A pair of Royal carved giltwood and gesso Voyeuses by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené, Alexandre Régnier and Louis Chatard Louis XVI, circa 1789

with a rectangular padded top-rail on fluted wrythen-carved uprights, the lattice splat formed of crescents and scrolled interlaced designs centred with a star, carved to both sides, the bowed stuffed seat carved with foliage and ribbon ties, on spirally fluted tapering legs headed by acanthus, each with a label for the gilder Louis Chatard partially printed and in manuscript inscribed `Année 178 9 GARDE-MEUBLE DU ROI/ Suivant/ l`ordre../ No. 62/ CHATARD Peintre & Doreur,/ A PARIS/ Pour M Elizabeth/. Chateau  /a Montreuil/ 

Supplied to Elisabeth Philippine-Marie-Hélène de France, known as Madame Elisabeth, (1764-1794) for the salon de Compagnie at the Chateau de Montreuil in 1789.

Sold during the Revolutionary sales and subsequently acquired by Augustin Louis Joseph Casimir Gustave de Franquetot, Maquis and subsequently Duc de Coigny, born 1788. (Augustin was the grandson of Marie Francois de Franquetot, Maquis and Duc de Coigny, peer and Marshall of France,  created 1814, born 1737, (entering the King`s service in 1752), and was created Governor des Invalides. He died in 1821. The father of Augustin was Francois Marie Casimir de Franquetot, Maquis de Coigny, (1756-1816) who had the rank of Lieutenant General).

Augustin married Henrietta Dalrymple Hamilton (d.1869) and the chairs passed by inheritance to their daughter Fanny (d.1910) who had married Sydney William Herbert, 3rd Earl Manvers (1825-1900).

The chairs passed to their daughter Lady Emily Annora Charlotte Pierrepont ( d.1935) who had married Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp, ( b.1830) as his second wife in 1878. They had two daughters, Lady Agnes Lygon and Lady Maud Lygon. The chairs passed on the death of Lady Beauchamp to Lady Maud who had married Sir Samuel Hoare, subsequently Viscount Templewood. On the death of Lady Templewood , the chairs passed to Juliet Agnes Peel, the daughter of Lady Agnes Lygon, and thence by family descent to the present vendor. 

Pierre Verlet, French Royal Furniture, 1963, illustrated pl. 40, pp. 252-254.

Recorded in the ledger of the Garde-Meuble, commencing on 27th March 1789, now in the Archives Nationales ( Archives Nat. 01 3291, p.48).

Recorded in the Mémoire of  Jean Baptiste Claud Sené and Alexandre Régnier( Arch. Nat. 01 3649).

Comparative Literature

Bill G.B. Pallot, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, 1993, 2 Vols, Vol II, pp.178-9

Sylvie Legrand-Rossi, Le Mobilier du Musée Nissim de Camondo, 2012, pp.200-201

Pierre Verlet, French Furniture and Interior Decoration of the 18^th Century, London, 1967, p.128

 

 

 

 

 

Upholstery covering is 18th century dark salmon coloured and cream silk brocade, the design incorporating flowers and basket motifs. One chair has complete sections which cover the padded seat rail and the seat respectively. The centre of the panel has a basket of flowers. There is a horizontal split with the complimentary pink lining underneath visible. The silk is cut and wrapped around the supports in the corners, and an interlining of canvas is visible. There is professional consolidation stitching to silk on both the seat, especially along the front edge (commensurate with wear), and to the padded seat rail. The other seat and rail are covered in joined sections of the same material, with some additional design motifs not visible on the other chair. There is a horizontal section and join from side to side, across the top of front edge (as visible in the photograph), and another half way up the panel. This section is divided into three, the side sections with facing similar motifs with ribbon, bows and flowers, and the central section with some of the basket motif (seen on the other chair). From the centre of top edge of this panel there is a vertical join from the centre to the back of the chair, with two facing mirror image panels with flowering trails and large profile flower motifs. There is repair to the front of the seat where a section of the original silk is missing and the complimentary plain salmon coloured silk lining is visible (see the catalogue photograph). There is professional consolidation stitching to silk on both the seat, especially along the front edge (commensurate with wear), and to the padded seat rail. On both chairs there is some fading in colour to the salmon silk in areas. The golden ribbon braid attached around the edge is modern.
"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."

