpentined seatrails, was sold Christies, London, 31 March 1977, lot 26, while a closely related pair of bergéres en gondole by Pierre Forget, was sold Christie's Monaco, 16-17 June 2001, lot 642.

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