Sedan Chair, Louis XV Period, Circa 1760, In Very Good Original Condition

Sedan chair
18th, around 1760
France, Louis XV period
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Height: 165 cm
Width: 72 cm
Depth. max: 90 cm
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The box
Light wood panels painted in faux wood. Molded uprights and crosspieces painted in faux gold oil. Beautiful domed roof covered with thick leather, fixed to the frame by bronze nails and enriched, at the four angles, with solid bronze pinnacles which complete the staple sculpture of the uprights. The back of the body is supported by wooden brackets reinforced with wrought iron spars. Beautiful wrought iron loops for the sticks, screwed and nailed to the body. The door has its original solid bronze olive.
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The interior
Interior completely original in punched velvet with a pattern of cut leaves. The whole body is upholstered in red velvet, with the exception of the interior of the door which has received a gold velvet. Upholstered and fringed canopy. The two armrests are present, still provided with their fringes; note, on the left armrest, a gold velvet braid reminiscent of that of the door. The windows, with their original panes, are always provided with their braid finished with a trim tassel on a wooden core. Three small braid handles are fixed under each of the windows; that of the door is finished with a tassel of trimmings. A safe with a lid with strong leather hinges serves as a seat. The bottom of the box is covered with a thick leather going up on the bottom of the box and on the sides; the bottom of the door is also covered with leather.
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Condition report
The general condition is good. The leather of the roof is complete but torn; one of the bronze nails is missing. The inner velor has apparently been torn and stitched up. One of the passers-by is only holding a screw. The window of the door slides well in its housing; the other two windows are blocked in the upper position (I did not want to insist :-). The cushion is missing, the height of which can be restored by that of the linen strip. The rear cross member, at the bottom of the body, was torn off.
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Discussion
Our chair, in its general form and simplicity, is very similar to two sedan chairs from the Maison du Roi, dated around 1760 and kept at the Palace of Versailles. We find on them the same combination of dark plain panels and gold varnished uprights. These chairs "testify to the mass production of bodywork in the last third of the 18th century. To meet the growing demand for vehicles, some manufacturers offered ready-made boxes, made more or less on the same model because the mastery repeated gestures allowed a greater speed of execution. This simplification of the work was criticized by André Jacob Roubo, author of L'Art du menuisier (1769), who deplored the lack of creativity and inventiveness of the workers and the monotony of the resulting production "[MAGGIANI 2012, p. 72]. Our chair fits this description perfectly. Without a coat of arms, without decoration, it was perhaps part of a fleet of rental chairs, such as were found in many in the city at the time.
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The Monneron of 5 sols from 1792
By scanning with a flashlight the interior space of the door, in which the window is housed in the lower part, we found a Monneron of 5 sols dated 1792, recovered after many adventures using an improvised fishing rod :-) These copper medals of confidence, struck at great expense in England by the Monneron brothers (who will end up ruined), were used from 1791 to 1793. Is- what a passenger who lost it when paying its due? We will never know, but this beautiful discovery made our day, anyway. This Monneron will of course be solemnly handed over to the buyer, in exchange for his promise never to part with one without the other.
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Bibliography
Marie MAGGIANI, in Roulez carrosses !, Skira Flammarion, Paris 2012