 

 Madame Elisabeth 

These exquisite and historically important Voyeuses were commissioned for Elizabeth-Philippe-Marie-Hélène de France, (1764-1794)  known as Madame Elisabeth (fig. 1), for use in her Château Montreuil, at Versailles, (fig. 2).

Madame Elisabeth was born in 1764 the second daughter and last child of the dauphin Louis, son of Louis XV and of Marie-Josèphe of Saxe and sister of Louis XVI (1754 -1793). Born into a world of luxury and regal grandeur, what ought to have seemed to have been a very happy life was in fact tinged with sadness culminating in her tragic execution by guillotine in 1794.

Her childhood must in many ways must have been rather lonely. She lost both parents by the age of three, her grandmother Marie-Josèphe died in 1768. In 1774 her grandfather Louis XV died which resulted in her brother succeeding as King Louis XVI of France. She was only aged 10 by this time. She was close to her sister Clothilde who in 1775 married Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia (1751-1819)  and was devastated when she left. They were never to meet again. In 1778 when the court went to Marly, Madame Elisabeth was resigned into Louis XVI`s hands by her governess, the Princesse de Guemenée. Comtesse Diane de Polignac became her Lady of Honneuer and Marquise de Serent her lady in waiting. At the age of fifteen she stated 'My education is not finished, I shall continue it under the same rules; I shall keep my masters, and the same hours will be given to religion, the study of languages, belles-letteres, instructive conversations, and to my walks and rides on horseback’. Queen Marie-Antoinette was to become particularly close to her and wrote (refering to the departure of the sister Clothilde)  to her mother Maria Therese ‘ My sister Elisabeth is a charming child, who has intelligence, character, and much grace; she showed the greatest feeling, and much above her age at the departure of her sister'. In 1781, the King bought the property of the Princesse de Guemenée at Montreuil knowing it had many happy memories from her childhood for Madame Elisabeth. He asked Queen Marie-Antoinette to give her this surprise. The Queen said to Madame Elisabeth when they were out together; ' If you like, we will stop on our way at Montreuil, where you were so fond of going when a child’. As soon as they had entered the salon the Queen said `Sister you are in your own house. This is to be your Trianon. The king, who gives himself the pleasure of giving it to you, gives me the pleasure of telling you’. The Princess was at this time aged seventeen and her majority had been fixed at the age of twenty five. The furnishing and refurbishment of the house was commissioned in 1788 in anticipation of her majority the following year.

Madame Elisabeth was not able to enjoy her beautiful house for long. On 6^th October 1789 several months after her 25^th birthday her life and that of the Royal Family was to change dramatically with the events of the French revolution and she was with them forced to leave for Paris. She joined the Royal family in their attempted flight to Varennes from France and was subsequently brought back to Paris with the King and Queen and moved with them into the Tuileries. Madame Elisabeth was present at the Legislative Assembly when Louis XVI was suspended.  Refusing the opportunity to leave France, she was imprisoned  on the 10^th August in 1792 with the royal family in the Temple. Louis XVI was executed on 21 Jan 1793 and Marie-Antoinette on 16^th October 1793. Queen Marie-Antoinette`s last letter written in the early hours of the morning of her execution was addressed to Madame Elisabeth but never reached her. Elisabeth was kept in ignorance of her execution. She remained with their daughter, the Madame Royale, until  9<sup>th</sup> May 1794 when she was transferred to the Conciergerie. The following day she was condemned to death accused of assisting the King`s flight, of supplying emigrés with funds and of encouraging the resistance of the Royal troops on 10^th August 1792. On 10^th May 1794 she was guillotined having shown exceptional courage on the journey to the scaffold and on the scaffold itself. She was buried in an unmarked grave in La Madeleine cemetery.  

