An important suite of Louis XVI giltwood seat furniture circa 1785, stamped Delaisement

comprising two fauteuils à la reine and two canapés; each with a padded backrest with leaf-carved top rail, outset rounded corners carved with scrolls and laurel leaves above fluted uprights carved with chandelles; the downswept armrests with lion's mask terminals continuing to leaf-carved scrolls; the seat carved to match the top rail, raised on turned tapered fluted legs carved with drapery swags. 4 pieces. Regilt.

Possibly the Earls of Essex, either at Cassiobury Park or Belgrave Square

Collection of Sir Anthony de Rothschild (formed between 1840 and 1850, removed from Aston Clinton, Aylesbury, and sold by order of his daughters Lady Battersea and Mrs. Elliot York), sold, Christie's, London, June 13, 1923, lot 77

M. and Mme. Louis Beaumont, villa Eilenroc, Cap d'Antibes, France

Mme. Hélène Beaumont (1895-1988), sold, Sotheby's, Monaco, May 21-22, 1978, lot 38

Collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, sold, Christie's, London, December 8, 1994, lots 536-540 (6 armchairs, two bergères and two canapes)

Partridge Fine Arts, London

Comparative Literature:

Charles Packer, Paris Furniture, Newport, UK, 1956, fig. 213, illustrates one of the armchairs now in the Cleveland Museum of Art

These pieces come from a much larger suite which, in the 18th century  consisted of at least three canapés, eight fauteuils, two bergères, and a firescreen (see provenance above). The following have been documented:  Two fauteuils in the Elizabeth Severance Prentiss Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art.  Formerly in the Paul Dutasta collection, then sold in the Anthony de Rothschild sale (probably lot 79 or lot 80), Christie's, London, June 13-14, 1923.

A canapé in a private collection (probably lot 78 of the Anthony de Rothschild sale).  A firescreen in the James A. de Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor.  A further pair of fauteuils (lot 80 of the Anthony de Rothschild sale)

Based upon a manuscript note from Miss Alice de Rothschild (d.1922), Geoffrey de Bellaigue identified the firescreen as having come from Cassiobury Park, sold by the then Earl of Essex at Christie's, London in May 1893. The 5th Earl of Essex had acquired his collection in Paris in the early 19th century. Ten years earlier, Christie's had sold the contents of the Dowager Countess of Essex's house in Belgrave Square which probably housed part of the present suite.

The collection formed by Louis Dudley Beaumont (1857-1942) and his wife at the villa Eilenroc was built thanks to two major Rothschild sales held at  Christie's London in the 1920s. Several items, including this suite, were acquired at the June 1923 sale, following the death of Sir Anthony de Rothschild. The remaining collection of Hélène Beaumont was sold at Sotheby's, Monaco, December 4-6, 1992.

Cassiobury House

Cassiobury House, built in the 16th century by Sir Charles Morrison, passed into the Capel family in the 17th century. After the Restoration, Arthur Capel became 1st Earl of Essex and it descended in the family when, in 1799, George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex (1757-1839) commissioned James Wyatt to remodel the house.  Paintings by Lely, Van Dyck, Canaletto, Gainsborough, and Reynolds were hung, and the furniture of the "Best Drawing Room" was said to be "of the latest fashion and displays superior taste." By 1922 the family had largely moved to London, and the contents of Cassiobury were sold on Thursday, June 8, 1922, "By direction of the Right Honourable Adèle, Countess Dowager of Essex," "Cassiobury Park estate including the historical family mansion, Little Cassiobury, and the West Herts Golf Links, embracing in all an Area of about 870 Acres," Humbert & Flint, in conjunction with Knight, Frank & Rutley.