A PAIR OF LOUIS XV CARVED BEECHWOOD FAUTEUILS, STAMPED MC, POSSIBLY FOR MICHEL CRESSON, CIRCA 1740

Galerie Perrin, Paris

The stamp MC may refer to the menuisier Michel Cresson (maître in 1740), part of a dynasty of chair makers based in the Rue de Cléry in the 18th century. Cresson's usual stamp was M.CRESSON, but prior to 1743, guild regulations did not require French furniture makers to stamp their work, although several of them sporadically did, and sometimes used initials or abbreviations of their names. Another possible candidate is the menuisier Michel Challe in the Rue d'Argenteuil, maître in 1746 (Jean-Michel Franc, Dictionnaire des menuisiers, ébénistes, sculpteurs, tourneurs et doreurs du XVIIIème siècle, Vol.I, Dijon 2000, p.325).