Following her enforced move to Paris, seals had been placed on her residence. An inventory had been carried out of the contents in 1790 which valued the furniture in entirety at 32,523 l. Recorded in the `Sallon [sic] de Compagnie… 4 chaises en voyeuses a genouils dont 2 a dossiers garnis et 2 a jour..’. The furniture was removed in August 1793 only when it had established that everything was in place and was dispersed by auction in November 1793.

It is not known how the voyeuses came in to the collection of Duc de Coigny. Much of the seat furniture was purchased at the auction of 1793 by the merchants Huart senior and Marceaux and it is possible that these voyeuses were also purchased by them and subsequently sold to him following the Restoration. Coming from a distinguished family with strong links with the ancien regime, it does not seem unreasonable that he would wish to acquire furniture associated with it. It is also interesting to note that the coat of arms of the Duc de Coigy comprises three crescents and three stellar motifs, motifs which can also be seen on the back of the voyeuses which might also have been a motivation for their acquisition.

 

The Commission

The furniture for the Château of Montreuil was amongst the last commissions delivered by the Garde-Meuble before the Revolution.

The present Voyeuses were made by Jean-Baptiste Sené ( 1748-1803), carved by Alexandre Régnier and gilded by Louis Chatard. Sené received maître in 1769 and along with Georges Jacob, dominated the production of seat furniture in Paris during the last years of the ancien regime. Sené`s principal clients were the king and queen and he supplied furniture which was largely destined for Versailles and St Cloud. Régnier was one of several favoured carvers who also included Pierre Laurent and Nicolas Vallois, to whom Sené subcontracted work. Louis Chatard was the leading painter- gilder of his day, particularly between 1784-1789 when he seemed to enjoy a virtual monopoly on pieces destined for the king and queen. His label still remains on both of the present Voyeuses, (see fig. 3).

 

The present Voyeuses belong to a suite of furniture supplied for Montreuil details of which are recorded in Mémoires of Sené, Régnier and Chatard.

Recorded in the ledger of the Garde-Meuble, commencing on 27th March 1789, now in the Archives Nationales ( Arch. nat., 013581, devis; 013649, m/mémoires; 013493, aestat d`estimation) :

`1 avril 1789- Madame Elisabeth à Montreuil. Salon de Compagnie n. 54 - Séné foumira la Menuiserie préparée pour la sculpture de:

..4 Voyeuses agenouillées..' ( Archives Nat. 01 3291, p.48).

 

 Sené records: `1er September 1789… Montreuil. Pour le service de Madame Elizabeth.. Sallon de Compagnie. Suitte du No.54. La menuiserie de deux canapés.., six tetes a tetes…, quatre bergeres.., un ecrant…, six chaisses a carreaux.., douze chaise ydeme pour garnire…, deux chaisses en voyeuse ydeme…, deux voyeuses ydeme a collonne, les dossier a jours, a 27 l., ce…’  

 

Régnier records: ` 1er semester 1789, Montreuil. Pour le service de Madame Elisabeth. Mois d`avril, le 4 No. 54.- Fourni la sculptureen meuble designee ci-après. Savoir. Pour le Salon: Deux canappés.. Six Tetes a tets.. Quatre bergeres.. Un ecran.. Deux voyeuses don’t les dossiers ont été faits pour etre garnis…

Les deux autre voyeuses a dossiers a jour formant trois forms rondes et autres en lozanges, le tout travaille des deux cotés, don’t les ornements sont une double étoile, et les forms decorés de perles et fond plat a filet, le tout place entre deux colonnes a callenures droite et callenures torces en quatre divisions, a chaque division deux petit tors de perles, la traverse du bas des dossiers en baluster et callenures torces at feuilles des oleil et rosettes sur des deux faces, feuilles d`eau au pourtour du plateau, cintures et lkes pieds comme les autres sieges ci avant détaillés, pour une … 40l., ensemble les deux voyeuses a dossiers a jour… 80l’.  (Arch. Nat. 01 3649)

 

Chatard in his Memoire records` 1er semestre 1789,,, Montreuil.. Madame Elisabeth… 1er Avril. No. 54… Salon de Compagnie.- La doreure faite avec la mem attention des meubles aussi très riches de sculpture: 2 grand canapés.. 6 tete a tete…, 4 bergeres.., 18 chairse.., 2 chaises en voyeuses, dossier a jour, 4 fauteuils rond en gondolle…’ ( Arch. Nat. 01 3649).

