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LouisXV/Louis XVI gilded suite
 
Louis XV/ Louis XVI gilded suite attributed to Jacques Audry, consisting of a canapé and a pair of fauteuils; the canapé signed F C Menant. The cabriole backs are crested by a shell framed by acanthus flanked by dimpled piastre moldings descending to the arm rests. Each arm rest, terminating in a scroll, rests on a scrolled support with acanthus carved base. The rails are carved with entrelacs and are centered by a large acanthus rosette in a rectangular cartouche. The pieces rest on very unusual scrolled acanthus-headed legs en console of champfered rectangular section on faceted feet under complex acanthus paterae. The suite is crisply carved and maintains its original gilding in good condition. [Chips and minor wear to gilding.]

François-Claude Menant was admitted to the Guild in 1786, at least ten years after the most likely date of the suite, so it is likely he affixed his stamp as a retailer or a restorer. All his known production is consistent with the late Louis XVI manner. A pair of bergéres, en suite and signed by Jacques Audry, was lot 49 in the Alexander Collection sale at Christie’s New York, April 30, 1999. The Audry bergères had been in the collection of Antenor Patiño, and were illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'Art et la Manière des Ébénistes Français, Paris, 1976, p. 38, fig. A. We believe the attribution to Audry is more consistent with the style and quality of the chairs than to Menant.

A similar, slightly earlier pair of bergères, stamped C.-L. Burgat, is in the Linsky Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; it is illustrated in B. G. B. Pallot, L'art du siège au XVIIIe siècle en France, Paris, 1987, p. 182. It is dated 1760-1770 by the museum.
Ex collection: Jacques Seligmann, Paris
                        Thelma Chrysler Foy: Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 22-23 May 1959. Lot 719 (canapé). Lot 720 (pair fauteuils).
Canapé – Height - 36" (91.4 cm.)          Length - 51½" (130.8 cm.)                   Depth - 27½" (69.8 cm.)
Armchairs – Height - 35½" (90.2 cm.)   Width - 24" (61 cm.)                Depth - 22½" (57.2 cm.)
French, 1765-1775

Height (ins.): Canapé 36 (90.2cm) Chair 35.5      Length/Width (ins.): Canapé 51.5 (131cm) Chair 24      Depth (ins.): Canapé 27.5 (70cm) Chair 22.5
Origin: France, circa 1765-1775     Period: Transitional

 

 

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