An Empire Giltwood Marquise, Circa 1805

Possibly supplied to the Château de Neuilly in the early 19th century;

Alain Demachy, Paris, 1982;

Christie's, New York, 19 October 2007, lot 247;

Christie's New York, Rooms as Portraits: Michael S. Smith; A Tale of Two Cities, New York & Los Angeles, 26 September 2018, lot 42.

This marquise bears stenciled inventory numbers starting with an N, which may indicate that it was once located in the château de Neuilly. This palace, now destroyed, was located in the Neuilly-sur-Seine district, which lies just outside of the Paris Boulevard Périphérique but borders onto the 16th and 17th arrondissements. The palace housed several prominent figures in French political history: first built for Louis XV’s Secretary of State for War, the Comte d'Argenson (1696–1764), the palace was then inhabited by the Prince of Talleyrand (1754–1838) and then Joachim Murat (1767–1815). Later in 1818, it was purchased and refurbished by the Duc d’Orléans (1773–1850), who would continue to stay there frequently once he became King Louis-Philippe. Most of the documented furniture from the château dates to this period of Louis-Philippe’s reign (1830-1848), and so bears the iron marks with N for Neuilly alongside LP for Louis-Philippe – this can be seen on the pair of fauteuils sold at Christie’s London, 22 September 2022, lot 19. Pieces with only the N mark are far rarer, though a set of four fauteuils by Georges Jacob sold at Christie’s London, 20 January 2005, lot 112 bearing just the N. The château de Neuilly was almost completely destroyed by fire and looting in the 1848 Revolution, with the one surviving wing now occupied by the religious organisation the Sisters of Saint Thomas of Villanova.