The present voyeuses and the other pieces of the suite in terms of quality and design are closely linked with other pieces supplied for other members of the French Royal family for other residences. They share the same crispness of carving and some of the foliate detail seen on a fauteuil en cabriolet attributed to Sené  and made for the use of Marie-Antoinette at St Cloud, now at Versailles in the collection of Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon ( ref. Inv. V 5357) illustrated in the exhibition catalogue entitled Marie-Antoinette, Paris, 2008, pl. 156. Other similarities can also be drawn with a suite supplied by Francois Toussant Foliot for the Grand Cabinet of Marie-Antoinette at Versailles, which share similar mille-fleurs carved detail to the rails and carving to the legs, illus. Marie-Antoinette, op.cit., pl. 150 and also Pierre Verlet, op. cit, p.210-218.  

 The `Salon de Compagnie’ at Montreuil referred to in the mémoire of Sené  was the most elaborately decorated of all the rooms at Montreuil. Ornamented with carved and gilded boiseries, it was lit by eight windows on three different sides. The colour scheme of the upholstered furniture was blue grey and white of a pattern known as Cyclope and depicted classical figural scenes amidst garlands of foliage and floral motifs. The fabric matched the curtains and other draperies in what must have been a magnificent room. The original silk damask fabric was supplied by Louis Reboul, of Fontebrune et Cie. It had originally been supplied in 1785  to the Garde-Meuble and used at Fontainebleau in the Salon des Jeux, the salon of Thierry de Ville-d`Avray of the Garde-Meuble in Paris, the Grand Cabinet of Madame  Elisabeth at Versailles and finally the salon of Marie-Antoinette at the Tuileries. Since recovered with a late 18th century French Lyonnaise cerise and green silk damask fabric, woven with baskets, flowers and bow motifs, nonetheless traces of this original fabric can be found on the present voyeuses beneath this later fabric.

The form of the present chairs is principally related with gaming. Throughout the 18^th century there was a great passion for cards where play often continued from morning to night. The passion was particularly prevalent during the reign of Louis XVI and menuisiers were instructed to make chairs which would enable spectators to watch the gaming tables with comfort. The high padded back enabled those to sit and  lean and rest their elbows whilst watching a game of cards.  They were intended always for spectators and never for those actually playing games.

Other pieces from the suite are known and include a pair of bergeres stamped I B SENE, now in the collection of the Louvre, Paris, illustrated Bill G.B. Pallot, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, 1993, pl.64, p.179, (see fig.4), another bergere similarly stamped is in the Collection of the Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et Trianaon ( ref. V 2011.32), a side chair also in the same collection, ( ref. V5190),  and a voyeuse with rails of identical form to the present examples but with a padded and upholstered back, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ( fig.5)., this and the preceding two pieces are illustrated in the Exhibition catalogue entitled Madame Elisabeth, Une Princesse au destin Tragique 1764-1794, 2013, pp.110-113. Three further voyeuses were delivered to Montreuil by Séné and Régnier in 1789 for the room known as the `salon turc’. These were painted in shades of grey and white and were carved with crescent motifs to the rails. Two now form part of the Collection of the Nissim de Camondo Museum, Paris, and another is in the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris (fig.6). For further comparison see  Sotheby`s New York, Important French & Continental Furniture, Decorations & Ceramics, October 22, 2005, lot 78, sold  $300,000. A bergère from the same suite as the present voyeuses was sold Christie`s London, Magnificent French Furniture and Works of Art, Christie`s London, 12th December 2002, lot 105, sold incl. premium £105,650.