A LOUIS XVI STYLE GILTWOOD SALON SUITE, AFTER A MODEL OF GEORGES JACOB, CIRCA 1880 |

comprising a pair of canapés and a pair of armchairs, with piastre and leaf carved frames, the oblong padded backs with laurel wreath crests and volute scrolls, the padded and screll ended arms and stuffed seats on stop-fluted turned tapering legs, the Beauvais tapestry panels designed by Jean-Jacques Lagrenée and probably woven between 1787 and 1791; (regilded, tapestry consolidated)

Baron Alfred Charles de Rothschild (1842-1918), Halton, Buckinghamshire Recorded in the inventory of 19th August 1918, p. 107, in the Grand Saloon Corridor Gallery, Halton, Buckinghamshire. It would therefore appaear that this salon suite was originally part of a much larger set comprising twelve armchairs

Probably thence by descent to his illegitimate daughter by Marie, wife of Frederick Charles Wombell Bt., Almina Victoria Marie Alexandra the Countess of Carnarvon, who married George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, the celebrated excavator of Tutankhamen's tomb

Sir Thomas Ferreor-Hesketh, 8th Bt., later 1st Baron Heskath (1881-1944), Easton Neston, Northamptonshire

Easton Neston House Sale, Sotheby's, 17-19th May 2005, lots 78-81

Sotheby's, London, 1st October 2008, lots 210 and 211 (sold 35 000$ and 101 000$)

Christian Lady Hesketh, Easton Neston, Nicholas Hawksmoor's Baroque Creation in Northamptonshire, Architectural Digest, January 1991, p. 143, in the Drawing Room Jean Nicolay, L'Art et la Manière des Maîtres Ebenistes français au XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1976

Maria Goutinho, 18th Century Furniture, Lisbon, 1999, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, p. 283

The illustration of the catalogue is accurate. Good overall condition. A few minor chips to the gilding revealing the white gesso underneath. The tapestry has been restored and is protected by an invisible gauze. The colour of the tapestry is slightly sun-faded.The gilding would benefit from a restoration. Very nice salon suite.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

A comparable armchair illustrated by Nicolay, which has a more elaborately carved frame than the present suite, was part of an extensive suite stamped by Jacob made for the Large Drawing Room at Carlton House and ordered through the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre in around 1789. Most of the suite is now at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. An unstamped carved giltwood armchair by Jacob, from the private appartments of Marie-Antoinette at Fontainebleau, now in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, has a similar entwined bow on the top-rail as on the present canapés.