A LOUIS XVI CARVED GREY PAINTED CANAPÉ, BY LOUIS-CHARLES CARPENTIER, CIRCA 1775

Dalva Bros., New York.

Sotheby's, New York, October 27, 2001, lot 149.

Sotheby's, New York, 24 May 2007, lot 316, sold en suite with four fauteuils stamped Carpentier;

The Property of a Royal House;

Christie's, London, 5 December 2013, lot 114;

where acquired by the present owner.

The present canapé of charming form was part of a larger suite which comprised a set of four fauteuils à la reine sold Sotheby's, New York, 24 May 2007, lot 316, and a pair of bergères, now in a private collection. An additional pair of bergères from the suite was also sold from the collection of René Fribourg, Sotheby's, London, October 17-18, 1963, lot 808, while a further armchair is illustrated in C. Packer, Paris Furniture, 1956, fig. 65.

Louis-Charles Carpentier (1730-1788) was a menuisier reçu maître in 1752. With a workshop established rue de Cléry, he primarily produced seating furniture in the transitional style, for an important clientèle which included the Baron Rolin d'Ivry, the marquise de Brunoy, the ducs d'Aumont and d'Orléans. But most importantly he worked for the Prince de Condé as Carpentier furnished many of his residences including the Hôtel de Lassay, the Château de Chantilly, Château de Vanves, and the Palais Bourbon. 

Examples of his work of this period are conserved in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, in the Musée Jacquemart André, Paris, and the the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg (see, Bill G.B. Pallot, L'Art du Siège au XVIII Siècle en France, 1987, p. 302).