Lot 73: A Louis XV/Louis XVI carved beechwood fauteuil à la reine attributed to Jean Boucault circa 1760

measurements height 40 1/2 in.; width 30 in.; depth 24 1/2 in. alternate measurements 103 cm; 76 cm; 62.5 cm

This remarkable chair is en suite with four fauteuils and a canapé stamped by Jean Boucault now in the Louvre, Paris (see: Bill G.B. Pallot, Le Mobilier du Musée du Louvre, vol. II, Dijon, 1993, p. 87) and acquired from the collection of Mme. Walter-Guillaume in 1959. Four others from this set have been sold at auction recently: a pair, one of which was stamped twice by Boucault, was sold Christie's, London 9 June 1994, lot 97; a fauteuil sold Sotheby's, Amsterdam 20 October 2001, lot 56; a fauteuil sold from the collection of Karl Lagerfeld, Christie's, Monaco 28-29 April 2000, lot 30 (also illustrated Bill G. B. Pallot, The Art of the Chair in Eighteenth Century France, Paris, 1989, pp. 34-35 and 131). This last fauteuil, previously in the Fabre and James de Rothschild collections was sold in 1980 for what was at the time considered a record price for a single chair (Paris, Palais d'Orsay, 18 March 1980, lot 91). The chairs in this set, which could reasonably be considered as Boucault's masterpiece, owe much to the work of his contemporary Nicolas Heurtaut: see B. Pallot, op. cit., p. 131 for a comparison between the work of these two makers showing a very fluid design broken up by dramatic curves particularly to the arm rests. Jean Boucault (c. 1705-1786), maître menusier in 1728 worked in the rue de Cléry, Paris, in a house belonging to Nicolas Tillard. He worked with the sculptor Jean Valois. The inventory drawn up by Charles Cresson and Nicolas Foliot following the death of his wife in 1737 lists ten benches and numerous sièges à rouleaux. Among his most important clients were the duc de Choiseul, Louise-Elisabeth, duchese de Parme and prince Camille de Lorraine. The celebrated set of chairs provided to the duc de Choiseul are illustrated on the famous box painted by Louis Nicolas van Blarenberghe circa 1770-1771.