This pair of bergères were formerly in the important private collection of Jayne and Charles Wrightsman, and are reproduced in the extensive Wrightsman catalogue drawn up in 1966 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.1 In his commentary, F.J.B. Watson notes that the treatment of the carving, notably the roses cresting the top rail, is akin to that on a sofa in their collection stamped I. POTHIER. That sofa, along with many important pieces of their extensive collection, are on display in the dedicated Wrightsman galleries at the MET (1976.155.167),2 but this pair of bergères was included in the single-owner sale held at Sotheby’s Parke Bernet in New York on 3rd May 1984, lot 244.

The Pothier sofa from the Wrightsman collection now in the MET (1976.155.167, pictured left) alongside the present lot (right)

The menuisier Pothier was received as maître in 1750 and often displays the delicate floral carving present on this pair of bergères: compare, for instance, an armchair with Wanecq that was featured in L’Estampille in 20053 and a suite of armchairs sold at Sotheby’s in 2004,4 both of which bore a Pothier stamp and share numerous stylistic features with the present lot.

The armchair with Wanecq in 2005 (left) and the Sotheby's 2004 examples (right).

The precise yet sweet carving of the posies of flowers on these bergères also recall the work of Jean Avisse, received as maître in 1745. While a top rail centred by floral carving is a common ornament on mid-eighteenth-century seat furniture, Avisse deployed it with an expressive that make his examples outstanding. The most richly carved example stamped Avisse is likely the sofa formerly in the Espirito Santo collection,4 but the degree of ornament varies from commission to commission: for particularly spectacular examples stamped Avisse, see those sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2013,5 those from the Rothschild collection at Christie’s New York in 2023 and those at Sotheby’s Paris in 2021.

The Avisse sofa formerly in the Espirito Santo collection (top), the Sotheby's 2013 example (bottom-left) and the Sotheby's 2021 example (bottom-right)

1 F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol I, cat. 20, p.27.
2 Ibid., p.56, cat.41.
3 L'Estampille/L'Objet d'art, no. 40, 8th December 2005, n.p.
4 Sotheby’s London, 9th June 2004, lot 49.
5 in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 2002, p.36.
6 Sotheby’s 2013: Sotheby’s New York, 23rd October 2013, lot 120.
Sotheby’s 2021: Sotheby’s Paris, 17th November 2021, lot 29.
Christie’s 2023: Christie’s New York, 11th October 2023, lot 39.