Pair Of Louis XV Period Armchairs - Attributed To Nicolas Heurtaut

Pair of Louis XV period armchairs Attributed to Nicolas HEURTAUT Paris, circa 1755-1760 Dimensions: height: 96 cm; width: 70 cm; depth: 58 cm Pair of flat-backed armchairs, said to the queen, in cream relacquered and rechampi beech. Both the belt and the backrest are decorated with floral and plant motifs, sculpted in high relief. The whole rests on four curved legs, ending in windings. Rich silk and cotton jacquard from the house of Rubelli, with a blue background, decorated with palm leaves, bouquets of flowers, tigers and panthers. Good condition. Presence of reinforcements on the back of the back of one of the two armchairs. Our pair of armchairs can be attributed with certainty to Nicolas Heurtaut, by comparison with an identical armchair at public sale in Drouot, on 09/19/2023 (Auction Art sale, lot number 296). Nicolas Heurtaut (1720-1771), who became a master in 1753, is considered one of the main seat carpenters of the Louis 'art of the siege in the 18th century, Paris, 1987, page 153 et seq.). Coming from a family of wood sculptors, he was first admitted to the Academy of Saint Luc in 1742 to train as a sculptor. Until 1753, he worked as a sculptor, in his workshop located on rue de Neuve-de-Cléry, and decorated the seats of Tilliard, Sené and a few other Parisian carpenters. It was only in 1753 that he was accepted into the corporation of seat carpenters, and settled on rue de Bourbon-Villeneuve where he carried out a dual activity as a carpenter and sculptor, continuing to decorate the seats of a few colleagues. Accession to a double master's degree also gave him a significant advantage over his colleagues. In fact, he knew drawing thanks to the courses given by the Academy of Saint Luc and had worked for eleven years as a seat sculptor, while other seat carpenters were very often forced to abandon the decoration of their works to sculptors. Thus, this double formation explains the very high quality of its seats whose style is characterized by sculptural lines, combining perfect symmetry and sinuous lines. The ornamental motifs of its seats are always executed with the greatest care and in high relief. Nicolas Heurtaut's production is rare and sought after by collectors and major institutions alike. Thus, the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Getty Museum and many other museums preserve works by Nicolas Heurtaut.