.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Two maître menusiers-ébénistes bear the same name, Jacques-Pierre Letellier, père and fils, respectively maître in 1747 and 1767 (J. Nicolay, L’Art et la Manière des Maîtres ébénistes Français au XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1956, p. 275). Both made corner cabinets and commodes, but their speciality was superb quality seat-furniture. The present fauteuils are almost certainly by J.P. Letellier, père, who is associated with the Louis XV style, and because he stamped his furniture ‘LETELIER’ with a single ‘L’. He frequently preceded his surname with the initials ‘I.P.’, although his initials can be omitted as in this example. A set of five caned fauteuils by J.P. Letellier, père, was commissioned by the Marquis de Paulmy, and is now in the Pavillon de l’Arsenal.
The present fauteuils are upholstered with tapestry covers depicting two of Jean Baptiste Oudry’s Fables de La Fontaine, ‘Le Loup et La Cicogne’ and possibly, ‘Le Lion et Le Moucheron’. Oudry was the artist most favoured by the Aubusson weavers, and scenes, or variants of them, based on the fables are frequently found as chair backs or seat covers. A suite of Aubusson tapestry-upholstered seat-furniture, also depicting the fables, is illustrated in E.A. Standen, European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, vol. II, no. 100, pp. 626—632.
The present fauteuils are upholstered with tapestry covers depicting two of Jean Baptiste Oudry’s Fables de La Fontaine, ‘Le Loup et La Cicogne’ and possibly, ‘Le Lion et Le Moucheron’. Oudry was the artist most favoured by the Aubusson weavers, and scenes, or variants of them, based on the fables are frequently found as chair backs or seat covers. A suite of Aubusson tapestry-upholstered seat-furniture, also depicting the fables, is illustrated in E.A. Standen, European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, vol. II, no. 100, pp. 626—632.