Lot 1073
  • 1073

A pair of Louis XV giltwood bergères à la reine by Tilliard, circa 1755-60, stamped TILLIARD

Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Stamped TILLIARD
  • giltwood, silk upholstery
  • height 41 in.; width 32 in.; depth 27 in.
  • 104 cm; 81 cm; 68.5 cm
upholstered in coral decorated floral cream silk, carved with rockwork centered by a heart, the backs carved.

Provenance

Collection de M.X., sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet, Monaco, June 24-25, 1984, lot 3123

Condition

In very good condition with extremely fine carving, with scattered rubbing and losses to gilding. Internal front rails with small age cracks and later corner blocks. Age crack to top of proper left upright on one. Upholstery with wear to armrests, otherwise in good condition and ready to place.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Jean-Baptiste I Tilliard (1685-1766), or Jacques Jean-Baptiste Tilliard (1723-1797), maître in 1752 The carving on this exceptional pair of bergères is very typical of Tilliard’s work, in particular the heart-shaped cartouches centering the top and seat rails and surmounting the legs which, although not exclusive to the maker, are viewed as almost a trademark characteristic.

A pair of beechwood bergères of almost identical model by Tilliard, en suite with a pair of fauteuils, is in the Wrightsman Collection (ill. F.J.B. Waston, The Wrightsman Colleciton Furniture, Vol. I, p.66, no.47). Another very similar armchair of slightly later date is illustrated in B.G.B. Pallot, L’Art du siège au XVIIIe siècle en France, Paris, 1987, p. 93. A similarly carved canapé from the Linsky Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated B. Pallot, op. cit., p. 94, and a further related bergère was sold Sotheby’s New York, May 21, 1994, lot 147.

The Tilliard family was one of the most important and oldest dynasties of chairmakers in Paris, based in the Rue de Cléry in what is now the second arrondissement. Jean-Baptiste’s father and brothers, as well as his son, were all in this business. After the death of his father in 1728, he became Maître Menuisier du Garde-Meuble du Roi and a regular supplier to Versailles and other royal palaces. His distinguished clientele included the prince de Soubise, the ducs d’Aiguillon, d’Antin, Sully, the duchesse de Mazarin, Louise-Élisabeth de Parme as well as the comte d’Évreux and M. d’Argenson.  His son Jacques Jean-Baptiste, also referred to as Jean-Baptiste II, worked closely with his father and although received master in 1752, he did not officially register with the guild until 1764, when he took over the workshop upon his father's retirement.  He continued to use the same stamp as his father's, so in many instances it is impossible to determine authorship of signed works with certainty, though by the late 1750s, Jean-Baptiste II began incorporating decorative elements of the nascent Neoclassical style which he would assimilate fully during the reign of Louis XVI.