A carved giltwood frame attributed to Antoine Rascalon (1742-1812), Louis XVI, circa 1770

of rectangular form, with a ribbon-tied floral wreath cresting above a scrolled acanthus drapery corbel with floral swags, the pierced concave border carved with rinceaux and beading, the sides with a stylised Greek key with a ribbon-tied floral bouquet  

This superb frame is in good conserved condition and would benefit from a light cleaning. There are minor losses to gilding, which is not original. Minor losses to carving, and one very small piece that needs to be reattached. The carving of this frame is of very high quality.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Maria Isabel Pereira Coutinho, 18th century French Furniture, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, 1969, no. 32, p. 279, Inv. no. 1452.
Svend Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France:The Creation of the Louis Seize Style in Architectural Decoration, Furniture and Ormolu, Gold and Silver and Sèvres Porcelain in the mid-Eighteenth Century France, London, 1974.

This exquisite sculpturally carved frame has an almost jewel-like quality due to the detailed naturalistic carving and retains its original gilding making it one of the finest examples of a Louis XVI carved giltwood frame.

It is worthwhile comparing a canapé a confidents made by Blanchard and attributed to the sculptor Antoine Rascalon,responsible for the floral carving on the canapé, which was gilded by Dutemps and delivered to the Château de Bellevue in 1784 for Mesdames Adelaïde and Victoire, daughters of Louis XV, at a cost of 2600 livres, see Coutinho, op. cit., no. 32, p. 279, (Inv. no. 1452).The highly detailed naturalistic treatment of both flowers and leaves is peculiar to both pieces and not comparable to the work of other identified carvers of the period.

Antoine Rascalon (1742-1812), the sculptor, was a member of the Académie de St. Luc, whose workshop was in the rue de Cléry at the Porte St. Denis and is known to have executed a number of commissions for the French Court in the 1780’s and  was associated with the architect Petitot at the Court of Parma which had adopted an advanced French neo-classical taste in the late 1760’ s. The survival of his name in association with carving of exceptional quality executed for the court indicates that he was a figure of some significance. Svend Eriksen op. cit., speculates as follows, “Indeed, Rascalon ……can very well have been a character of immense importance in the development and spread of Neo-classicism in France and elsewhere.”